I've got a dearly loved 1989 Isuzu Trooper with the 4 cyl 2.6 that I've owned since new. It blew the head gasket yesterday.

I'm looking for:

1. Advice
2. Source for replacement heads and/or engines near Eugene, OR
3. Shops that can do this work near Eugene, OR

I found a donor vehicle if need be but I'm trying to figure out how if it's worth buying a vehicle to get a replacement engine.....

An option which most folks choose is to:

1. Purchase a quality head gasket kit (Factory and Fel-Pro are fine)
2. Take the head to a machine shop and have them pressure test for cracks and other anomalies (leave the innards in place and let them check the entire assembly, cleanup (surface) the mating surface, etc. They will also tank (clean) it and most machine shops adjust the valves before returning it to the customer.
3. Most folks choose to replace the timing belt and water pump at the stage due to the labor involved to pull the head

An exception to this is if you happen to have one of the early series heads. The stamp is on the firewall end of the head where the 4ZE1 stamp is located. Castings #1 and #2 are frowned upon and #3 is "arguable". I have a #3, had the head worked 2 years ago and have had no issues with it.

And, as you know, you have the option of a new aftermarket head, a rebuild, or a later model salvage head. I personally would not install a used head without having it checked at a machine shop.

If you blew the head gasket, and overheated the engine, chances are that the head is warped.

I never overheated the engine, but I bought my Trooper used. It blew head gaskets every 2-3 years. I finally admitted that the head was warped and cracked. Take a look at my picture link below.

I bought an AMC head from Aluminum Head Rebuilders in Portland. I haven't had a bit of trouble with it since. My AMC head was new, not rebuilt.

Do yourself a favor and get the new head. You'll likely spend as much or more on the old one, by the time you get it pressure tested, valve job (you know it's gonna need one!), head milled, etc etc etc. I reconditioned the head on my Spacecab 2.6, and although that head worked out well, I dropped a ton of coin on it. And of course you have all the waiting, hassle, logistics of coordinating all that head work.

Or, just drop the $$$ to Aluminumheads.com, open up the box and bolt up that nice, new head, knowing that you're not gonna have the possibility of the old head cracking in the future hanging over your head. This is the type of work you only want to do once. I tore into my old '86 Trooper many times and learned that lesson the hard way.

You can either order the head with new valves/springs/etc assembled, or for more $$$ they have a complete head with camshaft, rocker arms & shafts all assembled and ready to drop on the block. Check your rocker shafts and arms for wear, it's not uncommon for the pivot to wear and this causes a lot of slop in the valvetrain, making it difficult to get proper valve clearances and clattery valves.

Don't forget that if you're gonna pay someone to do this, there's a considerable amount of labor in them stripping down the old head, then reassembling after all the machine work is done. Having a new head ready to slap back on saves those labor $$ and gets you your rig back faster, as well.

Another good place to get a head is Clearwater Cylinder Heads, they sell lots on eBay. But they're in Florida and AluminumHeads is in your home state.

Be sure whoever does the work runs a metric tap down the head bolt holes in the block, followed by a blast of air, to clean out all the crud/rust in the bolt holes. If this is not done, it's very probably that the head bolts will bind or bottom out, causing false torque readings and problems with the head gasket in the future.

Regarding type of gasket, Jerry Lemond recommends only using the ZuZu OEM gasket. That's what I used on my Spacecab and when it busted a drive belt on the hiway and the water pump stopped turning, I managed to get home without destroying the motor or blowing the head gasket. The motor got hot enough to blow coolant out the rad cap into the overflow, but fortunately the block was still full of water and the OEM head gasket was strong enuff to withstand. A buddy of mine put a new head on his 2.6 Trooper a few years back and the aftermarket gasket blew out at the fire rings after 1500 miles. He replaced this gasket with an OEM one and never had another problem.

Just my $.02, HTH & G'luck on the repairs...........ed

p.s. don't forget to renew your thermostat with a proper 180 deg item, it must be factory or have a 'jiggle' bleed valve in the face; replace all heater hoses and radiator hoses; have your radiator flow-tested and replace if unsat. You don't want cooling issues after-the-fact to destroy your nice new head.