850 engine and gearbox wanted.

Being new on this Forum and almost as new to Bugs I hesitate to reply, as I expect there is some well-known (but not to me!) expert somewhere who does this sort of thing before breakfast. But putting that aside, my suggestion would be to contact Joe Mason. I've actually met Joe as I was contemplating getting a Tempest (I didn't, I got the Webster instead) and in the process inspected several at his workshop in Worcestershire. The Tempest has a seriously tight engine bay so not unlike the Bugs in that respect. Joe reconditions engines (and just about anything and everything else too) for the small Reliants, so he would be able I imagine to give you *his* price for this work. Certainly he has the facilities, expertise and support staff to undertake the work. Whether he would or not, at a price acceptable to you, is another matter. But a chat might give you a lot of useful information. His web site even lists engine and gearbox as parts items here: www.reliantspares.com/parts-list/

If you're going to shell out serious money for all this, Joe also does a tasty line in engine bling, such as a 4 into 1 tubular manifold which apparently gives noticeable extra bhp. More importantly, I have it on good authority that this will fit within the confines of the Bug engine bay. He also does things like disc brake conversions, and other tuning goodies.