Idi Reman engine supplier options

I have a customer seeking a fresh reman Idi engine, I have done many idi swaps and work in the past but have never had to source a fresh reman before.
Who out there is currently producing quality reman long blocks for sale?

Thanks

https://www.promarengine.com/engine-details.php?pn=IN7.3-01

Eli

Nice. Anyone having good luck with these?

I think what they're trying to say is that most of us just rebuild them ourselves. IDIs are good engines, but you can't be careless when putting one together. Jobber shops build to a price point, whereas most of us build for a 2nd lifetime of use.

david85 said:

I think what they're trying to say is that most of us just rebuild them ourselves. IDIs are good engines, but you can't be careless when putting one together. Jobber shops build to a price point, whereas most of us build for a 2nd lifetime of use.

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If you have a good engine stand and standard tools, you can rebuild this yourself without much effort. I think all I had to buy was a set of micrometers and bore gauge, and I had everything else just in my current tool kit. http://www.nickpisca.com/diesel/engine/7-3-idi-engine-rebuild-process/

Eli said:

https://www.promarengine.com/engine-details.php?pn=IN7.3-01

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I'll note that these are sleeved - no more cavitation issues - and sleeving is expensive.

Eli

I had one although only for a few years and it ran excellent with no problems. They will put your cam and head studs in it if you want to go that route. Great people to deal with. I know of people that have gassers from them and also were pleased. I had the advantage of being an hour away from them so I seen their shop and it was impressive. Clean and organized old school type of place.

R&D IDI sells crate engines, sleeves and studs are standard. People have had issues with promar especially with them doing cams, I’ve heard nothing but good things about Justin’s engines, and he’s going to know these engines better than most bulk rebuilders. I was planning on doing a crate engine program but the money went to buying out my pump rebuilder’s fuel shop instead.

I'm nearing the 100,000 mile mark with my Promar. Shes been good to me.

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Sleeved IDIs came with many horror stories a few years back. I can't remember if it was Jasper or some other jobber, but they were using a loctite compound to secure them in the bock. With no shoulder and not enough interference with the parent bore, simply torquing down the head was enough to cause the sleeve to slip down. And the fire ring rested on the sleeve so you can imagine how long that lasted.

I honestly like the idea of a sleeved engine because it implies far more possible overhauls on the same block. You also have the option to use a better wear surface material. I've overhauled a 1948 Ferguson tractor that was designed with a wet sleeved block. You could overhaul it in the middle of a farmer's field. The flip side was the diesel engine briefly offered in the late 80s ranger. That one was dry sleeved by interference fit. Far more precise and far more involving a process, but the japanese figured out how to do it right. To this day, Hyundai owns the rights to the same basic Mitsubishi engine due to the design longevity engineered into it.

If done right, I see no reason why a sleeved IDI wouldn't last longer than a factory build.

Another option, if you want, is to work with this guy: https://www.msengineworks.com/ His name is Greg.
He's a local machine shop, and while I had issues with him(or more than likely his workers) in the past, he currently works alone, and is a knowledgeable guy.
He can also ship the motor to wherever, and I have a collection of cores and parts that I can and have delivered to him.

I will say he is somewhat slow; figure a month or two to build one just how you like it.

It's always worth a shot talking to him.

I’m slightly less excited about my promar reman. In fairness I asked for a custom build that the gladly said they would do. I had them put a cam, head studs and valve springs in. Well, they didn’t do due diligence and check clearances so on it’s first trip, I made it 90 miles and it broke a rocker bolt and bent a couple pushrods. They over nighted me parts and I ended up driving it 1200+ miles to the rally and back (gently) after it floated a valve going across the mountains on I 68. Came home. Pulled valve covers. More bent pushrods. Pulled the motor and sent it back with a stock cam. The intake valves were smashing into the pistons. For what it’s worth the covered all the shipping etc. under warranty so it’s not the worst deal ever. Probably a fully stock or just studded engine would be fine.

I’ve got around 10k on mine now and it still runs pretty well. Not much blow by and at 1000 miles the oil is still on the full mark on the stick.

Close running clearances mean that any kind of custom cam has to be setup carefully. I found a faint valve imprint on one of the pistons when I rebuilt my engine. I'm currently running the Typ4 cam and so far so good, but admittedly, I'm not working my IDI anywhere near what other guys are doing to theirs.

However, I did decompress the pistons slightly, just in case I would need the extra clearance. When the engine first went together, it was with a stock cam. I was still concerned about running clearance because I knew the remanufactured heads had been shaved down. The valve stems appeared to have also been trimmed to compensate for net lift through the rockers but I didn't want to take any chances.

I've since heard some had problems with the Typ4 cam but so far, so good for me.