Engine rebuilder wanted $$$

[James Gelido]

Hey guys,

As per my last post, managed to score a main bearing. Wondering if anyone is willing to rebuild a 403 motor or know anyone around the Sydney area? (obviously will pay )

Everything is now good to go, and as far as I know, just a matter of re-assembling the motor. The Block, crank and head have all been cleaned, soaked in molasses and bead blasted. No cracks or major damage.

Also have new sleaves, piston heads, and bearings, second hand water pump, new gasket set etc

PM Me or just reply to this thread guys!

Thanks

 

[luthier]

You'll need to get the head done properly at a good head place. I took mine to Head Jobs Unlimited in Five Dock one time. They welded and built up where the cracks are between the spark plug holes and the inlet port. They fitted new valve guides and recut the seats and assembled the valves. They did a pretty good job with all of that but they fitted the welsh plug in the back of the head without peaning it flat, so after I had fitted the head I discovered that the way they did it leaving it domed, was wrong and could drop out sometime so it was off with the head again. The first head I put on had those cracks and everyone said not to worry about them, but everyone was wrong!!!!!

By the way, I'm curious. You've got all this stuff together so it's going to be a breeze to assemble. Why don't you take courage, get a tension wrench and some feeler gauges and do it yerself? I have a manual if you need one, it's photographed from a real one, but honestly these are the simplest things to put together, in fact a very good way to discover how to do this stuff and get your hands dirty.
For absolute luxury get yourself an engine stand so you can flip the engine upside down for fitting the sump etc. That'll cost you about $150. Then as you go through just ask every time you don't know. People here have plenty of experience to guide you through the process. There'll be differences of opinion about various things but that's what you'll need to work out, like who has the real experience and who has a hold of themself.

The other thing you'll need to do is have the crank properly measured by an engine reconditioner. They will be able to put the miicrometer on it to see if it is in spec for a particular bearing size or if it needs grinding. You can't see this by looking at it.
Then if the crank is OK it has to have the bronze inserts removed to clean out the sludge trap which is inside the hollow crankshaft. This must be perfectly clean and then new plugs need to be fitted and they have to be loctited in and peaned over the thread so they can't come loose.

Fitting the bearings is a matter of lubricating with startup lube, a grease that protects on first startup, and the direction they go on and the direction the pistons face has to be correct. There's an arrow on the tops of the pistons that points the way it's supposed to go. I forget which way that is.
The bearing direction facilitates the oil flow so if done the wrong way the oil ways won't flow.
The oil pump must be set up by an engineer and probably skimmed on a surface grinder for optimum results.
The assembly of the timing chain must be correct and there are proper marks for lining this up in most cases.

There are many Youtube videos for understanding each process like for instance fitting the rings onto the pistons or fitting the pistons into the bores. Each process is fairly straightforward but care must be taken and a cool head is the best for making these things work.
Anyway it's up to you, but if you decide to do it I doubt you'll regret it if you are of a temperament that can sit down quietly and follow instructions. If instead you are a hot head who gets upset and throws things about if at first you don't succeed then by all means, get someone who actually knows about it to do the job for you. But be very wary of who you get because it's easy to cock up if you don't have a proper duty of care and it's also easy for these kinds of large jobs to stall somewhere before completion, leaving you out of pocket and with nothing to show for it.

If I were in Sydney I'd put it together for you in a heartbeat.

 

[Peter C]

I'd have a go but it depends on your skill/experience level. Is there a friend or someone who has done engine work before?

 

[James Gelido]

You'll need to get the head done properly at a good head place. I took mine to Head Jobs Unlimited in Five Dock one time. They welded and built up where the cracks are between the spark plug holes and the inlet port. They fitted new valve guides and recut the seats and assembled the valves. They did a pretty good job with all of that but they fitted the welsh plug in the back of the head without peaning it flat, so after I had fitted the head I discovered that the way they did it leaving it domed, was wrong and could drop out sometime so it was off with the head again. The first head I put on had those cracks and everyone said not to worry about them, but everyone was wrong!!!!!

