Rebuild cost for EJ20G

[BLSTIC]

Ok this is technically not a technical thread, but I decided that here is a good enough spot for it.

Hopefully in a few weeks I\'ll be the proud owner of a 95 wrx with dead head gaskets. So I\'ll naturally be either ripping it apart to fix it, or replacing the engine with a secondhand one, and slowly pull it apart to fix it for later (or to try a few dumb ideas I have).

So the car has a few km on it, so while it\'s out, at a MINIMUM I\'ll have to do:

Every gasket I take off

Machine the heads

Cam belt

Water pump

Cam seals

And given that at that point I\'ll be staring at a high km short block, rings, bearings and hone the bore should be in order.

So what are these parts and the bore hone / head surfacing going to set me back?

I can\'t see myself getting out of the parts for less than $600, and I have no idea on the machining.

Any ideas people?

Oh and I\'m not yet in NZ, so going down to repco and pricing these parts isn\'t quite an option just yet.

The actual engine assembly I can do myself...

Thanks

Ben

[DacerX]

In my mind picture a big bag of money. And go from there....

[funkytown]

about 5000 to do it real proper. youll all tell me to piss off.. but its what it costs.

[Guest]

Aftermarket quarter to half genuine money. If youre just rebuilding to stock spec buy a shortie off innotech or tm similar and bolt it together. Just cost you the headbolts/gaskets, timing and time. Think they do fresh long blocks also pm marc.

[kamineko]

hi Ben. it\'s been a few years

hard to know exactly whats broken till you pull it apart aye

[rex-leggy]

for parts on a rebuild id allow atleast 4 times the amount stated in op

[BLSTIC]

Yeah it\'s been a few years.

I remember rebuilding a G13A Suzuki motor and it cost $1300 for everything including pistons/machining. But this is a different engine with two heads and a few more seals.

Alternatively I\'m looking for a secondhand EJ20G in good order

[Kiwi_Fozze]

Yeah, from what i\'ve seen and heard, about 5k seems to get a fairly solid short block...

[hijacka]

Stay away from repco..

Stick to genuine and you\'ll be sweet, it may also be cheaper aswell..

There may be some things you might like to change while there, but look at doing bearings etc would be best idea.. The earlier tensioner and bearing is exspensive, get the other mount and install the later tensioner bearing if you have the old style could save you some coin..

Allow ball park..

$250.. Headgaskets

$400..Rocker Gasket set and all seals

$650.. Timing belt, tensioners and water pump etc

$120 Heads machined

$150 headbolts oem or (permaseal $75)

$40 sealant

Look at other options of heads aswell.. I\'m putting together a engine on the cheap just for a daily driver its almost complete using a change over engine from a 95 wrx that had blown headgaskets, I\'ve dropped in some phase 1 ej20tt facelift pistons and heads just because i had them laying around but might be worth you buying some solid shim heads and dropping in some later pistons too imo the early pre 96 design is s*** ie not worth using again

[speedfreak]

 funkytown said:

about 5000 to do it real proper. youll all tell me to piss off.. but its what it costs.

spending anything less than this then dont bother, just get another one and swap when they blow up.

5G in mine with no machining or assembly cost. also the "while im here i may as well put this on" cost is pretty big, eg while your there you might as well put ARP bolts in, or forged rods to help with BeB, or race bearings rather than normal... etc etc.

make a budget, double it and it you wince at the thought then just through another at it

[Guest]

People like repco normally use nz gaskets anyway but more and more are starting to bring in chinese gaskets to compete on price. Nz gaskets are pretty reputable.

If youre not throwing more power than stock at it why bother making it bullet proof.

[hijacka]

 evowrx said:

People like repco normally use nz gaskets anyway but more and more are starting to bring in chinese gaskets to compete on price. Nz gaskets are pretty reputable.

If youre not throwing more power than stock at it why bother making it bullet proof.

Exactly, i don\'t think he mentions a \'\'forged build\'\' How does repco compare to subaru for the price and reliablity? I would think your probably better going genuine for all the parts at one time and getting discount on bulk parts?.

I\'d wait if i was op until you strip the engine measure crank and bore linings etc then make a choice where to go from there.. If its been sitting for awhile with blown head gasket then it could have scaring on the bore

You could always source a cheap cdb from trademe and use that for a starting point..theres afew around.. machining the bores, heads and deck will cost you less than $500.

No way does a build need to cost 5k in parts.

I could buy a new xdrilled 75mm throw crank ,i beam rods, forged pistons, new block bolts,seals, acl race bearings and have all the machining done to the block including rear thrust out and still have change left over from 5k

[BLSTIC]

I don\'t think it has been sitting too long (it still gets started). What do you mean by cdb? And it\'s not a performance build, it\'s just to get a reliable car that I can pawn off at some later date if I tire of it. Realistically a secondhand running engine would be my best bet but I think only wreckers (which charge through the roof) are qualified to tell me whether their secondhand motors are any good...

