Alright, I'm just starting a thread so I can stop cluttering the sticky. I'll copy the relevant prior posts to here this evening. Those of you that know what's going on, go ahead and jump in.

Right now I'm on the hunt for cheap piston rings. The cheapest 4.0/4.6 rings I can find are £125 from Turner engineering. I have, however, found that the Rover 3.9 shares the same bore size and I can get rings for it for $60.

I looked at the overhaul manual for both engines and I found the same ring specs in both of them.

Anyone see a good reason why 3.9 rings wouldnt work? They're better than half the price.

Also looking for better options on the front cover. Right now the best I'm finding is roughtly $330 USD from Turner. Used ones seem to go for $120 or so, but.... Ehhhhh.

 

Pull a used front cover off a junk rover? Car-part shows many in the Virginia area for like $50/piece. Look for a good one, try to rebuild it maybe?

 

Or maybe ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Land-Ro...wAAOSwqDha8LGF

 

Might be a bunch in the Virginia area, but very few in the Southwestern Corner. I'm nearly an hour from the nearest junk yard. Very rural area.

I don't trust a used one anyway. If I'm gonna replace it I really want a new one.

That one on eBay looks pretty good though. Says new, and $262 shipped. That's working in my direction.

 

Not sure if this matters, but Britpart and some aftermarket companies supply front covers as well, so you might want to make sure its genuine. On the other hand, I can't imagine there are more than 1 manufacturing plant who actually makes them...
Just food for thought

For the piston rings maybe try matching by the manufacturer part number? Goetze (federal mogul) makes them. Dunno where to get the # though

 

What else do you need for the rebuild?
Doing just the bottom end, hone, rings, bearings and front cover?

 

That's it. Main bearings, con rod bearings, hone, rings, front cover. It's already had a valve job and the heads decked like 25k ago, of course the cam/lifters is BRAND new (maybe an hour on it?) as are the cam bearings.

 

I'm betting they're all out of the same factory. Britpart isn't a manufacturer anyway; just a reseller.

I might see if I can call up Federal Mogul or somebody and see if I can just spec some rings instead of finding them for a specific application.

 

If the heads are off, then deck them. Cost me $80 at my machine shop. Could save you an entire head gasket job later.

If the engine is out, then machine the crank. Should cost less than $100. This is for engine life going forward. If the crank is not machined/checked, then it could easily be a bit out of round or even rough which would reduce the life of your new bearings dramatically... and hey, you probably don't want to be redoing this job in 10k or 20k miles.

If you aren't blowing smoke out your exhaust already, then go with the absolutely cheapest piston rings possible, but mic them (the ring gap when placed inside each cylinder * 8 * top 2 rings --- lower 3 oil rings don't really need checking).

Gently hone each cylinder with a drill and honing tool while spraying in WD40 and maintaining a straight drill (this allows quick seating of the new piston rings). Coat each cylinder in oil after honing to prevent rust during reassembly (they rust fast!).

OK... then test all of your fuel injectors one by one by connecting 2 wires from each injector to a 9 volt battery while spraying carb cleaner into your fuel rails. If each one clicks on and click off, doesn't allow fuel to spray when disconnected, and has a decent looking spray pattern then you are good to go.

Pack the new oil pump tight with vaseline or assembly lube, too.

The big test is with the crankshaft re-installed, timing chain installed, cam in, cam bearings in, new rod bearings in, and new main bearings in. While heads are still off of the block you turn the crank.

If you can't turn it (too hard), something's got to give before full reassembly.

If it spins like a top (too easy), then something's got to give before full reassembly.

It should take muscle to turn the crank, but turning should be smooth. Consistent. If you can barely muscle that crank around without feeling any hard stops then you are probably golden.

 

I'll double check that the heads are true. Cheapest I've found local is $100, and it's just $100 I don't have right now. If I have to re-do it in a year so be it, but now is just bad timing. I'd let her sit except it's my daily and anything I drive I'm gonna have to dump some money into right now. Silverado needs $1300 in parts, Dodge needs $1500 in parts just to make it street legal and borderline reliable, and the Disco needs (it appears right now) about $600 in parts.

No smoke out the exhaust and the compression tests.. fair. Roughly 110 lbs on each cylinder, warm.

Injectors were tested and cleaned maybe $15k miles ago; they're good to go.

I've used both in the past. Honestly I like vaseline better.

This last part will be the new part for me. I've watched a LOT of videos and read a LOT of write ups and articles on it over the years, but I've still yet to assemble an engine myself. I have an idea in my head what it should feel like, but I don't have the experience to back it up. Wish me luck on that.

Thanks, No Doubt.