Death of an Excursion

Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:
Wes that's a tough call to make. If you spend the money to buy the donor and move the engine over then it to goes south then your still going to have to replace the engine. On the other side if you can buy it complete for a good price then you can part out the good body panels interior parts and make some nice change on the deal. maybe even enough to rebuild the engine.

Good luck

Don

Don,

Yeah, the better deal would be the whole vehicle if the engine looks promising. Parting out is a little work but that wouldn't kill me. I parted out my wrecked 5.0 Mustang not so long ago. OK, long, 10 years.

Thanks,
Wes

MM49 wrote:
I've always used the old adage "You’re working on a piece of junk, can't do any damage" You need to do a tear down and find out the real root cause. Then you can fix on the original or check on the donor engine. I’ve done many a mechanic's rebuilds on junk yard engines going into vehicles. Typically I would change timing chain, water pump, freeze plugs, all gaskets, clean oil pump screen and possibly put in rod bearings. When your finished start the motor up on the stand and it should purr like a kitten with good oil pressure. Then the work begins. Install in the vehicle and replace every rubber product.
MM49

The quick way is to hire installation of a commercial rebuilt. A longer, possibly more economical route is to buy the donor Ex.

Other than small engines, the last rebuild I did was a Slant 6 on a Valiant convertable. It could be fun again tho.

The shop bay is full of furniture. My cherrypicker has been in somebody elses shop for 10 years on extended loan. But there is room for an engine stand at home. Maybe I would do well to hire the engine(s) pulled and take a peek in both. It isn't like I would spoil the warranty on the donor.

Thanks,
Wes
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