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Timing belt snapped.
Broke number one exaust valve, put a dent in the top of one of the pistons.
everything else seems to be ok.
Think I got off lucky really.

got a new valve and gasket set from GSF, gonna chance the piston as cannot afford another at the moment and i think it'd be a complete bugger of a job to do.

How easy is it to re-seat valves?

E gads. (would use stronger language but theres a swearword filter, not like on http://ww.porka.net oh no, no swearword filter on there. Just loads of other daft ones moderators keep putting on.

Anyway, sorry to hear that, thats one of my worst fears a snapped cambelt. I changed mine on my black one (for sale) the other day after it reaching 69K miles (a little late I know) My dad was saying "it looks ok so why change it?" and he really knows his stuff but all I could say was "you never know" What mileage were you on when It happened? You know you could probably get a teplacement engine for less than £100, My 1.4 engine cost £75 although to be fair I had to buy a gearbox as well (also £75)

good luck sorting it mate anyway.

Gareth_GT_Hatch wrote: You know you could probably get a teplacement engine for less than £100, My 1.4 engine cost £75 although to be fair I had to buy a gearbox as well (also £75)

good luck sorting it mate anyway.

Cheers, might have to get another engine if the piston turns out to be too damaged.
Where did you get yours from?

Theres a Guy on porka called Steve (86C is his username) he got the engine for me. 1.3 CL engines should be dirt cheap and readily available.

What mileage had yours done when it went?

btw Steve is based in Nottingham, give him a try I would give u his number but I'll check first. PM me If u want his number and I'l sort it...

if its a cl engine why not upgrade to a gt instead of spending hundreds on rebuild ?

ouchie....... thats damn lucky only one bent valve (a cambelt failure you could theoretically drive away from... on 3 pots... if you stuck a new one straight on)... soon as i figured out how old mine was, and the danger of leaving it that way (even at.... what, was probably 65000 at the time) I got it booked right in.

For 65k miles I guess the engine had done a fair few spins (city traffic, low power 'n' all) as the new one looked to have FAR more definition to the teeth than the old one, which must have been in danger of slipping a tooth to look back!

But of course, it need not necessarily be that the belt teeth are worn down - the internal wires may be fatigued, the rubber cracked in a way that cant easily be seen without removing the belt anyway, oil contamination, etc...

If it's a 1.05, I have a set of spare pistons, complete with new piston rings and big end bearings that you're welcome to.. very easy to change with the engine in the car as well, just undo the sump, remove the head, undo the bearing caps, whack the pistons upwards out of the cylinder with the handle of a mallet or something, refit new pistons.

Good luck repairing it though, tis a bugger of a thing to happen..

cheers for the support guys,

Got the valve and the gaskets from GSF, only problem is they sent me the post 8/92 gasket set which has smaller valve stem seals in it. damn them. Anyone know if anything else changed in the way of gaskets between 91-92?

It's a 1.3 Groovy, but thanks for the offer,
btw.. if anyone has a spare 1.3 piston, I wouldn't mind nicking it off you if it's that easy to change one (is it that easy to change one?).

The car has done 84k, but the cam bet seemed to be in decent condition before it snapped.

If it is still dodgy after I've rebuilt it, I'll have to get a new engine.
Do they just bolt on to the gearbox? (only had experience with Mini engine swaps!)

hardhitter wrote:if its a cl engine why not upgrade to a gt instead of spending hundreds on rebuild ?

S'only cost me £40 so far, i'm doing it meself, if it's knackered, i'm gonna look into getting a bigger engine.

Theres a CL of some description in my scrappy. I could check to see how much some bits will cost you, unless the engine was the cause for this one being scrapped...

Karl_CLCoupe wrote:Theres a CL of some description in my scrappy. I could check to see how much some bits will cost you, unless the engine was the cause for this one being scrapped...

hmmm.. cheers for the offer.
Don't put yourself out, but see if you can see the pistons, the only thing i'm worried about is the dent in the piston...

You should worry what kind of damage has been done further down to the piston. You might have done more than physically denting the crown. It might have damaged the bearings or pin etc which would need replacing. And you would only know by stripping it or finding it knocks it t**s off when you run it. If you got a good known spare one you could swap the piston and rod over.

It all adds up when you think about reaplacing the valve getting the seat re-cut, head gasket set, skim etc and then the piston. I reckon that would be at the very least £200

Engine comes out attached to the gearbox, then if you want to keep the old box you remove the three bolts that hold it to the block and seperate them. Changing the engine isn't too much of a hassle really, I'd put aside a week or so if you've not done it before, in case you hit problems. It can comfortably be done inside 3 days at a slow pace - a day to disconnect everything, a day to remove the old and fit the new, and a day to reconnect everything again.

If, however, you're going to replace the piston, you may as well take the set of piston rings that I've got on my old set, they're brand new and I don't have a use for them, they're the same part for the 1.05 and the 1.3 engine. They're yours if you want them

hardhitter wrote:You should worry what kind of damage has been done further down to the piston. You might have done more than physically denting the crown. It might have damaged the bearings or pin etc which would need replacing. And you would only know by stripping it or finding it knocks it **** off when you run it. If you got a good known spare one you could swap the piston and rod over.

I'm just hoping and praying that it hasn't done anything like this.
We'll see when I put it all back together.

GroovyCarrot, I'll let you know if I need them. Cheers dude.