From: Horrocks, Aaron (ACHb@pge.com)
Date: Fri Jan 16 2004 - 13:34:01 PST
Hi List,
If you've been following my project, I've got an M38A1 with a lot of CJ5 parts in and a hunk of junk for an engine (it's a CJ5 engine with a crack and very poor compression). Anyhow, some civy nut job had a '53 A1 that he was gutting out for a 12V conversion and a 350-Chevy. He put the parts on e-bay, and I won the engine. He claims it ran fine when he pulled it out, however the fuel filter stopped working so he by-passed it with a newer one. By the time he sold it on e-bay, it was sitting for about a year.
So, now it's in my garage and I've got a little bit of money. Before I go head and drop this into my jeep...
Should I have this engine professionally rebuilt? Or am I safe giving it a good cleaning, draining all the fluids, give it a flush (oil and anti-freeze) replacing all the gaskets, etc, etc. Cost isn't too much of an issue, but I'd much rather spend the money on something else if I didn't have to. Like a new set of canvas seats and a summer top! The way I see it, I could spend $100 on all the fluids and gaskets and might luck out with a decent engine. Or, it might still need a rebuild and there goes $1,500. However if I take it straight to the shop I'd spend the $1500 when the engine might not have needed it.
I called M&M head in Hayward, CA (the same guys that the Archer Brothers use) and they quoted $1,450! To me, that sounds like a decent price... perhaps a bit on the high side?
In any case, I'm sure some of you "list-ers" have experience about engines sitting around for a while that I could really benefit from.
Aaron Horrocks
1952 M38A1
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