78 corolla wagon project- stuck, need help

[mike408]

Hello all,

A while back I offered to help a friend who has been down on her luck some time and is living in a dilapidated (reeks of mold to say the least) RV. I did some engine work and got the thing running (1974 pace arrow) but it's a piece of crap and I hate working on (and looking at) the blasted thing and it turns out she had an old corolla that had been sitting around someplace and wanted to know if I could get her running again (better place to sleep, less mold) and SO our story begins there.

I offered to do a head gasket swap and related work for about $400 which she agreed to, I get the car home and am greeted by...





and those pictures do NOT do justice to the black widow infestation I found. I was bitten once and had two fall on me in the same day one actually had been living inside the brake calipers! Ugh...

Inside the engine to my shock and horror I find out the car SAT full of chocolate milk for two damned years and my friend didn't tell me. Looked like so






I did the best cleanup I could, de-rusted the pistons and the head but there was a bent pushrod which despite my best straightening efforts i think is still bent (tried to start the motor, sounded awful) so I took the valve cover off and the mating surface (with the head) is terrible so I found a good head for $100 and now am unsure what to do.

Should I A- buy the good head and install the old peripherals (springs valve guides that stuff) and hope for the best or B- buy another motor like a 4age or something and swap engines? A guy I know has a good 3au to sell me for $125, prob needs a rebuild.

There is almost no money for the project, the lady as I said is homeless, but I can spend maybe $200 more total.

What do I do? I am not the greatest mechanic in the world but I have a decent amount of experience, someone please light the best path to take here and time is of the essence.

I appreciate any input.

[mike408]

some pics post cleanup (the rocker arm assembly came out really good, can't find a pic right now)





Will the 2t-c motor run with just the new head or might there be damage to the crankshaft or something I am not aware of? I do have 2 very detailed manuals on engine repair for these cars, I know how to check tolerances and such for a rebuild if that's the best option.

I think for a rebuild I will need new pushrods and what else? Piston rings? Here is a shot of the pistons before I cleaned them

[mike408]

Ok so either imgur is screwing up my pictures or the forum software isn't changing something but only a chunk of each picture is being shown. Not sure what to do about that.

[yoshimitsuspeed]

I'm all about trading carbs for EFI especially when it comes to performance but the last thing you want to do in a situation like this is to get into a wiring mess and all the complication that comes with a big swap like that.

I think your cheapest safest route is finding a motor that runs and will bolt in. Either the same motor that's in it or any carbed motor that will bolt up and drive off.
I don't know exactly what those options are for this chassis.
There is still some risk to this. There could be something wrong with the motor that you didn't know about or it could fail shortly down the road. If you pick a good motor from a trustworthy source the risk should be minimal.

Generally a rebuild would be my next option but that motor needs a lot before you could confidently expect it to last a while. If you do rings you will need to measure bores and pistons then hone the cylinders. You will need to measure the crank and the crank and rod journals. You could plasticgauge the current bearings and if they are in spec and look great you could reuse them. That is pretty unlikely though. If everything else is in spec you can just get new bearings.
You would want to inspect and likely replace the oil pump. Then there is cleaning out all the passages, replace the pushrod, inspect everything else. That's the bottom end. Then you move to the head.
Not counting your labor a rebuild would probably cost at least a couple hundred bucks but it could cost much more depending on what all it needs.

[ga_goosh]

I would have to agree. try to find a complete replacement 3tc and swap the whole motor. with the water in the oil i would be worried that the bottom end would not be in good shape. I would tell your friend that the motor is shot and go from there.

[Wrodz1980]

Nice Wagon!