The other weekend I was at my parents house and messing around with my grandads old truck. I got it to crank but it had a terrible engine knock. My mom informed me that she had been driving it around with low oil pressure obviously no good. Just for context to what I’m about to say it has 230k miles on the truck. I also know the transmission had started to slip a little last time I drove it. With it being my grandpa’s truck who has passed away it has a lot of sentimental value to me. This summer because I have some extra cash on hand and time I was thinking of doing a rebuild on it because I would love to have my passed grandads truck running. I’ve changed some car parts before but nothing close to this size of a project. That’s why I was wondering what y’all thought about this, what all I’d need to be changing, is it even worth it. I’m torn. On one hand it seems like I’d be in way over my head and a money pit but on the other it’s just been sitting there for years and they won’t ever do anything with it not even scrapping it, I have the extra time and money, I can learn a lot, and it has a lot of sentimental value. So I’m just curious what yall think and if you have any advice either way I’ll be thankful for it and any resources as well

 

If I were you, I would look into a rebuilt engine unless you have the proper tools to do a rebuild. you can swap parts from the old to the new. I did this with my old truck, I bought a short block from South Houston engine in Texas. I went with a short block because my head had just been rebuilt. Just remember though, diesels are very heavy, so what ever you use to lift and hold the engine, Make sure it's strong enough to do the job. And as far as the transmission, same thing, buy a remanufactured one, there are many options out there for those, if your just going to be a daily driver, a standard stock will work. But if you plan on hauling anything, look into one built for hauling. plan on dropping 10 - 12 K to do both. Good Luck.

 

Gas or diesel? I am guessing gas....

I might be tempted to pick up a used, low-mileage engine/trans from a local scrap yard.... and drop 'em in. Minimal investment, direct swap, so, not overly complicated. Just keep in mind, your donor needs to have the same number of drive wheels as your granddads truck.

 

it is gas. My next question would be is there anything else worth swapping while we have the engine already out?

 

i appreciate it thank you

 

230k Miles? If the trans is original, I would replace that as well.

 

Fresh engine and trans together would be the best way forward, so long as you realize that what it will cost for both will likely be more than the actual truck is worth. If this is for sentimental value then it doesn't matter. Being a 2002 I imagine two other problems you will immediately encounter are cracked dash and busted blend doors; if they haven't happened yet at that mileage they WILL.

 

[QUOTE=Magnoom;3607150]Fresh engine and trans together would be the best way forward, so long as you realize that what it will cost for both will likely be more than the actual truck is worth. If this is for sentimental value then it doesn't matter./QUOTE]
Agreed. Whenever it's sentimental, the cost almost always goes out the window lol.