alright, so, my 89 pickup just had its head gasket blow going over vail pass on I-70, colorado. after getting it back to my place, i decided that instead of just replacing the gasket, why not rebuild it all?

the engine is the untouched original. 239,000 on it. when i turn on the A/C, the idle speed just runs amuck, dropping 400 rpms and rising 400 all very rapidly. i'd like to fix that too while i am at it.

so, keeping it all as low cost as pssible (full time student) what kit's would you recomend? my plan is to rip it apart and out, send it to a shop to have the heads shaved, and the engine cleaned out. that, according to NAPA, will cost around 100 bucks.

if there's any advice you all have, any mod's i should do while its apart and out, ya know.

 

Did you ever get anywhere with this?

The idle variation could be/sounds like the a/c idle switching valve may be not working right. Or, the a/c idle valve needs checking.

I'd recommend engnbldr.com for your rebuild kit....the full kit. As far as pricing and quality, it's a fine kit.

Mod's? Run some searches on that. Plenty of ideas on what to do already. If you still have questions, then post them up.

 

yeah, just got the engine out today. whudda chor, ya know? but i'm getting the engine kit this week, cleaning the engine out and all, even painting it...possibly.

as to the AC, i'll get that on the list of things to do. its growing page by page these days