In a message dated 10/17/00 10:03:19 AM, maine2me@yahoo.com writes:
>Charley,
>
>Yep that is correct. Machine shop costs equate for
>about $600, Shipping about $250, reassembly about
>$350, the rest are parts all the way back to the 3
>piece clutch kit. BUT the engine is 20 over, 275 cam,
>9.5:1 Compression Ratio, larger oil galleries, ARP
>Head studs, dual valve springs, dual HS4 Carbs, etc.
>Hence the cost.
>
>Dan
First of all, as to the price in the info I passed on (lifted from my reply
to Barney when he made a similar comment when I sent him the FS info for the
Chicagoland MG website):
"As to the price - I didn't set it and you might notice by virtue of the fact
I passed it on, I didn't buy the car and wasn't tempted to do so.
What is no rust worth? If you have a rusted out, salt driven car with a good
engine, you have to consider that sills, floors, fender patch panels etc will
cost hundreds. I haven't sat and costed the panels for a Midget specifically
but when I bought them all in '96 for my BGT I spent $700 during a Roadster
Factory 20% off sale. Then you have to add in time (or considerable labor
expense if you have it done), finishing and painting. Or you can go $4000 or
so for a Heritage shell if they are even available, I have not seen any
Midget ones on offer at all in the US. And that still needs painting and
transferring everything where this one is drop in an engine. Maybe. On the
other hand there are other considerations that work against it like being
unable to check out all that one would look over in a road test. Keep in
mind, I got involved when a lister from Ohio wanted the car looked over. The
price on the table at that time was $3000 and he knew about the engine.
This is the stuff that makes horseracing, E-Bay, the free market and
presidential elections tick."
But anyway, just a few questions to Dan:
Did you install cam bearings? (I'm sure Larry Maly is interested . As well as
Larry Macy.)
Did you have any difficulty with the ARP studs? Both Mike Graziano and I got
sets that were too short. When installed bottomed in the block, only about
half the nut threads were engaged. When I talked to David Anton at APT where
I got mine, he checked them against a stock 1500 head and found they are
indeed short and apologized saying that the 1275 studs were specced by APT
but ARP designed the 1500 ones and he had never had anyone complain before.
Mike went to Moss studs, I used the ARP's partially threaded in (which is WAY
deeper in the block than stock studs) with thread-locker and with thinner
washers that APT supplied.
How much of your cost figure was for the HS4s? I certainly have no problem
with HS4s, but I don't consider them an essential requirement to running a
1500 either. Despite all the Zenith bashing I've read on the lists, I've
gotten 100K miles out of the one on my '79 and it's still doing fine.
When I first read your engine cost figure, I thought it was a bit high. I put
$1600 into the one I just rebuilt. But then taking into account the fact that
I did my own removal, dissassembly, reassembly and re-installation, I think
adding in the cost a shop would put on that time puts us in the same range.
Out of curiosity, was your $300 figure on top of your $2500 engine figure to
say you value a 37K mile '79 at $2800 or was that also factoring in a
sensible "other unknown factor"?
Kim Tonry
Downers Grove, IL
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