Ok guys, I hope I can get some help here. I am at the point where I think that the engine in my 1976 2.0 may need a rebuild. Runs great , but uses a quart and a half of oil every 300 miles or so. Don't see smoke in the exhaust but the oil certainly disappears. And, by the way, its not sitting in a puddle in my driveway.

So my questions are should I buy a rebuilt motor from a place like ImportMotor.com and do the work myself. I have done engine replacements before.

Alternatively, is there a Southern California shop that anyone could suggest that could do this work for me? Perhaps this shop could identify the problem and suggest improvement without need of a rebuild. Allthough it seems clear to me that it may need to be rebuilt at this point.

The project seems to want to be in the range of three to five thousand dollars which is a bit more of my allowance than I would like to spend at the moment. Does this number sound about right?

Any help at all or suggestions the members of this board can give would be greatly appreciated.

welcome to the board!

do a search on this bbs for "import motor"... you'll find some good reading.

i'll let others take on your questions from here, though i'd add that $5k is about right to have someone build a good, stock motor for you.

If a full rebuild is not in the cards for you right now, maybe rebuild the heads (new guides) and re-ring the pistons and hone the cylinders. That should give you a new lease on life. Won't last as long as a whole engine, but should give it a decent kick in the pants.

To see pictures of my old 2.0 rebuild, feel free to check out this web site.
http://home.earthlink.net/~docsengine/914engine/
At least it gives you an idea of what is involved.

markd has a point i'd agree with. if you can't pony up the 5g's for a new engine, do a partial rebuild. i did this with a car i bought; took it down to a short block as the engine only had 60k mi. i don't drive it that much, so i did this to get the car on the road (sat for years in a barn..... no, in a garage).

my machine shop charged$130 for valve job, 48 to hone cylinders, 80 to flycut heads....$543 for whole job.. (other things done), i rattle canned the engine sheet metal.

... so i think you could get on the road for much less than $5k. the BEST way is a full rebuild, but i couldn't afford that at the time.....