I won’t argue, yet I don’t feel the same : depending on actual engine installation and liner specs, the linered engine may or may not be as strong as a non linered original, and may or may not have less rebore margin for overhaul down the road, so I would consider the pros and cons on a case by case basis, even if liner material would probably be of better quality than the cast block.
At what point does it become viable to recover items rather than scrap them, this is a dilemma that manufacturers are faced with at times. In the 1960-70’s some manufacturers were using some tooling that was reaching the end of accurate manufacturing life. It is quite possible therefore that Ford were facing this issue with their engine blocks and hence the reason why the recovery scheme to put them back into service via their warranty and other schemes were in use. As Avro stated above, he has seen many blocks that fall into this category, we have to appreciate that the volumes of blocks needing this treatment is unknown. However with a company the size of Ford one would think the decision was taken after careful financial consideration.
In a similar context one has to remember we are talking mass production on a very large scale due to the variety of models fitted with this engine and its variants. I for one would not like to guess at the number of blocks produced with the Kent engine over something like a 15 year period let alone the number of potentially reclaimed blocks.
Are the blocks as good as a non lingered block, well as also previously stated many Ford blocks are linered in motorsport to comply with the relevant regulations and being used harder than most of our road engines. As long as the machining and matching of components are done correctly there should not be an issue. As to how much more or less a linered engine affects the value of a particular vehicle is something that the prospective purchaser has to evaluate against their own criteria.
Tony
Hi
I didn’t expect such much of a response. Thanks to all. One thing I would agree with is the greater wear resistance mentioned above. I measured my bores in several places before the rebuild with slip gauges and precision rollers and although there were visible signs of the pistons travelling up and down the bores the wear was barely measurable. This is after 40k+ miles.
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