quattroowner

iTrader: (5)

Well with me having stripped my engine and deciding im going to do a standard rebuild(ish) with this engine and save up in the future to do a proper CDB forged build when money and time allow's..



What im wondering is who here be willing to rebuild the bottom end for me: work i require is, engine did start knocking beforehand:

Crank tested and checked polished
minor skim on the mating surface's if required?
new acl bearing's,rods,pistons fitted.
piston ring's fitted.
headgasket's fitted.
head's bolted down(standard head bolt's for this build and timing belt fitted sump fitted etc.

From then on im happy to carry on the build, just not to confident at the moment. Would either supply the part's or use a recognised tuner etc


Heard good thing's about API and RA in perth.. Anyone any pointer's in the right direction??

Im in no hurry to build the car at all . Got nothing but time.But it would be nice for my mum (cough) to have a back up car over the winter with me on the insurance

dazdavies

iTrader: (22)

Lesson 1 do NOT use a polished/reground crank of any kind on a subaru engine.

Its fair to say your crank is more than likely goosed anyway. A Polished reground crank on one of these is back street garage territory in my opinion.

If you don't want it spinning bearings again soon budget for a new crank as a bare minimum.

APIDavid

iTrader: (4)

We can sort that for you from having it collected to returning it, all pain free.

It will need a crank as Daz says, they are relatively cheap in comparison to other makes and cannot be ground under any circumstances. Anyone says they can? hang up.

Get me on 01926 614522 for a talk through if you like.

Good Luck - no matter where you get it done, David APi

ianbott

What is the big stigma with using a reground crank? Now don't shoot me down I am only asking lol.
Other manufacturers use sealed oil galleries in there cranks like Subaru but other cranks get re ground with no problems. Is there something else?
Thanks in advance for any response.

Turbotits

iTrader: (2)

the hardend surface on the subaru crank is very thin. As soon as you grind them your down to the softer metal. This just doesnt work when new bearings are fitted. The tend to fail very quickly

ianbott

So is the case hardening on Subaru cranks much thinner than your average crank?
Really don't understand why Subaru designed a car for driving hard that generally speaking can't be driven hard with fear of it going bang lol.

dazdavies

iTrader: (22)

And for christ sake dont seperate the block halves with a screw driver wedged between two contact surfaces!!

ianbott

Or without taking the gudgeon pins out lol.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

If the bearings have gone, budget for new oil pump and modine too.

APIDavid

iTrader: (4)

The cranks on a Scoob are no harder or softer than any other crank.

Subaru themselves list bearings for oversize up to 30 Thou, so they seem to think it'll be OK and they might know.

The main reason for not grinding a crank is that the galleries are sealed with ball bearings bashed in that cannot be got out economically. Therefore, any debris from either a failure, or from regrinding, cannot be guaranteed to be cleaned out and the chance of debris damage to the rebuilt engine is too high.

We have ground cranks in the past, for low power engines that the car dealer owners will not pay to replace. BUT we never do it with any sort of guarantee. That is their choice.

David APi

Gyver

iTrader: (1)

Is this why a small ballbearing metalmarble fell out of my shortblock when i took it apart last week? I was wondering where that little marble came from, thought maybe the oilpump
Btw, my v5 engine got bearingfailure last week and after much research i ordered a new ej25crank along with forged conrods and strokerpistons. Im glad i did that now

bigsinky

and possibly a new sump as well

quattroowner

iTrader: (5)

Hey guy's

Thank's for the replies.

I will be keeping the RCM water pump,strip and clean. And also the head' unless i can find some V3 heads for a good price soon.The screwdriver is mealy stopping the block halves from getting tuck on the dowel. wasnt to wedged in.

I had a good read of your thread Daz and also of the car in the magazine. recognised the car traight away.

David at API.

Do you have a email address or pm bud. So you can quote me on the work as that would be great. working in a pub from mid day till 3-4 am i am rarely at home at a normal time to phone.

New crank how much set aside for a good one

Crank tested and checked polished
minor skim on the mating surface's if required?
new acl bearing's,rods,pistons fitted. ( may use standard pistons or i might go for a slight oversize. Depend's on what you think is best.
piston ring's fitted.
headgasket's fitted.
head's bolted down(standard head bolt's for this build and timing belt fitted sump fitted etc.

