So the little 93 that I bought back in January has officially turned into a money pit. The clutch started slipping shortly after buying it, the exhaust needed to be totally replaced, needed tires etc...once I put the exhaust on I noticed a nice rapping in the bottom end, pulled the pan and sure enough the crank is roached. the guy I bought it from claimed the timing chain was done, I bet it wore through and the coolant mixed with the oil and it cooked the bearings. Question is what to do now, Im already into the thing a little over $3,000 as it sits, its a nice little truck but man when does it end! Ive been scouring looking for a used engine but they are all filthy, all between $700 and $1200 and no guarantee.

I am leaning toward pulling the engine and trans as 1 unit being a RWD 5 speed I think pulling it all as a unit may be easier, question is how far do I go on my own with the internals of the engine. Im going to call around to some local machine shops and get pricing as to what it would cost if I bring them a long block, to totally rebuild it for me vs me doing the labor myself and having just the machine work done. I dont have a lot of spare time, I do have every tool needed and have replaced several head gaskets, built air cooled VW engines and rebuild motorcycle engines for fun, I just didnt plan on this.

What would you do to it? It has great compression so Im not sure the head and valves need touched but if I replace the pistons and rings, how long will the 150,000 mile head hold up?

Ive put a whopping 200 miles on it since I bought it and its already eating my wallet like a rabid animal!

Beer........

 

sounds like you have the know-how to rebuild it yourself, which is what I'd do. Remember shop time is expensive, $50 to $100 bucks an hour depending on the shop. Your gonna be close to $3000 or more to have a shop do a complete tear down and build. You said your busy so you gotta ask what's it worth to you to get it done faster, with a warranty, etc. Years ago I paid $950 for a shop to do a clutch in a front wheel drive car I could have done myself but didnt want to deal with it and was pretty busy at the time, it pissed me off for years knowing I could have done it for the price of the clutch kit. Keep that in mind. Let us know what you decide.

 

Ive been back and forth with a guy selling a 22RE from the same year truck, unknown miles, said it runs but was leaking oil at the rear that he bough the truck for the transmission, he wants $150 cash. I think I may go buy it Saturday AM and rebuild it myself then just swap them, that way I could still at least move the truck even though the rod is knocking and Id have my engine to either rebuild as take 2 or sell on as a core. I think for $150 its worth the risk that its not roached beyond rebuild!

 

I'd be all over that deal, where I live clapped out rebuilders go for $300 to 400 all day long on craigslist. You could turn around and sell the EFI intake on ebay for $200 or more so I say go for it.

 

We all get a few of these over the years .

The sad part is most of the sellers are really clueless to most of the problems .

The rest is just neglected maintenance.

It seems every time I sourced out work I could do because of time issues in the long run till things were finished it ended my taking longer then if I would have just made the time.

Maybe you have better luck