Hey tribe. Looking for some good advice.

I heard some good things about Motafit, and gave them a call for a quote. They will replace the existing engine in my 99 Ford Fairmont AU with a "HM GEM Remanufactured" engine, and they offer a 12 month unlimited km warranty on it - which I thought was pretty good. Funny thing is, they refuse to do ANY performance upgrades - which I guess is to do with the HM GEM engine warranty. A bit of a pain in the a**, because I was hoping for an upgrade to VCT and maybe some cam work (plus intake and extractors).

So, what should I do? I have close to $4000 to spend on supply and fit of the engine. Is there a better/different option I could choose (Melbourne), that might give me a better performing engine than the (stock 157kw) remanufactured HM GEM? Or should I just stick with the Motafit stock replacement, and do some later performance work on that?

Can anyone out there supply and fit a higher performance option? Pretty much ready to get it done now!

Suggestions?

EDIT: Is it possible to upgrade the non-VCT to VCT? Would anybody do that commercially?

mate i dont know whether there the same company now but back in the 70/80s gem engines were built by repco and i,ve never heard anything bad about them and i actually had one and never had a problem so they should be alright. if it was me i,d wait a few months or so and see how the engine is going and then do the performance updates ( you do get the odd dud in everything). doing the exhaust and inlet shouldn,t void your warranty. i can understand there way with performance mods because more than likerly there engines are built to a spec and they can turn these engines out everyday and there not setup spec and parts wise for hi-performance motors. dont take the first quote, shop around and see if you can get a better deal and maybe get the mods thrown in for what you can afford, remember you get what you pay for so don,t rush into it.

I've got a HM GEM rebuilt engine in my EB, only done about 6000kms and its going quite well...

for that coin you should be able to get your engine reconditioned! with what you are after

OR get a low km b series engine, lock the cams in place and let the au ecu do it all! ( it wont run the dual vct )


only woth going vct if you can get the whole engine, also need the ecu as well i think?

Shop around as for 4k you will defiantly get away with it if your good at negotiating...

Advice for places to shop around (Melbourne)? The problem is that I can't do any of this particular job myself - whoever gets my coin has to be able to do the lot. We can't really afford to have it off the road for too long.

Motafit was mentioned - where else to take my $4k? I am happy enough to take it anywhere in Melbourne for the right job.

Recommendations? I was half hoping that some forum members might be in the trade themselves, with a shop

You should go with this engine...

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Ford-4-Ltr-S ... 7675.l2557

Holy s**t - yeah I would go with that engine - if I had a way to install it......

Because I don't have my own equipment (or the required experience), there is no point even looking at engines that I wished would magically jump into my car.

So far it seems like I have no more options than what I first thought, before posting - a Motafit HM GEM remanufactured, stock replacement. 12 month warranty - no frills allowed. Maybe they can then help me out with intake/exhaust without ruining the warranty.....

There really doesn't seem to be any other realistic options out there - unless you decide to do it all yourself, at home with a borrowed block and tackle. In that case MAYBE I could do it (not enough experience) - but the car would be off the road for many months! Something I just can't afford to do.

The supply and fit quote is $3250, plus ''extras'' - injector clean, fuel filter, coolant inhibitor, radiator flush etc - which can apparently approach $600 in worst case. Maybe for my 4k I can walk away with fitted extractors on top.

So yeah - looks like that is the only plan. Just procrastinating about spending the cash, now.

EDIT: Maybe I should update and post about what I end up doing. Pretty sure I can't be the only one who has been stuck in this position.

the worst part is for the price you could get another really nice au or even a ba...

This is Ford ''Mods'' site, yeah? I could get a motorbike even cheaper. But yeah I do recognise that - I do think it is worth it, if the car in question is something you want to keep for many years, and doesn't have a ''fatal'' flaw (ex-accident etc). I can't believe how cheap and easy it is to get parts for this thing.

Also - depends what you call ''nice''. I'd say 4k would get you a pretty bad wagon. A HM GM remanufactured engine should be at least close to as good as the original - which gave me 405,000kms! To replace the current car with a wagon, that had a comparable engine would be tough.

Except for paint and engine the car is pretty good.

i wasn't saying you should buy another car, just pointing out that for that money you could buy one...

we picked up my mrs au3 Fairmont with 190 000km for $3000
i brought my au ghia with 260 000km for $2000, but in saying that i myself have since spent 4000 on wheels mods and body kit..