Any other work you would like to carry out to make sure it's upto a standard you will be happy to send back and be happy with. Let me know.

My number is 07523 657 961

Text me is probable best as i hardly see my phone nowa days lol Ill try phone at a normal time.

Cheerz guy's

harvey

iTrader: (48)

On an engine rebuild we almost always replace the modine. Subject to the failure the oil pump may be refurbished or we may replace and again as Jeff points out above, subject to the failure, the sump may be replaced because of the fine metal particles that are still present after thoroughly washing the sump. It depends on the nature of the failure or whether the engine is just being freshened up.
Some years ago the machine shop that I use offered to regrind a crank on my STi 3 Wagon. From reading Scoobynet I thought this was a big no-no on these cars. The machine shop owner who in my experience knows his business exceptionally well said that he would have the crank reground, new bearings supplied and if an engine failure took place in the next 12 months from fitting he would provide a new crank with bearings and a contribution to labour cost providing the failure was attributable to the reground crank. Now this guy knows his business which is why I use him all the time and the car in question has done tens of thousands of miles varying from around 370 bhp to the 450 bhp when I broke a con rod experimenting on how far the standard rods would go. Incidentally the STi 3 pistons look good to well over 420 bhp so no need to spend money on pistons for an STi 3/4 if that is your power goal.
Now since fitting a reground crank to my own car we have now gone down this route for many owners on a tight budget and not had a single failure.
This business about the case hardening on Subaru cranks being thin is just another Scooby myth and as our experience shows, done properly iti s a cost effective option. I do think the key is in who does the regrinding.

APIDavid

iTrader: (4)

Hi mate, just answering Davids emails as he is out of the office until Tuesday 4th October. If you want to put what work you would like done into an email and send it to dob@apiengines.com then you can expect a reply with a quote as soon as hes back in tomorrow morning, alternatively if you are in a hurry you can call us on 01926 614333 and speak to one of the team and we can try and help you out with a quote sooner.
Hope this helps
Tom @ API

quattroowner

iTrader: (5)

Hey mate

Away to wing off the email just now

Dont worry im in no major hurry bud.So ill let you know what need's done

Thanks

duncatr

iTrader: (18)

This is what I like to see - completely differing opinions on what should and shouldn't be replaced. LOL

Now I have dealt with Harvey in the past and respect his opinion hugely and like wise API have a very good reputation so - please don't take this the wrong way gents as this genuinely is not me having a pop, but it frustrates me when I see different opinions on such important components. Not just that its posted but thats its put into practice on people's engine's - where hard earned is spent.
I'm no guru and I don't do this for a living but I'm no stranger to a scoob either

On the oil modine:-
I have always replaced these on a bearing failure. This is on the advise of others and also as it just makes sense to me. I can't confirm if its clean there for I replace it.
I believe there are just far too many areas to be sure they are clean of debris, yet API are happy to re-use them........ David, care to comment??
I am going to have to try and find an old one and have it cut open just to see exactly how tight it is in there.

On the crank:-
Harvey - Interesting that you have had success with re-grinding cranks. I've always been warned off this with the subaru engine.
Do you know if they are doing anything to clear the galleries. Removing the ball bearing and fitting a new one or alternative blocking like grub screw etc???
I'd still be very concerned of getting this clean.

APIDavid

iTrader: (4)

On the odd occasions that we grind a crank we seal the oil galleries with RTV and then pull it out after the process is finished. That does not take account of the debris that will be in there from the crank failure in the first place, but at least it is limited to just that.

BUT, we advise customers that whilst it can be done, it is purely at your risk and we will not offer any sort of warranty.

As for the modines, there is nothing in there except a coil similar to a central heating tank that provides hot water. There is no filter or restriction in the coil and thus no reason for anything to get lodged in there. However, we are very through in cleaning them out and it will have had a pressurised hot chemical pass through for about 3 hours. Plus of course blow dry. Then we run brake cleaner through and inspect the cleaner for silver particles when it come out.

Not been caught out yet in over 11 years. AND the modine is an expensive piece of kit to replace.

Yeah. Yeah I know the argument about risking a 3 or 4 or 5 thousand pound engine for 200 quid or so but many budgets are tight and this is a solution that fits budgets.

David APi