I am replacing the crankshaft and connecting rod bearings as well as the piston rings because I have the engine apart to convert a 4.0 block&heads to a 4.6L engine. Lucky 8 has a set of piston rings for $100. A similar set on Atlantic British is around $200. Lucky-8 also has unbranded main bearings for $31 with branded ones at $78. Atlantic British also has them from around 80. FCPeuro has the bearings from eurospare for $34.


Is the cheaper stuff ok to buy or will it wreck my engine?

 

Buy the best parts you can get, it is well worth the money.

 

My approach is to buy the cheaper items only for stuff that does not impact reliability, or I don't care so much about a perfect fit. I draw a line for internal engine parts, since I want to be certain, and doing the job twice is not economical. That said, Lucky8 has never failed me.

My mechanic recommends genuine components because they are guaranteed to work. Why roll the dice. You will not be sorry buying the good stuff, and you might be sorry if you don't.

 

L8 has let me down time and time again even on not their cheapest option. L8 is literally the last option for me when it comes to buying parts.

 

Somewhat surprisingly, good parts from England are available rather quickly for good prices. For example, I bought a set of Bearmach springs from Rimmer Bros. and paid less even including shipping. Maybe check out their bearings. They offer genuine LR components, as well as the cheap brands from China.

 

The bitterness of poor quality lingers long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten. Lucky8 is this embodied and always has been. They have SUCH great pricing on some parts, but literally every time I've been baited into getting them, they're total garbage, and whatever project I'm working on is inevitably delayed for yet another week while I wait for the parts to arrive from the place I should've gotten them from in the first place.

 

To my initial surprise, my experience with L8 has been very positive. I'm normally the sort of person who goes with more expensive parts, but I tried them five or six years ago and everything I have bought from them since (water pump, drive shaft, coolant reservoir, hoses, power steering pump, windshield cowl) have all worked well out of the box and lasted years.

Granted, I drive only 4-5k miles per year, but it has all been good. YMMV of course.

 

Anything internal to the engine, get the best parts and skip L8. Otherwise it's not a problem.

 

I mean, I'd say anything that requires more than a couple hours to install too, like ball joints, I'd hate to repeat that procedure because the ones installed were garbage.

And anything safety related too, like brake components.

 

I contacted lucky8 and they said the piston rings come from BRITPART. Would It be ok to buy those, or should I get them for double the cost from British Atlantic?