Engine Professional Restoration / Rebuild

[matthewmosse]

to give some idea as to other prices one local shop by me does a 2 stroke single rebuild at fixed price of £100 plus parts, for that the cases are split, crank inspected - new bearings if needed, same story for gearbox etc, engine is handed back ready to run.

[Lobo]

Hi all,
This is all mushrooming (!), but putting yourselves in my capable but time poor (!) / poorly equipped / inexperienced position just tell me exactly what to do! I have already contacted a very capable home builder offering a 'foreigner' for £800 + parts .... and was sadly turned down (too busy etc). My engine actually runs sweetly enough, tho' with a bit of a rattle - clutch area methinks, I can't imagine its  going to throw up bad surprises....and am aiming for one step down from concours.

So, ..I don't have the time / tools to deal with probable sheared studs, possible rebore, valve grinding, gearbox worn bits - to get the engine to the state I want. Basically I'm after a trouble-free one stop service for a mint engine - and as such (reluctantly) accept that I'm going to have to pay for that.

Stotfold 'sell' themselves as a genuine / family run business, and to be fair have quoted a range of £1000 to ....£1500 "for the occasional real rotters we get". We'll have a 'firm chat' on delivery so that the 2 of us know exactly where we stand. I may even mention this forum, and state (along the lines of) that I'll be running a feedback thread. And regarding the comment of poor communication - not accepted, 99% of these forum emails come to this website daily from Brunei. Furthermore, I am communicating with Kent400 (reconditioning my gauges) as tho' he were next door. (Fantastic service, don't even consider going anywhere else for -400F gauges)

Anyone offering a top-notch home '77 400F recon for £800 + parts; I'll drop off a 50K's engine .... & want a factory-finish pick-up in return (no time pressure (3 months?) then please pm me.

Or tell me where to go (!!!) other than Stotfolds ... and the obvious!
Cheers.

[stinking hippy]

Does anyone have the info on 'Steve Lambley' of Shrewsbury,'engine building',as I'm only around 20-25 miles
from Shrewsbury.I have just had an engine rebuilt by another firm and boy was it expensive,not quite finished yet,
I was bowled over on what costs are involved.I will post more about this when I actually get the engine back home,
the build did include some outside services,blasting,painting,polishing,plus full carb rebuild,even though I supplied the 4 carb rebuild kits. ouch.

[Lobo]

Stinking Hippy,
In the meantime ... give us (me!) a clue. Concours...?  Predicted cost?  Interested because I'm about to committ.  or not. Cheers..

[stinking hippy]

Lobo,Here we go then Full rebuild of motor and carbs £2,750.00. Hopefully there should be a pic of the
motor and carbs here...............

http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad262/oddnedod/HondaCB750motor019_zpsb9f5f088.jpg

http://i942.photobucket.com/albums/ad262/oddnedod/HondaCB750motor024_zps5c9d162e.jpg

[stinking hippy]

Just in case someone notices,or asks the question,the No1 choke plate is missing,the guy doing the rebuild
got in touch with me about this,I then stripped a N01 carb off of another bank  of carbs,and sent him the choke plate and lifter arm to complete the carb rebuild,all sorted.Not picked up the engine and carbs yet
but I think the pics speak for themselves.

[matthewmosse]

On the other end of the scale, I just had a kl250  engine rebuilt, the head needed valves seeing to and a new cam bearing machining from bronze and inserting. other then that it was a strip, inspect and reassembe using new parts as needed, cosmetics not done, just a mechanical overhaul mostly replacing top end components. Cost was £270.43 which seems quite good to me given that it included piston rings, and a lot of specialist head work as the cam ordinarily runs direct in the head and the surface was chewed up really badly.

[Lobo]

Thanks SH,

In a month of Sundays I could never achieve that sort of finish, and if the innards are finished tithe same standard you should be well happy. A shed load of cash.. I know,  but personally I'm up for that versus £1000 and the nagging feeling "I wish I'd just done it properly".

Looks great - you must be pleased.

Cheers, Lobo

[stinking hippy]

I know what you mean Lobo,it was a bit of a shock to the pocket,but I know its been taken right down,and
rebuilt all the way up.It needed a rebore,so its now on the 1st oversize .50mm.The guy doing the rebuild only
replaced things that needed to be replaced,if you had seen what condition I had taken the engine and carbs in
to the engine builder,and to what he has done to it,its quite amazing.Well pleased though!

[Bryanj]

Don't want to sound too pedantic but 0.5 is 2nd oversize

[stinking hippy]

Bryanj,no problem being pedantic,I was under the impression it was 1st oversize,so I 've learned
something here today,many thanks.

[cobra]

just make sure the bloke is genuine, doe's what he says he is going to do, and wont rip you off, if he doe's a good job, and you are happy to pay, go ahead and spend the money, but make sure he is genuine, i sent L A Cooper, £492.00 to do me a job, he just took my money and ran, B........ard.

[stinking hippy]

Cobra,Sounds like L A Cooper needs a 'visit'.Who is L A Cooper? and whereabouts is this B------d located?
Whats his business??

[fisjon]

Doing a complete engine rebuild on an old engine can be very time consuming. The engine will most likely be covered in tar and cow shit and will take an age to clean before you would even dare remove a bolt. Many of the bolts will have knackered heads and most of the screws will be deformed to some degree. This all takes time to do without damaging the cases.

What is the history of the engine, has it been thrashed? If it has, then the cost of a rebuild is likely to be more than a motor that has spent it's life cruising around. Have you ever looked inside an engine that has sat for a few years? Until it's been opened, you don't know what to expect!

Then of course there is the level of rebuild required. Do you want a blue print or just a reliable, smooth motor?

So, there is the cost of cleaning the engine, stripping it down, costing and sourcing the parts, and rebuilding. Painting? Add more for  time and the paint.

I would say £250 to clean and strip the motor.
Then the motor has to be assessed, the parts aquired and then a rebuild, another £250.
On top of that you have to pay for the parts, so for an engine that only requires new chains, piston rings, seals, gaskets and the odd bearing around £500 quid should sort it. On the other hand your motor may need drastic surgery, i.e., rebore, new valves etc. So a basic rebuild could cost £1000 and a more serious contender, around £1500.

Honda engines are well engineered and items like main bearing shells, pistons and bores will probably be serviceable in all but high mileage engines (or thrashed ones) If you want to replace items like this as a matter of course because the engine is apart then start talking big money.

I recently rebuilt a 400/4 and the parts cost £490. The cam chain was just starting to chew into the cases due to a sticking tensioner. A new tensioner is about £100 but the engine owner decided to go for a clean and deburing operation which was completely succesful. So costs can be kept down where possible. It is easy to overdo a rebuild.

So for £500 I will consider rebuilding any of the SOHC fours, painting is an extra £100. You pay for the parts and the paint.

Pics below of 400/4

[fisjon]

A couple of pics of a 650/4 rebuild. If it's worth doing, do it right!