The long and the short block of it all!

[MrRangerSir]

My 94 XLT, 2.3L (84k) has serious ring problems in the No. 1 & 2 cylinders. I'm finding it hard to locate someone to rebuild so now I'm looking at short and long block assemblies. What is a good price for short & long assemblies installed, and who to contact? I'm in the Oklahoma City area. :-staun

[tomw]

OK,no one else bit. Is it truly worth putting $2k into a truck of this age? Check with Kragen/Schucks/NAPA/Pep Boys/Jasper and locals for a baseline price guide. Including labor, a replaced long block could run close to $2K with no problem. "hadda replace the hoses, cut when removed, Plug wires looked bad... old plugs were fouled out... Injectors looked bad.... Blah Blah..."
What would a good used engine cost? $600 from a junkyard is the high end for a 4-banger that would drop in. Figure 6-8 hours labor at going rate(ballpark $50/hr would be $300/400 labor). I know it would take me most of a day to R/R an engine. More labor less machine shop cost for a short block because of all the transfer/install work.
How long will you keep the truck? Can you do the work yourself? Do you like this truck REALLY that much?

Give it some thought...
tom

[mantta]