How long did it take you to rebuild? - Introduction

[Tippy]

Hello everyone , new here and seen some members of other boards I have chatted with.

I have a guards red/blk '87 C3.2 with a single turbo. It has dynoed 427 wheel hp @ 75 degrees and it is a total go-kart with sledgehammer-to-the-back feel once under boost. I love it so much I drove it daily for a few months when I first bought it.

I sought out this forum for the rebuilding expertise due to me delivering the "money shift" - I hit 2nd instead of 4th from 3rd.

Full rebuild is at hand due to the motor being turboed, I don't want to leave any stone unturned. This is where I will be looking to you guys if I have an issue.

My questions goes, how long it took you guys (in hours if possible) to just reassemble your engine?I am talking a full-rebuild as I will be doing on my 3.2L.

Thanks, Cory

P.S. - looking forward to talking to you guys!

[Henry Schmidt]

First, welcome to the board. You will find a plethora of knowledge among the contributors and if you listen closely you should succeed with a modicum of drama.
Take your time and ask questions. When you have the answers to your question proceed with courage. Many have gone before you and the path is well marked.
Plan on 50-70 hours and expect more on your first try.

[Tippy]

Originally Posted by Henry Schmidt

First, welcome to the board. You will find a plethora of knowledge among the contributors and if you listen closely you should succeed with a modicum of drama.
Take your time and ask questions. When you have the answers to your question proceed with courage. My have gone before you and the path is well marked.
Plan on 50-70 hours and expect more on your first try.

Ok, thanks. I spent roughly 15 hours and I haven't even split the cases!!!

Of course, there was a lot of time making an engine stand, shuffling this and that around in the shop, and labeling/bagging/tagging the parts.

[otto in norway]

I just wanna say that it's not only the mechanical job of assembly that takes time.

Cleaning, preparing, and figuring stuff out, - takes up a fair bit of your time.
I think I must have spent at least 100 hours on my rebuild. (3 liter, no turbo)

[afterburn 549]

Your actual hours is one thing.....the turn around thing is the other.
Some elect to send some stuff out to be fixed . Not all of us own a valve facer...and you do not want your local auto part store to do this unless he is willing to spend some time in the home work book.( In fact I am in the camp of throwing vales away as they live in HELL ).
cylinders most definitely a send out item.
and on and on so the hours is one thing..waiting on stuff is an other.
On the flip whilst out gives time to detail other parts and eng room etc

[cgarr]

You will find as others say, Cleaning is going to take you a lot of time, when we do a set of heads it takes about as much time to get everything clean as is does to rebuild the heads.

[porschenut]

There will also be the time spent studying the book, asking questions here, ordering parts and tools, reordering rings because you busted a few, running around to Auto Parts stores looking for the right sealant or adhesive, and numerous runs to Home Depot looking for fasteners to replace the goobered up ones that came off the engine.

At least this is what I imagine. I haven't started my rebuild yet.

[afterburn 549]

I took 3 months

[Tippy]

Originally Posted by otto in norway

I just wanna say that it's not only the mechanical job of assembly that takes time.

Cleaning, preparing, and figuring stuff out, - takes up a fair bit of your time.
I think I must have spent at least 100 hours on my rebuild. (3 liter, no turbo)

Wow, thats a lot of time.

Yeah, I have been reading things here and there and trying to get my head around this task.

I am still trying to figure out why rebuild kits vary so much in price though.

[Tippy]

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

Your actual hours is one thing.....the turn around thing is the other.
Some elect to send some stuff out to be fixed . Not all of us own a valve facer...and you do not want your local auto part store to do this unless he is willing to spend some time in the home work book.( In fact I am in the camp of throwing vales away as they live in HELL ).
cylinders most definitely a send out item.
and on and on so the hours is one thing..waiting on stuff is an other.
On the flip whilst out gives time to detail other parts and eng room etc

Yes, turn around time will exceed hours for sure.

Well, I am no doubt replacing the exhaust valves but I may reuse the intake.

Originally Posted by cgarr

You will find as others say, Cleaning is going to take you a lot of time, when we do a set of heads it takes about as much time to get everything clean as is does to rebuild the heads.

I figured this too, I haven't even started cleaning yet. Not really looking forward to it.

Originally Posted by porschenut

There will also be the time spent studying the book, asking questions here, ordering parts and tools, reordering rings because you busted a few, running around to Auto Parts stores looking for the right sealant or adhesive, and numerous runs to Home Depot looking for fasteners to replace the goobered up ones that came off the engine.

At least this is what I imagine. I haven't started my rebuild yet.

I've never broken a ring yet on a rebuild but have come close due to frustration of a POS ring installer. So, I will be paying uber close attention when installing the barrels.

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

I took 3 months

I expect to take probably more than that, I am going to be as meticulous as assembling a rocket engine. Ok, not that bad but you get my drift.

[afterburn 549]

Yes guides for sure...I was just using a example..all things necessary may not be right where you live.

