Soul Searching no longer, What I've done with my '74 2.0 Options

[flipb]

I bought my '74 2.0 about four years ago, and I've had a great time with it. It's mostly very original, except:

• Monza/Manta Exhaust
• No FI - had Progressive Carb when I bought it, now dual EMPI 40s
• Still original color, but had a mediocre overspray paint job by a PO

It's still the original ride height, and even the seatbelt-ignition interlock is still functional. I'm pretty certain that it's an original, numbers-matching engine. The PO had some decent quality metal rehab done in the longs & hellhole. A few of you have seen it in person. It's a fairly solid, fairly original driver. Odometer is frozen, but I'm guessing it's gone 130K+ miles.

For the past couple years, there's been a bad sound from the bottom end. Not loud, but noticeable to anyone who knows what they're listening for. (I was not among that group until I had a couple people point it out to me.)

Lately, it's been losing more oil -- and it seems to be losing more than what I see dripping on the ground. I'm getting compression/leakdown tested next week, even though I'm pretty sure I know what it'll say.

So I'm stuck with a tough decision:

• Park it -- I do *not* want to do this.
• Drive it til it grenades -- also, not my idea of fun.
• Rebuild the engine -- this leads to a bunch of other choices... carbs/EFI/heads/etc.
• Buy a motor -- also a lot of options here
• Sell it -- seems like a most inopportune time to do so...

I am perfectly happy driving it in stock form. It's just a fun driver. No ambitions about A/X, Concours, DEs, etc. I like the notion of keeping it very stock, but then again, the FI was gone before I bought it anyway. If I'm going to keep it carbed, is it time for a fatter cam? Resale value is a consideration, but not the only consideration.

OTOH, it might be cheaper in the short term to find another engine. Do I split up the numbers-matching engine from the car? Or try to keep it and buy a spare? I'd love to do some driving this summer/fall, but...

...I haven't budgeted for any of this. I can afford to put some money into it (although I'll be dipping deep into the spousal goodwill intangible fund).

I've got a week to decide what to do. Appreciate your input.

Am I overblowing the originality factor?
Is $5K better spent on a rebuild, or a replacement/upgrade?
Is $5K even the right ballpark for either of those options?

Help me get from (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad2.gif) back to (IMG:style_emoticons/default/driving.gif) without breaking the bank...

[DBCooper]

Best interest is definitely not to park it, may as well sell it to Pick n Pull right now.
Nor to sell in, the worst possible return is selling a non-running or almost non-running car.
So it's either rebuild what you have or replace it with a used engine. If you can get a cheap good used engine, that's fine, just put your original engine in a corner for contingencies. But the only way you can KNOW that used engine is good if if you know the seller, and no guarantee even then.
You wouldn't be asking these questions if you could rebuild it yourself, so as far as I can see the only legitimate choice you have is to have a known legitimate shop rebuild the long block. In other words McMark or someone more local who's equally reputable. No big deal, no drama, just what happens to cars after thirty or so years, they need some maintenance. So do it and be done with it.