37 replies to this topic

[cradley-heathen]

i know this isnt a new topic, but my god what has the world come to!

 

whilst trawling through ebay looking at the engines, the prices have just gone REALLY silly now, i mean last year they were allot of money, but it just seems to have got worse now!

 

a 1275 short engine, that needs a rebuild, £250!

 

i do have a question about the prices of these units on ebay though, has anyone on here paid anything like £750 for a standard 1275 complete unit? or are these just ebay dreamers?

[Fast Ivan]

I got a complete unit for 100. Had a blown diff. The guy had it up for 500 odd to start with!

[Cooperman]

One of the reasons is because blocks are getting harder to find. Many blocks were over-bored and offset bored to 1380 or bigger and when these have become work a new block has been used due to the very high cost of trying to re-life a 1380 block.
It will simply get worse as blocks are 'used up'.
In a way we are fortunate in that the old A-series was mass-produced and we have had a 'happy time' with cheap engine parts.
All classic car spares get more hard to find as time passes and that is the case with all 1960's classics.
That is why we should try to preserve what we have and, for example, I recently had a 1330 cc engine to re-build. I insisted on sleeving it back to 1275 rather than going to 1380. After all, what is the point in going to 1380 for a road car. For a competition car, where performance is the main requirement and where owners can normally afford high cost block work, it is different although most competition cars have to comply with regulations which may make 1380 engines not allowed.
We need to preserve our engines for the future lest we run out of them.

[Carlos W]

I've got 4 1275 blocks and a couple of heads squirelled away for this very reason!

 

I'd be amazed if that short motor actually sells!

 

Doing a search of completed listings always gives a good idea of true value as it shows what's sold and what hasn't

[jakejakejake1]

I paid £80 for a running 998, it was missing the timing back plate but was complete other than that. that was about a month ago and I think that was a fair price. Not these unknown condition 998s going for 200-300+

[cradley-heathen]

as we are indeed, as cooperman pointed out, running out of blocks, is it really still out of the question to convert an auto block to use on a manual gearbox?

 

i know its involved, but i picked one up not that long ago for £25 and it had only covered super low miles!

[mk1leg]

I think £250 is a fair price for a 1275 block over here in jersey there like hens teeth...........so I picked one up whilst in the uk last year £200 complete engine and bos SPI........  

[mab01uk]

Parts are disappearing fast, mass production stopped in 2000.........it was not that long ago that now rare 850cc Mini engines were cheap common and almost worthless and often weighed in for scrap.

[Carlos W]

I don't think this is the best listing in the world, but isn't stupidly priced

 

http://www.ebay.co.u...5-/171031997215

[Artful Dodger]

We should think ourselves lucky.. If we were all ford guys looking for BD series engines, you would be looking at thousands and thousands of pounds for blocks!

[the_r_sole]

hmmm... maybe I'll hold on to the engines below the work bench in the shed for 10 more years! 

(or just give them away to anyone that can be bothered moving them as the original plan was)

[mad mk1]

I have a 998cc block sat in my garden getting in the way! I may just keep it lol.

[AVV IT]

I've wondered this too, when I was looking for a donor engine for my project a couple of months back, I noticed that asking prices were getting really quite ridiculous.

In the end I paid £450 for a low mileage 1275 metro HL unit, which was about £150 more than I intended to pay, but as it was the best example available at the time and could be heard running in the metro before it was removed, I figured I had better pay up.

I can't see anyone with any common sense parting with £700 for an engine that's already out of the car and can't be heard running, but then common sense doesn't seem to be all that common these days!

[james962]

Does help with people advertising at a silly high price, eventually price will increase as looking in the classified people will assume these are the going rates.

 

It's like people selling 998s for £200+. 5 years ago or so, people couldn't give them away!

[Jordie]

I sold a rebuilt unit (with photo evidence) for £1000

 

1275 mg metro engine. was complete near enought to drop in. including manifold and carb etc.

 

std engine, with std rebuild (bearings, oil seals, thrusts etc). no work done to the box.