By the way, I'm curious. You've got all this stuff together so it's going to be a breeze to assemble. Why don't you take courage, get a tension wrench and some feeler gauges and do it yerself? I have a manual if you need one, it's photographed from a real one, but honestly these are the simplest things to put together, in fact a very good way to discover how to do this stuff and get your hands dirty.
For absolute luxury get yourself an engine stand so you can flip the engine upside down for fitting the sump etc. That'll cost you about $150. Then as you go through just ask every time you don't know. People here have plenty of experience to guide you through the process. There'll be differences of opinion about various things but that's what you'll need to work out, like who has the real experience and who has a hold of themself.

The other thing you'll need to do is have the crank properly measured by an engine reconditioner. They will be able to put the miicrometer on it to see if it is in spec for a particular bearing size or if it needs grinding. You can't see this by looking at it.
Then if the crank is OK it has to have the bronze inserts removed to clean out the sludge trap which is inside the hollow crankshaft. This must be perfectly clean and then new plugs need to be fitted and they have to be loctited in and peaned over the thread so they can't come loose.

Fitting the bearings is a matter of lubricating with startup lube, a grease that protects on first startup, and the direction they go on and the direction the pistons face has to be correct. There's an arrow on the tops of the pistons that points the way it's supposed to go. I forget which way that is.
The bearing direction facilitates the oil flow so if done the wrong way the oil ways won't flow.
The oil pump must be set up by an engineer and probably skimmed on a surface grinder for optimum results.
The assembly of the timing chain must be correct and there are proper marks for lining this up in most cases.

There are many Youtube videos for understanding each process like for instance fitting the rings onto the pistons or fitting the pistons into the bores. Each process is fairly straightforward but care must be taken and a cool head is the best for making these things work.
Anyway it's up to you, but if you decide to do it I doubt you'll regret it if you are of a temperament that can sit down quietly and follow instructions. If instead you are a hot head who gets upset and throws things about if at first you don't succeed then by all means, get someone who actually knows about it to do the job for you. But be very wary of who you get because it's easy to cock up if you don't have a proper duty of care and it's also easy for these kinds of large jobs to stall somewhere before completion, leaving you out of pocket and with nothing to show for it.

If I were in Sydney I'd put it together for you in a heartbeat.

Wow! Great stuff and thanks for the detailed reply and offer. Really appreciate it!

I do have a parts manual but have practically zero experience in putting together an engine (body work is more my thing), and there is just too much that could go wrong. I would rather play it safe and find someone who has experience then put it together myself, only to find out I missed something that leads to a massive banging and/or ringing, haha. I would however strongly consider doing it myself if I had had someone there to personally guide me and teach me. Would be interesting to learn!

I have been recommended a few places for engine reconditioning but just wanted to check any recommendations from the Peugeot boys to make sure if there is someone with experience with 203 and 403 engines that would be preferable.

Btw, was there really a place called 'Head Jobs Unlimited'!? Sorry for sounding rude but surely they knew what they were doing when naming that store! :joker:

 

[James Gelido]

I'd have a go but it depends on your skill/experience level. Is there a friend or someone who has done engine work before?

Hey Peter, I have pretty much zero experience in rebuilding an engine and have no friends or contacts in Sydney that could personally guide me Hopefully someone can reccomend someone with some experience or a rebuilder.

 

[GRAHAM WALLIS]

I can do it but am in Melbourne. If you do it yourself, make sure you drill the area where the crank plugs are peened over or you won't be able to get them out in one piece.

 

[PeterT]

The best head place in Sydney is RAMS at Windsor.

 

[James Gelido]

Hey Graham, long time .... Thanks for that. I managed to find a place in Artarmon called Leons Engineering. The guys is old school and completely reveled over doing a 403 engine, he said, as an apprentice in the 60s he was working with them Dropped the engine off today. Will keep ya posted!