Amy's in trouble :(

[Danny California]

Just had word from the AA man, who was called out because kp wasnt running right, and I think it's pretty damning news. Apparantly cylinder one is full of oil, it coated a new spark plug with oil, and taking off the plug lead makes hardly any difference when the engine is running. Presumably the piston ring has fried, although amy's going to take it for a compression test at the local garage tomorrow to find out.

So basically this is a plea for help of any kind from anyone. We need someone close to cardiff who can help rebuild the engine for not much cash, because amy can't afford anything at the moment. I'm willing to do as much of the work as possible, but I'm in Bristol all the time and have never rebuilt an engine before although I do have a pretty sound grasp on mechanical stuff. Anyone here rebuilt an engine before and want to help?
She's really upset following probably the crappiest week ever, and really cant face the prospect of having to sell her beloved mini.
So can anyone help?

[boycie101]

gutted for amy, sounds it most prob better just to stick another engine in mate to save alot of hassle but that just my opinion

[ljonez]

first thing is to get a compression test as you said, if the result is fine ( or just down a bit) then there's a good chance the head gasket has blown (outwards) as the oil feed for the head is next to no.1 cylinder, lets hope its that

[exuptoy]

Like he said. Good luck

If it isn't this, then just pick up a second hand engine, probably cheaper although if it is an unknown entity you really should see it running and do a basic health check before it is removed unless they're willing to warrant it with money back.

[taffy1967]

I've heard good things said about 'Monaco Garage' of Ty-Glas, Chiltern Close, Llanishen, CARDIFF, CF14 5DL. Tel:- 029 2076 3566.

The information I've kept says to ask for Lynn Elliot but Lesley (one of the owners) was at one time restoring a 1968 cooper for road rallies.

So that's something to go on if you'd prefer getting your engine sorted closer to home.

[Danny California]

Well I think the mini is getting towed home to Llanelli, where it will be SORNed and taken off the road. Amy's looking for a cheap runaround, or maybe looking at one of those advertising cars that you can get for free for the time being. Then over the summer, or maybe Easter if I get my arse in gear I want to rebuild the engine with some guidance. Think it would be a good experience for me, especially if I'm doing motorsport engineering next year. Time to buy some books I think Any suggestions apart from David Vizard?

[ljonez]

Feb 2, 2010 14:40:12 GMT 1 Danny California said:

Time to buy some books I think Any suggestions apart from David Vizard?

for the engine rebuild the Haynes manual is all you will need.

if your interested in tuning etc then get a copy of vizard i didn't put mine down for days when i got it