[1982911SCTarga]

I took probably six leisurely months, during which I was doing other stuff to the car. Cleaning is absolutely where most of your time will be spent.

Brian

[mca]

Originally Posted by otto in norway

I just wanna say that it's not only the mechanical job of assembly that takes time.

Cleaning, preparing, and figuring stuff out, - takes up a fair bit of your time.
I think I must have spent at least 100 hours on my rebuild. (3 liter, no turbo)

I am a noob and recently did my first 3.0 rebuild. I bought a "spare" to rebuild so that I could take my time while still enjoying my car. Alleviated the stress and didn't force me to rush.

I can honestly say that I spent at least 50 hours cleaning. I can clearly recall three eight hour days in a row. Then there were numerous nights and weekends on top of that. A lot of this was do to a poor case cleaning job by a local machine shop. It was an average job at best - so I spent many hours detailing it. Getting the piston squirters to spray nice and even was a chore for me.

The assembly isn't bad at all. That is the FUN part.

Waiting on parts takes a while too. I shipped heads, rods, cams, pistons, cylinders, oil cooler, and cam towers to EBS. Turn around time was about 5 weeks.

Just take lots of pics and mark evey wire. Makes it easier to assemble.

I bought the "spare" in March and finished it in September - 7 months (yikes). Didn't seem like that long though. I am sure the wife feels differently since her car had to stay out of the garage.

[jaybird840]

Six months and counting... Nice leisurely rebuild as well. I have not had frustration problems as I only get an hour or two a week to work on her. Keeps you from making mistakes by being in a hurry. BTW, how do you clean and check piston squirters on a 2.7???? Good luck!!

--Jaybird

[peppy]

I started over a year ago.

[88911coupe]

Going on a year....main issue was getting sick which kept me out of the garage but my biggest issue was the incessant starting and stopping. What I should have done was block off a couple of days at a time to just work on it 12-14 hours a day. I probably spent 80% of the time getting everything ready to be worked on, then thinking about what I needed to do, then having to start putting all the crap back up to eat dinner, go to bed, etc. The other HUGE time user is just getting a clear picture in your mind how to do certain things the first time, i.e. adjusting/timing the cams, sealing the case up, measuring the sprocket alignment, etc. If I ever have to do it again, it will go substantially faster since there will a lot less time spent just staring at the thing and wishing John Walker were sitting there making sure I didn't screw something up!

[Tippy]

Originally Posted by 1982911SCTarga

I took probably six leisurely months, during which I was doing other stuff to the car. Cleaning is absolutely where most of your time will be spent.

Brian

I plan on taking longer due to availibility of CLEAN workspace and money.

Originally Posted by mca

I am a noob and recently did my first 3.0 rebuild. I bought a "spare" to rebuild so that I could take my time while still enjoying my car. Alleviated the stress and didn't force me to rush.

I can honestly say that I spent at least 50 hours cleaning. I can clearly recall three eight hour days in a row. Then there were numerous nights and weekends on top of that. A lot of this was do to a poor case cleaning job by a local machine shop. It was an average job at best - so I spent many hours detailing it. Getting the piston squirters to spray nice and even was a chore for me.

The assembly isn't bad at all. That is the FUN part.

Waiting on parts takes a while too. I shipped heads, rods, cams, pistons, cylinders, oil cooler, and cam towers to EBS. Turn around time was about 5 weeks.

Just take lots of pics and mark evey wire. Makes it easier to assemble.

I bought the "spare" in March and finished it in September - 7 months (yikes). Didn't seem like that long though. I am sure the wife feels differently since her car had to stay out of the garage.

Oh yeah, I took lots of pics and bagged and tagged everything. I used to be a jet engine mechanic so I have some decent organizational skills regarding parts.

Originally Posted by jaybird840

Six months and counting... Nice leisurely rebuild as well. I have not had frustration problems as I only get an hour or two a week to work on her. Keeps you from making mistakes by being in a hurry. BTW, how do you clean and check piston squirters on a 2.7???? Good luck!!

--Jaybird

Exactly right, rushing just cant happen on this motor. An American V-8 though........

Originally Posted by peppy

I started over a year ago.

Sounds like how I will be......

Originally Posted by 88911coupe

Going on a year....main issue was getting sick which kept me out of the garage but my biggest issue was the incessant starting and stopping. What I should have done was block off a couple of days at a time to just work on it 12-14 hours a day. I probably spent 80% of the time getting everything ready to be worked on, then thinking about what I needed to do, then having to start putting all the crap back up to eat dinner, go to bed, etc. The other HUGE time user is just getting a clear picture in your mind how to do certain things the first time, i.e. adjusting/timing the cams, sealing the case up, measuring the sprocket alignment, etc. If I ever have to do it again, it will go substantially faster since there will a lot less time spent just staring at the thing and wishing John Walker were sitting there making sure I didn't screw something up!

I think stopping and starting is good because you go backwards and check your work. I am good with that, I usually try to do too much at a time - not this time.

[Cupcar]

No matter how long it takes, it is worth it just to hear it fire up and go.