Len, if you’re still reading, I’m curious to know what the turn around time was on yours? Our friends in San Luis Obispo also told me their current turnaround time was typically 4-6 months. Maybe that includes the gold plating and diamond insets :)? Regardless, it will be coming back home by the next weekend. Coventry West has been favorably mentioned a few times already so, I will start to give them serious consideration also. It’s simple enough to secure everything to a pallet/ crate assembly and haul it over to a freight company.
Jim, that unsold engine is almost worth considering as a long term spare – or to go in another project.
You guys have been good with PM’ing other references to me – thank you.
Coventry West does a fantastic job for a very resonable price and they are building these engines every day. Known the guys for over 15 years, very professional.
I have been on this list for a very long time, and Conventry have a lot of positive public feedback,
The proprietor (I think) comments on the forum sometimes
Most likely you would have received many PMs offline
I would most certainly discuss an estimate from that Company
Hi Chris im in AUS but as a comparison have recently had my 1955 3.4 fully recond by one of our more reputable Jag repairersThe engine had been standing for over 10 years.The pistons were rusted to the liners and the head was badly corroded.Naturally the engine was a total rebuild and they managed to salvage the head which was fully restored with valves guides etc.New water pump but no work on carbies (H8) or exhaust manifolds or dist…all polished and painted just over A$10000.And parts here are more expensive (USAx 1.3 +freight+10% GST) You should definately get a second quote JOHN
Consider this another vote of confidence for Dick at Coventry West.
Just last winter, Dick rebuilt the engine from an early 120 that had been sitting in pieces for years. The rebuild including boring the block, supplying new pistons, turning the crank with new bearings, new flywheel, all new timing gear and a full rebuild of the head with all new valves, springs, keepers and even tappet retainers. It did not include carbs or water pump.
I shipped him the head from Virginia for $100 via UPS. The block came from California via truck freight. Shipping for the block from CA to GA was $700 and that price was discounted significantly through a friend who is COO of the trucking company.
I couldn’t be happier with the quality of the work, the excellent communications throughout the project or the price. (~$10,000)
He was also able to repair my MK2 3.8 cylinder head several years ago after a local shop had attempted to weld corroded water passages. Although the repair initially looked fine visually, it cracked within the first 1,000 miles. After the subsequent repairs by Coventry West, the head now has over ten years and thousands of miles and has been trouble free.
I had $6500 into mine with me doing the work and shuttling it back and forth, for machining. A previous poster mentioned $8-12K, that doesn’t sound bad considering mine was done in the late 90’s.
For that type of ching, I’d expect him to be metal stitching a block that had been in three pieces back together.
What exactly was he saying he does or uses that made it that much better?
The owner called me at the end of last week wanting to discuss the estimate. I was told that the head had a half dozen cracks around the water passages and though they could be welded up, who knew how many others might be lurking somewhere else? He thought it was better for me to buy a used one he had on the shelf for $5k plus rebuild it instead of mine. I listened, said little and then asked about the block. He said that because the oil pump had excessive wear at the gears and housing, it would be cheaper to replace the entire block assembly with a later example that took a later oil pump. Right, I’m still trying to wrap my head around that one… Plus, he didn’t like the early timing chain tensioner assembly in general and thought that would be another reason to go with a later block. Finally, I was told the block and head could be restamped with the former serial numbers and most others would never know the difference. Okay, I don’t know about you dear readers, but that last bit is a huge red flag for me. There followed an awkward pause with my then thanking him for his time but that I would be in first thing Monday morning to pick everything up.
Monday found me at the shop collecting the motor. Even without giving my authorization, they had already started work. Everything had been taken apart, mostly cleaned, itemized, and bagged. Some items had already been blasted. I was expecting a hard time but instead the employees went out of their way to help me with one in particular who was profusely apologizing for the estimate and that it wasn’t their call on it. I think they also wanted me out of there quickly as their boss wasn’t in yet. I learned that one employee had resigned with another to follow. I left feeling sorry for the employees who still work there. That was far and away from my preconceived reception.
This whole experience reminded me of when I first started restoring all manner of old things in my early 20s. I’m 53 now and have to go back that far to be reminded of such an experience. Back then I didn’t have the academic and vocational skills that I’m lucky to have now. And in my ignorance, it was easy to be taken advantage of. So I feel some empathy for any guy having purchased his first vintage car and unlike me, who walked away from this, gulps hard and opens wide the pocketbook to pay for such an expense. My mistake here was not seeing that the company had gone through a slight name change and thus, missing some less than kind reviews and also in casting a wider net for rebuild leads on forums such as this. So, thanks guys for giving me some great leads at a time when many who used to do this work locally are fading away.
