Engine Rebuild / The Cost, I'm in the mid-west (Michigan) - You around, bitter? Options

[Lexicon_Devil]

The story of my Celica is a long one.
Long story short : I sold her in early 2005 and got her back late last August.
She wasn't in the same shape she was. At all. The dude didn't know how to
take care of her.

I've been having little problems since I got her back. One after the other.
Recently, as some of you may know, it was the radiator. I have a huge
leak in my timing area that's losing major oil. I don't really trust the
head gasket because I found out the dude just over-filled a Honda he
recently got and messed the engine all up (which is probably why there's
the major oil leak in this one)...

Anyway, I'm tired of worrying about what's gonna pop up around the corner
or down the road. I'm looking to rebuild her. I do a lot of work on her myself,
but I'm not ready for the learning curve of re-building an engine and the time
she will be off the road if I do it.

Here are the facts -
I'm not rich. I need the cheapest route possible.
I'm not looking to do any crazy swaps right now. I'm happy with the stock 2.2
I can't afford to have some super expensive shop do this
I've put way too much money into the body parts that I had to replace. She looks good
so I don't want another car.
I would rather re-build than swap because I know this car so well and know
that with a good rebuild, I could drive her to California the next day if I wanted

My questions are -
What kind of cost am I looking at in the Michigan area if I went through a small shop
or an independent mechanic?
Does anyone know of a mechanic in the Detroit area that does this kind of work cheap?
Is there anyone I should stay away from?

Car - 94 GT, 5 Speed, 2.2

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Again, I don't want to do some crazy swap. I just
want her back to the way she was. I've been emailing some people about quotes but I'd
like to hear back from some people on 6gc for reference.

This post has been edited by Lexicon_Devil: Aug 1, 2008 - 4:24 PM

[hurley97]

I would stay away from having a small/cheap shop do the work, unless you know them and you know they do good work and you know they know Toyota's. I've seen people do more harm than good when they don't know what they are doing. I know not everyone has the resources to but if I were you I'd source another motor and learn how to rebuild it myself, if you are mechanically inclined of course. If you get a spare motor you can take your time with it and do it right, if you have questions, there will be people on here that can help. This will save you a lot of money, you'll learn a lot in the process, and if something if wrong later you'll have a better idea of what it is and how to fix it.

When I rebuilt my 7A it cost me about $715 in parts for the rebuild, plus I bought a new radiator for $140, a reman'd starter for $180, a reman'd alternator for $200, a new front O2 sensor for $98, having the head machined w/ valve job and clean for $205. Then you need to think about the cost of other fluids, coolant is included above, Oil, trans fluid, brake fluid if you decide to disconnect the clutch line, etc.

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This post has been edited by hurley97: Aug 1, 2008 - 7:10 PM