My New 73 Has A Bad Engine. Now What??

Welcome , to find a jeep with a good body is more than half the battle. If you need a trans I have a 3 speed from a 74 cj5 with a 304 . Yours for the shipping from Buffalo NY. Good luck with your project. Tom Heidinger.

 

Tom,

Thank you! I might take you up on it. Is there a number I can call you tomorrow? Thanks again.

Carlos

 

Tomheidinger@gmail.com

 

IMO, I would say this is a great project to learn how to wrench on. If your not handy but want to learn that's ok. If you don't want to learn I would get something else because they always need something. I agree, a pristine tub on a Jeep is what interests me also. The reason being you usually have to pull the tub to do it right.

 

Ditto on what everyone is saying. Now is a great time to learn, so when it does break, you know how to fix it. Old vehicles are not like modern ones that can be brought anywhere and have fixed. The pool of shops that know how to set points or adjust carbs properly are less and less.

 

I'm still curious to know what is "bad" about the engine. Is it seized? Most problems could be fixed for a much lower price point than a full rebuild. $2500 seems on the higher end of reasonable if you want to do a full rebuild.

Additionally, I don't think you'd need a transmission rebuild, and even if you did, manual transmissions are super simple and can be done with regular hand tools. If you can read and follow a set of directions, you can rebuild your tranny.

 

The transmission rebuild is $700. I figured since I will keep the Jeep at least 10 years might as well get it out of the way now along with the engine rebuild if need be. Mechanic mentioned low compression in the cylinders.

carlos

 

Has your mechanic got the engine to run?
How does he know the engine is bad? compression would have to be really bad for it not to run. Honestly I’d bet the engine is operable. Mechanic is bad,
Just my op...

 

$700 doesn't sound too bad to have the tranny rebuilt. Sounds like you have a solid plan, and once it's done you'll have a brand new jeep. Enjoy it and make sure you post pics!

 

If all that you have is low compression, then it's an easy deal. I think it cost me $1200 for a complete top to bottom engine reprocessing, and that includes boring out all six cylinders (which you won't need to do), cleaning the tins (you may opt out of this), a complete valve job (you'd be silly not to get this) and finally all new parts (including new pistons, bearings, oil pump, harmonic dampener - you'd probably only need the bearings and rings).

It's a major investment of time and conquering fear if you've never done it before. But it has less moving parts than you'd think and there's only one right way to put it back together...

 

Now's the time to jump in and learn or sell it. Go to Harbor Junk or borrow a compression tester from a friend or your local Autozone, read or watch on how to use the tool. Take some readings. Let us know what you find. LOTS of smart people on this site so you won't have a problem getting feedback. If the engine is really toast you have nothing to loose.

FYI, I've had blocks that read low compression and they just had a stuck valve that I was able to work loose and turned out to be great engines. Sometimes a trans will have a stuck mechanism but the bearings and gears are fine.