Hello everyone, I am new here and my question(s) can hopefully be based upon your past experience. I own a 2000 Disco II with ace and it is the Bosch 4.0 without secondary air. The mileage is 156,543 as of yesterday afternoon.

Things that have been done: Front drive shaft replaced with a serviceable shaft in order to head off the problem with the oem shaft. New terrafirma shocks and stabiliser. Brake fluid has been flushed and replaced with dot4 synthetic fluid. Oil is changed every 3,000km or 1800-1900 miles. Excessive yes but oil is cheaper than parts. Oil used originally was mobile 1 full synthetic, now Shell Rotella t-6 is used. The power steering pump and associated hoses have been replaced and new fluid that is factory oem fluid has been used. (From Atlantic British) New belt has been installed as well as new battery, spark plugs, coil pack, and 8mm wires. Air filter is new. The coolant has been changed and I am using a 50/50 blend that is good for all makes and models and can be added to any colour. It is Peak brand. Transmission fluid has been changed as well.

Current issues: O2 sensors are all bad and are going to be replaced with direct fit Bosch this coming weekend. The passenger front wheel bearing is starting to go and has been verified by two independent shops. I will be replacing both front hubs myself and have all tools and parts. I will be replacing both front hubs as in my experience with other vehicles when one goes bad the other is close to follow. Afterwards I will be resetting the three amigo lights and hopefully this will fix that problem. If not I have read the various fixes for those lights. The original code that made the amigos appeared had to do with a sensor.

There is a ticking sound which seems to be from the lifters though perhaps it is a slipped sleeve.It has never overheated however in the last year it has developed a severe coolant loss without leaking. Once a week the overflow tank has to be filled completely however it is not leaking from underneath the vehicle. It is also not mixed in with the oil either.

Now onto the questions:

This is not a daily driver and can be torn down and left for extended periods. The o2 sensors and hubs do not have to be replaced immediately and can wait until after the engine is pulled. I plan on pulling the engine completely. What I want to do: tear down to block, have block cleaned, old liners taken out and top hat liners installed. The remaining parts will be inspected by a machine shop in order to see what if anything can be reused. I will either have the heads rebuilt or purchase remanufactured ones.


Question 1: If time is not an option would you either tear down original engine and work from there, or buy a block from a salvage yard and work from there? Or tear down original engine but have a spare block on hand in case of issues with original block. To have a bare block cleaned, tested, and old liners removed and new ones put in will be $450 dollars with myself providing the liners.

Question 2: Normally when rebuilding a 4.0 from the block up, would one expect any parts to be reusable, if so which ones would normally be reused if there were not any problems? I understand that bolts, gaskets and things of this nature can not be reused and am referring to internals as well as things like water pump etc etc.

Question 3: Once the block has been done and is ready to have parts put back in and on, but there is time in between when parts go in is there any particular way the block should be stored and/or protected?

Money is not so much of an issue due to the process being spread out over a year, however if everything was done at once it would be an issue. If you were in this position or have been in this position what steps did you take and in what order?

Any and all work I do myself I have the correct tools for as well as the proper torque wrenches, especially for the wheel nut in order to remove the front hubs. I do have the workshop manual and will be removing the engine and tearing it down myself and as each part is replaced I will either do it under guidance from an experienced mechanic or have a shop do it. The installation will be done by myself once everything is done. I am not into off roading as I was when younger and will use this mainly for exploring areas on private land which I have obtained permission to do in order to look for old buildings/ruins and things of that nature. I simply wish to make it reliable.

I do not need more horsepower nor am I in search of mileage improvement as long as I am getting factory gas mileage or close to it. As of right now it is 10 miles on 93 octane with careful driving though it used to be close to 15.

Summary: Pulling engine, what to look for and what would you rebuild/replace?

Stay with oem parts or are there any aftermarket items that are less expensive but just as good?


I am doing this because I want to, I am not looking into reselling and do not want this to turn into a debate about it being a money pit and not worth doing. I am looking for help from people who have done this and if there is anything I may run into that I can not do out of my own garage and will have to have a professional mechanic do. I have tried to be very thorough as I am not sure how many days might pass before I am able to check and respond to any questions or responses. Thank you in advance for your help.