I have a pricelist from vse engines. The owner retired But it was a reputable company. No succession.
Prices in this list are very reasonable and not near the amount you stated.
If you like I Can send it to you for comparison and evaluation of other estimates.
They also have prices for carbs, dynamo,… And give a full description of the work that Will be doen. Very correct approach in my opinion.
Godfrey, my overall in-person perception was that they’re appealing to a clientele for whom price is no object. The plug for them on Jay Leno’s Garage probably helps too.
Anyway, I should probably wind down my rant here. Fortunately my engine is now back – albeit in hundreds of pieces – and no money was tendered. Hopefully someone may benefit from this guy’s cautionary experience.
“ billlionaraius ignoramus “ AKA more $$ than brains. Well done for extracting yourself from the clutches of these thieves. I hope your next experience will be more successful. Jay should have more sense. I have always respected him.
Better go over it all and make sure you aren’t missing any parts.
If not, you are sort of ahead in a funny way, other than your travel time.
Twice I have had cars painted by professional shops and twice I have been disappointed by the results. That sort of sums up why I do everything myself if I can.
(including replacing the beehive spring on my early timing chain tensioner)
You might be best to do most of it yourself, but farm out various detail jobs such as head welding and block boring to specialists, where you can specify an exact amount of work for an exact price.
Let’s see a pic or two of those head cracks and oil pump wear.
Yes, I would be wanting to be sure said work needed doing.
I do have some engines from 1951, and when I did dismantle them, the heads are not cracked, but the valve seats were heavily recessed
I would imagine the oil pump would be best replaced, and I am not sure if the early ones are still available, however, it IS very easy to make ones own measurements and check it is or not within spec!
Well, I’m leaving for the weekend so I can’t get any pics of the oil pump at present. Here are a few of the head though. The water passage entry ways are definitely eroded around their edges but I imagine that to be expected of a head some 70 years of age? I’m not seeing any fine cracks either around the water passages or between and around valve seats.
That’s about what we expected to see, galvanic corrosion from steel and aluminum and plain water together.
It can be welded, but not usually by the home restorer/amateur welder.
I would first get it really clean. At the Chicago British Car Festival a couple of weeks ago there was a guy promoting his business of vapor blasting, and he had examples of British car parts half done and half as found. It gets them cleaner than sand blasting. www.chicagolandvaporblasting.com
You could ship your head to him, or you might look around in your area for somebody who does this.
Check it for flatness with a steel straight edge and feeler gauges.
Then you need to find a professional welder with a really good TIG machine who does not go crazy with heat on aluminum.
The welding process is first to scarf out that corroded material with a die grinder and a routing burr bit until you are down to nothing but good clean metal.
Then immediately, like within an hour, before the air starts to corrode the aluminum again, you TIG weld with helium shielding gas and very low heat, stopping after every hole to let it cool down.
Then you can finish off the surface with a router and an end mill bit.
Finally finish it off with fine hand files.
Here are my notes from I think about 2000 or 2001:
The welder used a Miller Dynasty Aerowave machine, set on DC
squarewave with an AC biased wave, mostly DC electrode
negative, with an AC topper cleanup, a 2 percent thoriated
tungsten tip sharpened to a point, and helium shielding gas.
This makes a very concentrated arc so it doesn’t
heat up the whole head and warp it. I copied all that down
exactly as he told me; hope it makes sense to the welders
among us. I emphasize that he did NOT heat up the whole head
in an oven nor preheat the weld areas at all.
Anyway, the first thing he did was take a burring tool and
scarf out the corroded areas even bigger than they already
were, so he could get down to NEW CLEAN METAL. He told me
this was the most important thing, to have clean pure metal
exposed.
Then he laid down a beautiful bead all around each one, and
built it up with several passes so there was enough metal
for me to remove and make it the shape it should be. He
completed all this within two hours of exposing the new
clean metal to air, because aluminum forms an oxide layer
very quickly in air.
if you place a valve in the seat, you can gauge seat recess, also, some very experienced posters suggest getting the head tested for Rockwell Hardness.
Surprising what can be seen if the item is cleaned well, and examined with a $10 Jewellers Loupe under strong light
