I'm rebuilding an SPI. If this post gets some attention then I'll post both pictures and vids of the work. I didn't find anything on SPI rebuilds. Maybe nobody wants to build these engines and fixing the actual problem. Just wondering. Thanks guys.
Components are already worn in.
easier on the pocket if only slightly
less complex requires less tools
more hp for less work.
easir to mod basics and get more of a reasult
If I where to go at.the sohc.... I would have to drop a pretty penny. I love the way single cams run turboed and a engine like the focus with all those tight mechanics to it, id say it would be a sweet ride with some awesome High rpm action.
My wife's 2003 sedan puked a seat so I bought a parts car for only $300 with new rubber. A long block delivered to my door is around $2,200. The cheapest junkyard engine was found in Texas with ONLY 170,000 miles for $1800. Ford wants $2600 for a long block. I would never install a used engine wether it was a single or dual cam. Plus being a mechanic with engine experience and all the tooling and friends with machine shops I figured it was financially a no brainer. Plus I feel that I've been challenged by ford to fix this problem. My goal is to give this problem child a new life. I hope- no, intend to get another 100,000 miles from this engine. I'm sure some folks would point out cheap long blocks but with shipping it always adds up to around "a lot". Plus I bought the car for only $3300 for work.
The damage to the engine is head, cracked block and a hole in the oil pan. Crank was trashed also. And the fire from the engine oil onto the exhaust manifold too. I drank heavily that day.
Oh! I almost forgot. The towing charge from WHISTLERS TOWING in Marquette, Michigan charged me $480 for a 3 mile trip from the car to WHISTLERS TOWING'S shop and then 3.5 miles to the Ford Dealership. Still pissed about it![mad]
Good to hear you are wanting to rebuild vs trashing or zetec swapping. I recently completed an engine swap on sons 02 SPI. Father in law rebuilt bottom end and machine shop did top. Good luck on your quest and keep us up to date on progress.
I'd love to see a build thread on this. Will probably need it sooner rather than later.
Also, I am assuming you know this, but make sure you get a remanufactured head, or your new rebuild will probably eventually suffer the same fate as the old motor.
Mainly because I'm in the same boat right now. Well, other than I don't have a cracked block and blown oil pan.[:0] Dang, that must have hurt. My condolences. I was also very fortunate in that my towing bill for 9 miles ended up being $60, but still.........
i got reman head with the better seats, and a used short block.
with gaskets other stuff it came to $900 no labor in that figure.. as i did the work.
now i have two more to fix one thats toast like the first one, and another thats still running..190K [unsure] makes me want to know if theres a way to tell if its the original head..
i stay with the spi's for there better economy.
with the manual in a 4 door sedan 40/45 mpg is normal for me..
i did 50 mpg with a tale wind one time 42 coming back in to the wind.
I just did a rebuild on our 01 se spi engine. Damage to the original engine was pistons 2, 3and 4, with 2 and 4 both broken comoletely away from the rod. 2 and 4 rods bent, obviously the head was done for. We chose to buy a short block from a junkyard for $150, reman head from heads only for $225 and a sealed power re-ring kit fron autozone online for about $225 I think. Took our time over the period of a weekend and built a complete motor and installed it. Total cost after oil, filter, antifreeze, sparkplugs and such, we were still under $700 and now have an excellent running engine that I have no doubt will last a lot longer than the original one did at 120k miles.
I'm all about swapping out for better or faster or whatever but for us it made sense to go this route since the car is just a family car that's meant to get decent fuel mileage. It seemed like I could have gotten a totaled twin cam car and done the swap for the same ammount or less but couldn't justify having a 100k + engine. If I had know there would be a demand, I would have taken some detailed pics and done a writeup. The spi really is probably the simplest engine rebuild I've ever done.
Also, I found it easier to put the freshly built block into the car then drop the head and intake manifold assembly onto the block afterwards instead of trying to fight with a complete engine. In my opinion, the 2 piece install seemed best.
My engine is going bad 8 believe it's the infamous problem with the valve seat failing in the 2.0 spi... I'm looking for assist work either a swap to a zetech or rebuild of my current engine
Yes I have been thinking about doing a build. I have read a lot about people doing swaps and after all that I have read I would really like to know how and if any one has done one. One of the main things I would like to know is if anyone has done a head swap to a DOHC with the SPI.
The more and more I dig into it the more and more I am thinking I got ripped off. The body has a few minor dings and scratches but is real good. The interior has a few stains and is dirty but no rips, Dash is good, everything is stock.
The issues are under the hood. I have ordered and got a few parts and replaced them and it can pass inspection now. Believe it or not that car will still run 80 mph down the road. The issues are that some one must have ran it off the road cause the radiator is held on with wire, the AC lines flop around in the wind, and there is a lot of missing plastic pieces under the hood and wheel wells.
Does anyone know where to get a engine built like balanced and new pistons or it is not worth it for this car?
I did notice there are a few short blocks on ebay for under 500 but they are stripped. and need everything else added to it.
Are you guys making a decent profit on buying these cars with dropped valve seats? Can I as how much you're paying for them, how much you're putting into tjem.and how much they are selling for?
i have done two spi rebuilds, both of which only required a new #4 piston and a new head, i did the first one in about 3 weeks, and the second took a week ish, between work and school. for new parts its about 800 dollars in parts, i made about $1500 off of the second one.
800 seems to be what a lot of people pay for parts, if only one piston needs to be replaced. Normally that seems to be the case, but you won't really know until you pull the head, AFAIK.
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