New Engine for Winston

G

GaznLu

0
Hello Again Commerades

Our summer camping tour of the south/South –West has come to an abrupt halt. It seems Winston (Our ’76 Commer PB Autosleeper) needs a heart transplant!

It seems after running so well for all of our trips he has decided the bearings in the big end did not suit him anymore (or so I am told) and started giving loud knocking sounds from inside the engine as revs increased .

Now unfortunately I am not exactly what you would call engine literate, but the mechanic has told me the engine is screwed and to take it apart and try and replace bearings and investigate the problem further (that may not e able to be fixed) would cost at least £5-600 so looking for a replacement engine is the way to go.

Now here’s my questions to you lovely lot:

1) Do any of you know where I could pick up a Commer engine (1725CC) it has overdrive at the moment?

2) Could I use any other type of engine (that would work with gearbox etc)? May be a good time to get a bit more power in the old boy.

Any advice would be welcomed and a cup of tea and bacon sarnie will be your reward if I ever make it back to the camp grounds.

Thanks in advance (and for all your help in the past)

Gaz
 
Sounds exactly like chasbaps' issue in frodo! he will be rebuilding too!

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Up to you but for what it's worth I had Buttercup's engine rebuilt after the big ends went about 11 years ago (at about 58k miles) and it's been perfect since. I believe oil feed to those engines is a bit suspect.

If I was doing it now, with some of the stories on this forum and elsewhere, I would be tempted by a diesel conversion possibly the 1.7 Isuzu engine used in Vauxhalls.

Protecting the inheritance
 
A good time for a upgrade :p Rapier/Alpine lump is a fairly straightforward swap, Rover v8 if your ambitious, Vauxhall 8v/16v. all depends how involved you want to get :)

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"You,re only supposed to blow the bloody SLIDING doors off"
 
I would go for something like red top,it's long overdue :D
you should uprate your Diff if you take this route as the original wouldn't take the strain for long.

Sybhil RIP No.1
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ebay completed item 150453910439
been on there a couple of times nearly bought it for our stock
£200 is cheap,spend the extra on a weber upgrade
its the high compression engine for the car range so good for a few more hp and is a straight swop for yours
 
Thanks everyone! Great advice as always!

So it sounds like a new engine is the way to go..

I'm probably showing my ignorance here but if I were to pick up Rootes or Isuzu Vauxhall engine would I also need to buy additional bits to hand over to the mechanic to fit (gear box, weber upgrade??) or would it be a simple replacement.

Also would the Isuzu do the job as they seem to be for more common and easier to source – any issue moving to Deisel?. The Rootes on ebay looks a great shout but it’s up in Leeds and I’m down south.

Basically I need to be to be able to hand over all that’s needed to the mechanic so time and costs don’t soar..

(I’m kicking myself for not paying attention all those times my old man made me help him mend my crappy old cars- I am as you can probably tell, clueless!)

I’m probably pushing my luck here , but any input is most welcome

(alright 2 bacon sarnies ;0)
Gaz
 
Anything other than the rootes lump will require significant work - unfortunately we are not blessed/cursed with a scene where people develop and sell adapter kits for gearboxes etc. so unless the mechanic would be happy fabricating new engine and gearbox mounts, probably a different axle to put in (no straight swap I believe) you should restrict the search to a rootes lump.

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Go with Steves advice he's the man [^] do you have recovery on your insurance ? perhaps have a word with Mr Maltas he is in yorkshire ;) very busy man though !

Sybhil RIP No.1
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http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1725-rapier-engine-alloy-sump-/160449303902?cmd=ViewItem&pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item255b86155e maybe some use to someone:)

Dodge Glendale
 
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