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1.3 rebuild

Posted: Sun 16 Apr, 2023 6:39 pm
by andrew.donegan
Hey guys

Got a 92 Sierra 1.3 and the engine needs a rebuild.
I don’t have the time and competency to do it by myself.
One cylinder has very little compression.

Are there any recommendations for someone to rebuild. Car is located in LEONGATHA but happy to bring motor to south east suburbs if that’s easier.
Thanks

Re: 1.3 rebuild

Posted: Mon 17 Apr, 2023 9:29 am
by greyghost
my recommendation is to find another motor.
a replacement engine will be a 1/4 the cost of a rebuild, possible less if you were paying someone to do the rebuild work for you.

to properly rebuild, you'll need to re-sleeve the bores, or it will burn oil due to the way the bores wear.
and thats assuming the crank and rods are in good usable order

for an idea, the last engine i rebuilt cost $2.5K in machine work alone, and the bores didn't need a re-sleeve
pistons were over $1K, plus all the other bits and pieces the total cost of parts alone was just over $5K and i did all the labour of assembly myself and i didn't have to touch the head. if i was to pay someone to do the assembly it would have been well over $10K

this was over ten years ago, and i can assure you it hasn't got cheaper in that time.
the machine work and labour alone make rebuilding most cheap and readily available engines still not worth the effort.

and i know there are rebuild kits out there for $1K for the 1.3, these are of dubious quality. and if you want your hard work to last thats the minimum cost for 4 pistons alone, much less the costs the remaining parts and the extra involved in rebuilding the head.