Death of the Essex
I had finally reached the point in my engine tear-down where it was clean enough to take
it to a machine shop, and have the serious work done to it - new valve seats, skimmed, etc.
I took it to Jackson's Machine Shop,
and turned it over to their expert opinion. They are really professional, and best of all,
honest. As a matter of fact, painfully honest!
In the meantime, I set about cleaning and prepping the other parts to go back onto the Essex.
I sandblasted, welded, and painted the oil pan, and even rebuilt the water pump. Things were
chugging along nicely.
After dropping off the heads, Jackson's hot tanked them and magnafluxed them - they wanted
to make sure that they were good before they did any work at all. Well, unfortunately,
Carmela called with the bad news, much like a vet telling and owner that you have to put your
pet to sleep. One of the heads had minor cracks, and the other was a total disaster. They
charged me a nominal fee for the work done, and advised me to junk the engine.
So, now it was time to do some soul-searching...and some serious math. It was going to cost me
over $1000 just to get some used heads from the UK, and that does not include all the
expensive seals and gaskets, new valves, new bearings, etc... that would have to be purchased.
I decided that the Essex was a goner, and brought her home to rest in peace (and in piece)
in the garage. Anyone need any parts?
It became time to dust off all the files and articles on engine swaps, and start consulting
all the Rover Advisors on the Guns and Rovers BB. Some people advised for the Chevy I6 250
and a Scotty's Adapter. Others mentioned the Iron Duke conversion. Most advised that I should
come back into the fold, and go back to the 2.25L. But I knew that in my soul of souls,
I was never going to be satisfied until I stuffed in a big fat juicy V-8.
A new powerplant for 'Mills!
created and maintained by
Matt Atkins
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