 

1. $450 (cheap) with you supply the liners, the liner are approx. 100.ea; you can buy a block already top hatted for $1500.
2.reuse the pistons, rods, crankshaft & valves, everything else will need to be new, ie water pump is external.
3.cover with cosmoline and assembly lube in a plastic bag of two.

so you going to do all blueprinting/fitting all the bearings,rings, check and adjust gapes, thrust angles,valve spring height and pressures? check everything with micrometers or plast-a-guage. have you ever built a motor from scratch before?

buy the time you add up everything you will have in it, you might want to look at one already done with warranty.

Are you sure you have a torque wrench that goes to the 360 so lbs the hubs call for?

 

From my experience be very careful were you get the top hat work done or purchase one already done on exchange. I won't mention the shop but we had bought a block already top hatted from a shop that supposedly does this and it end up costing a hell of a lot more to fix the block after. I would see if you can use yours and mark your block so you know that its yours when you get it back. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

quite true; installing flanged liners is not just a matter of pressing out out and one in it requires a good amount of machine work on the block to fit them. best left to someone who has already done them before.

 

Thank you for your reply, The top hats are going to be coming from Turner across the pond and are cheaper to buy there than stateside from the place out in California even when shipping is in the equation. The blue printing I am not worried about as this is not a race engine. Balancing however is something I can check myself and have work done accordingly. I realise that each part must be the same weight, i.e. pistons should all be the same, connecting rods etc etc.

The shop I am using has been in the business for 40 years and normally work on things much more complicated than Rover engines. They specialise in muscle and race cars though have done work on a few rovers in the past. I decided to go with this shop because of the recommendation of over 20 different people that have had various projects completed through them and not one complaint.

As far as the reassembly, my good friend is a former mechanic and welder and is retired. He will be guiding me through everything as this is a project he wants to help on. He has the tools needed though as I mentioned if there comes a problem then I have no issues taking it to the shop and having them complete some of the work. I have not built a motor from scratch but my friend has built plenty. The machine shop will either rebuild the heads or I will compare that cost to a set of all ready remanufactured ones which seem to go for about 450 a piece vs the 600+ if going through Atlantic British.

The only real modification I plan on doing is to the exhaust as I would prefer a true dual exhaust, not to gain horsepower but to free up some space underneath where it currently is and the headers have all ready been found and the custom layout has been planned. The block you mentioned that is all ready tophatted, where might one find that? Every place that I have looked so far is either a short block or long block and is far more expensive than that. The problem with buying one all ready done is for me it would take the fun and experience away from doing it. Time is not a factor, this is something I want to do for knowledge and experience. My biggest torque wrench goes from 0-600lbs and is calibrated. Also I have other smaller torque wrenches to cover all of the other torques for everything in the vehicle. I might also mention that this shop will allow me to supply all parts needed as long as they are oem then they will warranty the work. I plan on this however if there is a better but less expensive after market part I would like to find some insight on this.

 

Thank you for your reply! The shop I am using is 2 miles from my house and they will be using whatever block I supply and they have also agreed that even though I can not be in the immediate area I can be on premises and watch through a window, not because I do not trust them, but because I am interested in seeing how it is done.

 

Here is a list of what we replaced with new parts and what we reconditioned.
We also used Rimmers Bros in the UK for most of the parts.
Order your main and con rod bearings from British Atlantic

Recon:
-Block top hatted
-Crank .010 undersized
-Rods
-Pistons
-Heads

New Parts:
-ARP head studs (no more TTY bolts)
-Piston rings
-Con bearings
-Main bearings
-Oil pump
-Water pump
-Valve springs
-Valve guide seals
-Complete rocker assembly
-Push rods
-Lifters
-Radiator
-Cam shaft
-Cam shaft retainer
-Block plugs
-Thermostat
-Rad hoses
Every gasket and O-ring
And probably more but thats just off the top of my head.
Just don't build your engine and decide to use your old rad, we made that mistake once. With that much money and time invested its cheap insurance.
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Thank you for your response and help. I have all of the information I need now and I appreciate you along with everyone else taking the time to respond!