Well, after 10 month of rebuilding this truck, I blew the engine. the oil pump quit on me and down she went. So now considering how much time and effort I have in this truck, I am debating if I want to keep going or sell it. (This did not start out as a rebuild project, just a fixer upper)

The main issue is $$$. 3-4k for a factory rebuilt is out of the question.

So.... I could put a junkyard engine in it for about 800, and have 125000 miles on it.

The option I would like to do, is get the block bored out and rebuild myself. I have been working under the hood of cars since i was able to hold a wrench, but have never done anything this extensive to the internals of an engine.

So, what ya think? Replace, rebuild, or scrap it?

 

Depends really. I would keep it as a project, but that's me. Since the engine is dead you won't really get much out of it.

 

You've gone this far..... keep going!

 

Up here in Maryland there's a place called crazy rays. You Pick It You Pull It. Buy a motor for less than $300. And there are alot of them in the Baltimore area. Bring your own tools to take it out and they have lots of cars and trucks find the one you want unbolt everything. The come up with a fork lift and pull it out for ya

 

I have a $400 engine I bought on CL a few years back. Had 100K on it and I heard it run before I bought it. Take a look and CL and see what you find. Might have to search a few weeks for a good deal though.

If the body is good it is worth putting more money into. If the body has any holes even if you can fix them don't stick a whole bunch of money into the truck. Its not worth it.

 

Gerehead hit it right on the head. If the body is sound and in good shape it is worth fixing.

I personally would keep it, and believe me this is something i think about daily. I replaced the tranny not even six months after I got mine. I just re-did the body on my truck, and re-painted it last year, and the motor is starting to get kinda tired at 208k, but i have so much money in it that i will never get back. So F-it.

If you put as much time into yours as I have mine, then it has memories... may not all be good (lol) but there are alot of them. You will neer get back what you got in it... so how much value does it have to you? Obviously enough if you have put enough work into it.

 

Drop a cummins in that bad boy bro! Ive seen em on CL for 3500 and sometimes less(but I have no clue what could be wrong with em haha)

 

The price of a Cummins all depends on the miles and the IP (injection Pump). The old VE 12 valves can be had for about a grand or less with around 200k (which is way past "just broke in" as some will tell you, but still a solid motor). The P7100 (aka P-pump) 12 valve cummins will get a premium price. The VP44 with the 24V is less valuable do to electrical complications and a poor reliability reputation (compared to other 5.9L's). The newest would be the Common Rail with the CP3? IP. They are worth a lot as they are so new and pretty good motors.

 

Well I'm with LegendKiller89. I've put too much time and effort into this truck to let a little thing like an engine stop me. So I decided that while I'm in there I might as well have it bored 30 over and put the 408 stroker kit in it.

Then I pulled the oil pan and got the correct socket to fit the main crank. Ummm...Engine turned fine and there is no metal in the oil pan. It does however have ALOT of rock hard carbon deposits that have broken loose. (keep in mind that nothing on this truck had been taken care of or fixed correctly by the previous owner)

Well I'm gonna try to run a compression test in the morning to see what that tells me. But so far the only thing I found wrong with my visual inspection was that the starter had lost one of it's bolts and fallen so that it no longer reached the flywheel very well.

I did find that when I went to take the oil pan bolts out, that the driver side engine mount had only one bolt in it and it was cross threaded and bent. (And to think the previous owner has a mechanics shop)

 

Do what I plan on doing after my '95 finally quits on me- 4BT Cummins. Better mileage, more torque, and much less weight for the 1500 to carry.