How hard is it to rebuild a Festiva engine?

[JimFestiva]

Anyone rebuilt a B3 engine? Is is hard? What special tools are required? I have got one to rebuild, but am a little chicken to get started.

[Pu241]

Well Jim, you have two people in Georgia I know personally have the skills to assist you if you run into an issue. But, as you decide to leave the whole state as your location I don't know if they would be close enough to lend a hand.

If you have the Ford or Haynes manual and some basic tools your good to go, depending how deep you intend to go into the rebuild. Rebuild can be a vague term or a very exact term. What is your definition of rebuild. The deeper you go into the engine the more special tools will be needed. But most of them can had via a "loan a tool" program many Mcparts places have.

[Safety Guy]

On my last build I took the head off a B6 (basically the same as a B3), put on a new head gasket, reinstalled and torqued the head bolts. I also put in all new seals, took off the oil pan and main bearing support plate (B3 doesn't have this part), oil pickup, and then cleaned and reinstalled all of those.

Took the distributor off, had the head checked and decked, put in a new WP and timing belt, and when I put it all back together, it started!

Not exactly a "rebuild," since I didn't take apart the block insides, nor did I take apart the head and valvetrain. Before this I'd only done seals and WP/timing belt for my first time. Next time I plan on taking apart almost everything!

If you've done oil changes, replaced a WP, and other small jobs, you should be good to go as long as you have a good manual and maybe buy a book or video on engine rebuilding.

Plus you'll have all kinds of info and advice from the folks on here!

Here's a link to my build thread:

http://www.fordfestiva.com/forums/showthread.php?t=31934&highlight=aquamutt+build

Plenty of pics. This was farther than I'd ever gone before in taking apart either a whole car or an engine.

Karl

[blkfordsedan]

Its not hard. The thing is, it all depends on the condition of the engine you are rebuilding. If you're lucky, you can get by with honing the block, surfacing the head, cleaning everything up and installing new rings, bearings and gaskets. If you're unlucky, it will need bored, new pistons, crank ground, etc.. When you disassemble it, you can inspect everything and get a good idea of what may or may not need attention, if you know what you're looking for. It also depends on to what extent you want to go in terms of the rebuild. If you don't have them, a good machine shop will have all the proper tools for measuring the pistons, crank, rods, block, etc., and will be able to tell you what needs machine work and how much.

I am in the process of rebuilding a SOHC B6 with a few performance modifications. The motor I bought was somewhat neglected and saw very few oil changes. Even so, I was able to get by with honing the block and polishing the crank, but I had to buy new pistons. I could have reused them, but they showed some moderate wear and the result would have been a little noise at cold start-up and less than perfect ring seal. If I was only looking to get 70K or 80K miles out of the rebuild, I would have reused them. However, my goal was a motor that will run 150K+ miles, put out 90 to 100hp (B6) and stand up to occasional abuse at the same time.

[getnpsi]

Tearing down a b3/b6 is a great foundation for any engine work to gain experience and confidence. The machine shops will charge the same rate on any work however. That being said, it's hard to not just say, "Get a BP and rebuild that one because that's what you are going to want to do next year when your car is still slow."

iceracerdude has done them and is very thorough, and has documented many of his conquests. You are going to need the shop book or do some internet researching and printing so you can have all the specs and measurements with you. I personally try to judge the cost of tools vs the labor to pay someone else to do it. If i only see myself using the tool once and cant resell the tool, its ok to pay another. If you plan on doing multiple engines where the tool can save you some money then that is the ticket.

[htchbck]

Where in GA are you located Jim? I'm at the far north end of GA400, and I'd be glad to lend a hand in the rebuild if you're not too far away!

[blkfordsedan]

The machine shops will charge the same rate on any work however.

The shop I went to charged me about 1/2 as much to hone the block, polish the crank and do a valve job as they do for a typical V8. Still, when I consider the total dollar investment I have in mine, I could of got a used BP with 25-30 more horsepower for the same money. The only advantage is that I have a completely rebuilt motor and I know exactly what it is. Plus, the enjoyment of building an engine exactly the way I want it.

[georgeb]

If the motor is still in the car there are some tests you can do to see what needs done. Make sure you pressure-wash it before you begin.

[jbuck1975]

I've kind of been wondering the same thing. I've got manual, but don't know what everything SHOULD look like.

