BHG decisions... :(

[legolyle]

Alright, so here I am, I am now pretty sure I have a BHG-but not severe.
No milky stuff yet, I'm guessing the guy who owned the car before me decided a quick fix with some blue devil was acceptable or some crap...

My cars NA

Basically, my coolant in my reservoir smells like gas, but its only slowly being depleted-verrryyy slowly, but my oil is being burnt considerably faster-faster than I originally thought.
I can also hear the heater core gurgling noise pretty often on startup

so now, with the time I have left, I am trying to decide what exactly I should do.

I have a limited budget, I'd say I don't want to go over around 1500ish with this.

right now I THINK my options are as follows:

simply do a regular head gasket replacement
(but a rebuild sounds so much better! If possible within my budget that is)

or

pick up a near bye blown engine for 150, rebuild totally outside the car (while the still running engine keeps me going) and then put the rebuilt GE engine in the car.

Or

instead of rebuilding the separately purchased engine-simply install a MHG on it, whatever else needs to be done-call it day and swap it in (with all the necessary replacement parts etc etc) with no total rebuild.

How much would a rebuild of the engine cost thereabouts (If I did as much as possible)?

Am I better off going with a simple Graphite HG install? Or does a rebuild of an extra engine sound plausible?
I would really like to not have to pull the current block out of my car if I'm not going to rebuild/swap it.

I appreciate ANY input you guys have. thanks.

edit:
Oh, and I would like to add, keep in mind, I am extremely willing to (and desire to) learn, but this will be my first ever major engine repair.

 

[D.J.T.]

I'd get the engine for $150... Get An ebay gasket kit which costs like $60 - $120, buy a Headgasket separate ALWAYS. $90 to $300+ Rebuild the engine, Shit, even get it decked for a MHG... You might even want to go NA->T.

 

[legolyle]

well, I wasn't going to add this because I didnt think it was an option, but a guy near bye on craigslist has a rebuilt bottom end of a gte with around 8k on it, for 500.

sound worth it? I'd have to get a GTE head to match it with too correct? or would a GE head suffice ya think?

and do you think I could actually do N/A->T with a 1500ish budget? I can go a little over, but I really need some money for school etc.

 

[D.J.T.]

NA Cylinder head will fit the GTE block. only thing that changes are the Cams. You'll need a Turbo & Turbo exhaust manifold & possibly turbo intake manifold.. not sure. though, Devin LeBlanc has a NA->T thread on here somewhere, where he uses the NA Block. Just make sure to measure the block to see if it has been machined before.

 

[legolyle]

yeah Ive read through his thread previously, really good. yeah thats what I was wondering, so I WOULD need the turbo cams...or from what Ive read its recommended you use those over the NA.


im still trying to compute the cost of it all haha. I dont want to get stuck half way having spent $2000, and only being *mostly* done. lol

 

[D.J.T.]

I would rather spend $2K buying a JZ engine & having it on the engine stand. while time passes & as i make more cheddar Ill be able to have almost everything ready. well thats just me. $2K to go 7MGTE & STOCK... ehh doesn't sound like money spent in a good way to me..

 

[legolyle]

while I would love to do that, I cant. I'm in school, I'm lucky when I get a well paying summer job. Its damn near impossible for me to get a part time job during the year with my schedule. So that money would have to build up over a loooong time. And I'd imagine that this head gasket will have gone long before then. those sorts of projects will have to wait until im either out of school or have a better paying job haha

 

[Turbo Habanero]

Heater core noise hints bhg... didn't know that.. I have a new built motor and I still beers that noise. I would just do a compression test on your motor and be 100% sure

 

[legolyle]

it was almost out of coolant when i originally got it, it burns coolant and oil, and the coolant smells like gas. While I will be checking to make SURE some more, im pretty sure its likely...

 

[roadboy]

well bubbling heater core or sounds could mean air in the system, i had that same problem, opened the cap and its been fine since, cause i just did a headgasket job.

and for rebuilding the engine, either buy a different engine and start from there, what I did was get a seperate block and rebuild it from there, it isnt hard to do it yourself, probably what i spend on my new block was
100 for 7mgte block
100 bore hone clean ect
80 parts(crank, rods, oil pump ect)
free labour (do it yourself) and tsrm
other stuff prob about 200 give or take.

and im fulltime student and parttime working and i had time to finish it within 3 months (winter)
btw im not a mechanic i learned everything on the go, double checked clearances and got answers from shops and on supramania

 

[legolyle]

thanks for all the tips guys, I really appreciate it.
It's weird, I pulled the dipstick out the other day and it read about 1/2 quart low (after sitting for an hour or two) and then I pulled it out a couple of days ago, and it read full. >.>
so...no burnt oil yet?

it still has the gas smell to the coolant and the gurgling noise. I do realize there could be air in the system, but I ruled that out because none came out when I left the cap open a while ago-but I suppose it might not have all come out.

But i'm going to not assume for sure its really blown yet-gonna have to get some more specific testing done on it. Ill post back here when I finally get the for sure results.