*edit: I meant the motors I can\'t see/test drive running. I don\'t want to pay more than $300 for a motor that\'s in some guys shed that he *says* was mint when it got pulled out

[hijacka]

 BLSTIC said:

I don\'t think it has been sitting too long (it still gets started). What do you mean by cdb? And it\'s not a performance build, it\'s just to get a reliable car that I can pawn off at some later date if I tire of it. Realistically a secondhand running engine would be my best bet but I think only wreckers (which charge through the roof) are qualified to tell me whether their secondhand motors are any good...

*edit: I meant the motors I can\'t see/test drive running. I don\'t want to pay more than $300 for a motor that\'s in some guys shed that he *says* was mint when it got pulled out

Closed deck block..

They come out in the early model legacys

[BLSTIC]

Oh I know what that is, I just didn\'t link cdb to it

*edit: years ago* I picked up one with wrx heads and legacy pistons for $300

[soopersubaru]

 funkytown said:

about 5000 to do it real proper. youll all tell me to piss off.. but its what it costs.

With splitting the block and doing a "proper" job this is a pretty good guide. Just heads? Around $2K should cover it V/V grind included in head work. Of course that would include removal and refit of engine, fluids etc.

[Marky]

Jebus

That\'s more than the average subaru is worth

Just buy a going motor and chuck it in, you could have 3 spares lying in wait for the price of one rebuild, it\'s not like you\'re planning on keeping it for the next 10 years

[hijacka]

 soopersubaru']

[quote name='funkytown said:

about 5000 to do it real proper. youll all tell me to piss off.. but its what it costs.

/quote]

With splitting the block and doing a "proper" job this is a pretty good guide. Just heads? Around $2K should cover it V/V grind included in head work. Of course that would include removal and refit of engine, fluids etc.

Would you care to give us a guide as to what parts cost you to make the 5k mark then? how much each part costs etc not just yeah throw 5k at it lol? imo 5k is bullocks.. unless your paying someone $150 per hour to piece it together slowly. I\'ve got a jig here that i use to remove valve springs and would take me about 2hours to remove and re lap valves and install new guides to each head.. cost of the paste is about $20 and new valve seals around $5.00 each.

[thorpy]

Since it comes up so often ill share what I spent , this is just some of it ( total was just over $7k )

Pistons $750

Rods $550

CDB $200

S/H Crank $80

Bearings $220

Head studs $180

Machining $1050

Gasket kit $550

Cambelt kit + w/p ect $500

Labour $1000

Fluids $150

Total $5010 ( my machining costs were a bit more as the heads needed to be machined for all new valves.

[soopersubaru]

LOL..........Thorpy............Well done........Yes that\'s what it costs alright!

Mr hijacka.......2 hours to re guide and relap valves?...thats all 16?....NO way!.....Rush job that will be low on quality for sure!.....Certainly wont be done by a craftsman!....4 hours per head done correctly with care including pressure test.

[BLSTIC]

Well there we go. That points to around $1300 in parts just for gaskets, timing belt kit, water pump, rings and bearings. Add a couple more hundred for the most minor of machining (hone the bore, surface the heads) and if nothing goes wrong with it my budget is still pushed to the limit.

Thank you people for your help, I believe i\'ll buy a secondhand motor. At 500 a pop I get three chances...

Thanks again

[soopersubaru]

Head gasket job price between $1500 to $2000 is reasonable....... From pulling engine out to customer driving away.......

Really depends on level of head work done.

Yes a reasonable second hand motor is always an option.......But head gasket condition,cambelt,water pump etc could be suspect...................Hard to know what is best sometimes.........Comes down to customer budget and decision.

Engine swap? Cost? $500 to $700.....Again depends on what is required......If you do the head gasket job it will obviously cost more,.......However when done you know its all good!........ belt,pulleys,pump etc All nice n new!

[BLSTIC]

I\'m doing all the work except the machining myself, so labour isn\'t a cost. I\'m thinking if I get a runner for a swap, change just the cam belt and drive it. Then I can strip the motor I have now and do it all at my leisure.

[hijacka]

 soopersubaru said:

LOL..........Thorpy............Well done........Yes that\'s what it costs alright!

Mr hijacka.......2 hours to re guide and relap valves?...thats all 16?....NO way!.....Rush job that will be low on quality for sure!.....Certainly wont be done by a craftsman!....4 hours per head done correctly with care including pressure test.

Thats per head matey, lapping them by hand, you don\'t need to be a craftsman to do it.. I think you all chugging the chain here : . if you read back i was saying 5k in parts is bullocks and it is.. along with the op doesn\'t want a forged block so why are you all quoting him for one lol?

[hijacka]

 thorpy said:

Since it comes up so often ill share what I spent , this is just some of it ( total was just over $7k )

Pistons $750

Rods $550

CDB $200

S/H Crank $80

Bearings $220

Head studs $180

Machining $1050

Gasket kit $550

Cambelt kit + w/p ect $500

Labour $1000

Fluids $150

Total $5010 ( my machining costs were a bit more as the heads needed to be machined for all new valves.

So thats $3180 without labour and machining cost Blair? Oh and minus the $200 for the cdb and $80 for the crank because he can use his standard one would take the cost under 3g..