EVO deck'd out with Bruce Lee

[FestYboy]

copper spray is your friend...

and cleanlyness IS godlyness.

if you REALLY want to do this, purchace some quallity measureing tools and a QUALITY 3/8 torque wrench (you WILL have to spend some real money for these things)

[JimFestiva]

Sorry for the delay in getting back. I am having internet problems. I am way down in the Thomasville GA area. I have the Ford manuals and a fair amount of tools. Both my engines are working now (90 and 91 festiva), but I have a third one that is high mileage that I bought last year from 91mcnasty. According I have an indoor shop, so I could keep things clean and take my time.

How much do parts and machine work normally run on a full rebuild? Basically, I am committed to keeping these cars running forever. I bought my 91 a couple of years ago and have put around 45k miles on it. The 90 model is missing 4th gear, so I have a manual transmission project in my future also.

[htchbck]

Oh wow sounds like you're a lot closer to the FL crew than me then! As for costs, RockAuto is your friend! I ordered a set of rings last night for one of my B3s I'm rebuilding, they were about $50 for the set. HG set is around $80, front and rear crank seals about $15 each. Other than that its mostly just machine work, depends entirely on how much you are having done and how much the local shops charge. I have rebuilt a couple of B3s to repair bad rings without having any machine work done at all. Last one only had about 150k on it and I reused the rod bearings on it since there was nothing else wrong besides rings. Just pulled the head and oil pan, pulled the pistons, honed the cylinders, threw on new rings, and put everything back together. Had less than $100 in it. But thats not a full rebuild though lol.

[Movin]

Oh wow sounds like you're a lot closer to the FL crew than me then! As for costs, RockAuto is your friend! I ordered a set of rings last night for one of my B3s I'm rebuilding, they were about $50 for the set. HG set is around $80, front and rear crank seals about $15 each. Other than that its mostly just machine work, depends entirely on how much you are having done and how much the local shops charge. I have rebuilt a couple of B3s to repair bad rings without having any machine work done at all. Last one only had about 150k on it and I reused the rod bearings on it since there was nothing else wrong besides rings. Just pulled the head and oil pan, pulled the pistons, honed the cylinders, threw on new rings, and put everything back together. Had less than $100 in it. But thats not a full rebuild though lol.

One point about what you did..You had access to every part of a complete
rebuild. You did it yourself. You should have more confidence than if you
bought a new or rebuild from Ford. All rebuilders and new car engines
have a success rate and none of them are 100%. There is nothing like
having every part in your hands and checking the fit while installing.
Just rings or every part, that's awesome !!!

[blkfordsedan]

I agree about Rock Auto. If you watch the site, they occasionally put parts on closeout and you can get some pretty good deals. For my B6 SOHC, I bought new:
-pistons w/rings
-all new bearings (rod, main & thrust)
-gasket set
-new oil pump
-timing belt & tensioner
-valve guides
-freeze plugs
-Speedi Sleeves for front & rear crank seals

For machine work, I had:
-block finish honed and oil galley drilled & tapped
-crank micropolished
-pistons pressed on the rods
-valve guides installed and valves ground
-head milled .020"

I have a total of about $300 in parts and $200 in machine work. I already had a new water pump, FMS cam and HLA's, but I still want to buy a Cometic head gasket. I figure I'll have about $750 when all said, but if your going for a complete and detailed stock rebuild, you should be able to do it for about $500. Once again, it all depends on the condition of the motor you start with.

[blkfordsedan]

One point about what you did..You had access to every part of a complete
rebuild. You did it yourself. You should have more confidence than if you
bought a new or rebuild from Ford. All rebuilders and new car engines
have a success rate and none of them are 100%. There is nothing like
having every part in your hands and checking the fit while installing.
Just rings or every part, that's awesome !!!

This is how I feel as well. I may have more money in my rebuild than what I could have bought a junkyard BP for, but, I will know exactly what I have. I will/do know the actual piston-to-wall clearance on each cylinder, bearing clearances, condition of the cam journals, deck clearance, how true the deck surface and main saddles are, the exact cam timing, dynamic compression, etc...
To me, that knowledge is worth a lot. Plus, the satisfaction of doing it all yourself, being able to port the head & manifolds and getting all the specs to where you want them. I've seen "budget" remanufactured motors with 36,000 mile warranties that probably wouldn't last more than 40K miles. The machine work was horrendous. The block was bored but not finish honed, the pistons were 1/4" below deck and the crank would not turn in the block if you installed new bearings.