Question Of Pain (OT), Pics added Options

[Dr Evil]

Lets swap it! I'll help. I wish the bus was done, I would let you use it or my lesbian wagon. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) If it is going to be warmer I can lend you my car while I ride my motorcycle.

[type11969]

that stinks, sorry man. How about a reverse swap? I have a 1.7 sitting in my basement that would probably fit in that 'baru engine bay . . . I'll sell it to you cheap.

[VaccaRabite]

I am *really* tempted to swap the engine.
Especially after I got the price tag for repairs. $4K. Which I don't exactly have after the money I have put out for the house repairs (that I have not been paid back for yet).

However, I can't take the time to swap it. I'm not getting home until 10:30 most nights at this point. And I kinda just need my car to work, ASAP.

Besides, if I went to swap, I'd find a 2.0 turbo motor out of a WRX and put that in. Which would not exactly be enconomical.

What the fuck, its only money. I'll find it somehow. Start making and selling tons of 917 shifter balls, I guess.
Zach

[stepuptotheMike]

Holy shit... the wife's scooby blew a head gasket at about 98k. Luckily it didn't screw up the heads. The garage was full of 914 stuff, so I couldn't do it.

Head gaskets, head surfaced, water pump, timing belt.... whole job cost me a little over $2k. Swap would have cost me more. You might want to try a different shop.

Mike

[VaccaRabite]

Well, I am feeling a bit better about things this morning. We went to Erin's folks last night for dinner, I spent last night playing with my son and considering my options, went to bed early and woke up with a different outlook.

The shop - Brentwood Auto, is expensive. But they have also won the "Best of Baltimore" award for best foriegn auto repair, I can walk from their shop to my office, and I have a 5 year personal history with them so there is the trust thing.

In the end, I'll put it on credit and pay it off. I have 2 payments left on the car and then I should be able to pay off the credit debt pretty quickly. I try to be good with debt, and I am lucky enough to have credit there (even though I had my limits significanlty dropped with every one else when the economy tanked.)

If it gets tight, I can sell the 68 jeep, and if it gets tighter, I can sell the 914. I still have options that I can execute, even though I don't really want to.

In the short run, I'm going to start turning out shifter knobs and try to recoup some of the past month's expenditures.

I will not let this setback keep me down. I don't have enough time to be down for more then a few hours at a time.

Zach

[charliew]

I think 2k is a reasonable price to do 1 head replacement on a suby. However I would do a two head repair, ie a other head removal and resurface if needed and valve job, that could be the 4k repair as another head is around 2 or 3 hundred probably. They will also probably do a water pump, tensioner, idlers, head gasket, gasket set, thermostat, etc. If it's a manual get a new clutch and throwout bearing while it's out.

Sorry about all the woes. Thats the way with me, when it rains it pours.

The deal at 3am might be something the little person hears thats weird that doesn't wake you.

[VaccaRabite]

Yeah, both heads have to come off. One needs to be replaced, and the other machined smooth, rebuild and installed. The engine will get a full top end rebuild. It was time to do the water pump and belts (and assorted seals and pullies, and that is a $900 job). They said the bottom end was in excellent shape and probably had another 100K miles before it would need any work.

I just put all new brakes on the car (and nice stuff too) and now it will have pretty much a new engine. The only driveline component that has not been rebuilt now will be the transmission, and I ave notice zero problems with it yet. I should get another 100K miles out of the car.

[r_towle]

so, how is the house?

Rich

[VaccaRabite]

Same place it was a month ago. Torn apart, waiting for money.

One contractor says it will cost 9K to fix, the other says it will cost 18K. Guess which one Insurance wants to pay... Guess which one took lots of short cuts on the work they already did.

I have internet back at the house again, which is a HUGE plus. Insurance has given money to buy some things back, but not others. We wait, and occationally bitch. Sadly, we just don't have a lot of time to fight the system right now. It would probably take me less time to just do all the work myself.

Zach