Whats a used 2.0L 4cyld worth?, Looking at buying Options

[eric914]

The motor has been converted to carbs, no original fuel injection included, no carb included. Not a lot of history. Unknowen if rebuild or origional. Motor pulled strong before it was removed though. Does have leakage on a couple of the push rod tubes but I would have resealed them before I put it in anyway. I have a set of Weber 40IDF's so the fuel injection missing is not a loss.

Looking at buying this just wanted some second opinions before I jump. I haven't kept up with the price of aircooled stuff as I had started down the Suby conversion path about 1.5years ago.

If anyone is interested I have an ER20T motor and a Kennedy conversion kit I will be selling soon. Time has befome scarce and I just want the car on the road. If alot more power is desired in the future a 6 will be the answer.

[LvSteveH]

What it's worth is based on a few things. The truth is, most engines are mystery motors, because they rarely have records from new, and even then there could be underlying issues.

1. Compression and leakdown. They will give you an idea of the internal condition that's much more valuable than hearsay or speculation. When spending real money, get real numbers

2. Other people's desire to have it

3. Your desire to have it

4. Their desire to sell it


Having a single weber progressive is a bad sign. It's like seeing a five blade fan on a rebuilt 911 motor. It certainly makes you wonder.

If it's a nice motor, they they shouldn't mind doing compression and leakdown on it. It's as easy as bolting up a trans and starter, and getting a good set of jumper cables, a strong battery, and a charger.

If it's got 130lbs of compression cold on all cylinders, and leakdown checks out, it's worth more than $500, more like $800-$900. If it ends up having less than 100 psi compression on any cylinders, even cold, or has leakdown issues, it's probably not worth installing without opening it up to address the issues. Value then, is a true core, worth $300-500 if everything looks ok otherwise.

If the motor has been sitting, make sure you top off the oil level prior to testing, and the night before testing remove all the spark plugs, squirt some WD40 in each spark plug hole, let it sit overnight, then spin the motor a few times, to build oil pressure and toss out any extra WD40. Let it sit for a bit, then test.

You'll spend some time getting weber 40's dialed in, or probably the same amount to source stock FI and get that running. Be aware, if for some reason they swapped out the cam, then stock FI could have some issues with it as Greg said.

Used motors are a crap shoot. If you are in a position where you absolutely need a motor that's a good runner, and it would be devastating to find out it had issues after installing, then spend the extra money and buy a motor someone has removed to do a six conversion. It won't cost much more, but you stand a better chance of getting a good motor, and it will probably be complete from induction to exhaust.