How much does an engine "rebuild" cost?

Like the title says. I am very much concerned that my 1975 Maverick has either worn piston rings, or pistons (?) or valves. But I had a "valve job" done last year, so I'm guessing it couldn't be the valves.

The car eats oil, like a quart every week to two weeks, and the spark plugs are constantly being fouled up. Some carbon buildup, some corrosion, some oil around the tips and especially around the threads. (Blow-by?) Plus the smell of the exhaust is kinda bad, I can't really describe it because I'm lacking automotive vocabulary, but it doesn't smell "right".

So I'm thinking I may have to have it rebuilt, at least partially. Can rings by themselves be replaced and so not have to rebuild the entire thing?

I'm very inexperienced and lack knowledge in all these areas, as you can plainly see.

Thank you.

 

to replace the rings the cylinders need to be honed at the least. if the bores of the cylinders are too worn then they need to be machined then honed. when that happens you need new pistons for the bigger cylinder size. while all this is apart you will want new rod and crank bearings. the crank will need to be checked for its condition and may require some machining. then the proper bearing sizes can be determined.

so you should have the whole bottom end of your engine rebuilt vs just putting new rings in. you need to check with local machine shops to determine the cost.
usually a rebuild will also include a new cam, cam bearings, oil pump, timing chain, and other little things.

 

Thanks. I'll look into that.

 

I would say to pull a motor, rebuild a motor, and have it re-installed (I assume you can't do any of it yourself) would range from $3000 to $5000.

Sounds to me like bad valve seals. When you had the valve job done, did they replace all the valve seals? How much was the valve job?

 

I think all they did was machine the valve seals, until they were nice and shiny. I'm sure I'm not describing it accurately. If I can find the receipt again, I will come back and post the information there.

It was in the range of $450. A machine shop did it.

 

I got it now. It says:

Exvalve
Valve seals
Boil block/heads
Comp / Reg Valve Job
Knurl Guides
Resurface heads
Pressure test

But I really don't know what they "did". It was exactly $450.

 

Oh, some guy on the street suggested I get a dry followed by a wet compression test. That would tell me what's wrong.

 

Its not uncommon for the rings to show wear after doing a valve job...Chances are its the rings on the pistons that are bad...So, a complete rebuild would be your best option at this point. Dry/wet comp test will give you a good idea whats up.

 

When I had the 302 motor rebuilt in the '73 Comet in 2012, it set me back a little over $4,200.00. That included belts, hoses, plugs, fluids - everything and it was done in Los Angeles, CA.

 

Long block would be about 1200$
Short block maybe $900

 

price depends on if you live outside of Nowhere or in the middle of Nowhere...

 

Maybe I missed it but what size engine do you have?

 

Wow.. didn't even know todays shops still did guide knurling any more these days.

FYI.. knurled guides rarely last more than about 20-30k miles. It wouldn't have cost you much more to reline them. Next time.. have new guides(or k-liners) installed and freshen up the valve job with an added throat cut. Longevity and efficiency increases can very easily help offset the added costs over time. Oil and gas ain't exactly cheap anymore.

 

9 times out of 10 when you rebuild the heads and get compression back to where it should be...the next weakest link is the rings. Rebuilding or better words, assembling an engine is not too hard of a job. But machine work will need to be farmed out and a few special tools will need to be bought. Find a good book to read showing how to rebuild your small block Ford and follow the instructions. This will save you hundreds of dollars when it's all said and done.

 

Hope he still has lots of hair left though.