If you have the space and feasibility of a 2nd car, this is by far the way to go.
When I needed to rebuild my 22re, I hadt he same problem... in grad school, slow cash flow, not much free time but planned to do it myself. At the time it was my only vehicle.

I bought a '95 Mercury tracer (escort clone) at an auction for $500. Originally my plan was to drive it a month or so while I scrounged cash and did the engine pull. 3 months later, I had the engine done... but had discovered the 34 mpgs was hard to give up... over the next 2 years I did minimal repairs, fixed several things as I had time, and sold it for $1000 in the paper.

The point is, a 2nd car will allow you the luxury of time, and likely $$ saved on gas to boot. And chances are you can recoup the investment later.

ive been looking into that, but i need a truck, not a car, because if i do decomission my truck in the near future, ill need something to get back and forth to school. i need to move my stuff out of my apartment every time a semester is up, so that the cleaning company can come in and clean up for the next unfortunate soul to come through this school lol <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" />

How about a beater with a trailer hitch? I've moved a lot of parts in rented U-haul trailers since I hate putting really grungy stuff in my truck. Plus, you can rent 1-way if you need to.

Forget it; it's a summer project. He needs to parts shop and rent a storage unit. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

well, what i was planning on doing was doing all the work i could at home, then, to drop the motor in, i was going to bring the truck and engine to my shop at work, and swapping in the engine on a day off, but looking at it now, i dont think that will work, so i think your right about doin it in the summer, and needing storage.

Yeah, it's not going to be a straight drop-in once the lift is under there. Components are opposite.

yeah it doesn't exactly "bolt right up" lol. buy a beater toyota or nissan pickup if you need a truck. they're reliable and cheap...well nissan's are cheaper but you get the point.


also if you only have one vehicle and a time constraint, don't do a motor swap.

I was checking out ORS the other day, and they still show an expectation of needing about $4700 to do the swap yourself. Yes you can do it w/o their kit, as some have, but its a headache that most wouldn't want to have to go through, especially when you have a problem and have to race it down yourself.

Since you already have headers/intake/ehaust/etc, I would recommend a rebuild of the 3.0. I would have the cyls. bored either .020 or .040 over and run larger pistons. A master rebuild kit from EB runs $298, figure another $500 for the heads to be rebuilt/check out, then figure about $165 for a new knock sensor and knock sensor wire, and another $2-300 for misc. parts like pulleys, tensioners, or anything that might get broken in the tear down process, and the what ever the machine shop charges to bore the block. I would think it should run you about $1500 for the rebuild provoiding the heads are in good shape. You could consider getting the heads ported/polished and enlarging the valves, figure about another $1k, but according to EB there isn't all that much material that can be removed from the heads to really benefit from larger valves.

With an engine hoist or a come-a-long and a good beam you should be able to do all of the work at home, in about 6 days(if you really take your time) not including shop time for the heads and block. I spent about 24hrs tearing mine down, most of the time was used making note of wear everything went, taking pics and video, and keeping it all seperate on the bench, so I wouldn't mix up bolts(I put the bolts in cardboard in the order they came out). I could have done it quicker, but all the work I did tearing it down made the rebuild a snap.

that sounds like a good idea, but ive still got the problem of school. i know that me and my teacher could have the motor out in about two nights, and then ive got about two months to get the motor built, so i might do that. the problem with it though is that im still broke.

another question though, will the heads off of a '93 3.0 fit on a '90? i have a full motor out of a 4runner, but its a newer engine, and i dont know if the parts will fit off of it...

Yes the heads should work, I believe the only the injectors and cpu are different. If the rest of the '93 engine is good you should swap it over and rebuild the one in your truck, or is it an auto?