Been playing with this idea, but get some real quirky answers from rebuild houses.

What is the cost difference between rebuilding my (or a JY) straight 6 and just buying a remanufactured 6 for my '91?

If I rebuild, I would try to do whatever I can here that does not need a machine shop and the rest.....send to said machine shop.

But a reman runs about 1200-1400 + core.

Somehow, I think some of you have been in the same position before, so I humbly await your expert opinion, as I can see benefits and drawbacks to both aspects.

 

Well, if you get the reman, your getting a stock XJ motor. If you rebuild it yourself, you have the option of putting in performance goodies. Rebuilding it yourself will cost a bit more, though, but a lot of it will depend on the costs of machining at the machine shop.

Personally I plan on rebuilding mine, simply because I enjoy wrenching and it'll be nice to know everything was done right.

 

Okay, that answers a lot, actually. Thanks. I think for the time being I'll go the reman route for now. And eventually grab a JY engine intended for rebuild. It's a combo fun toy/DD.

 

I'm going through the same thing right now on my 96. I've been pricing the rebuild parts n peices. Havent talked to the machine shop yet tho... Hoping that i can get away from there with just a cleaning, light cylinder hone, crank polish and valve job/ head resurfacing (hopefully). I'm sure i'll come out several hundred dollars cheaper with a rebuild,(maybe around $700-$800 total including replacement parts,gasket sets and a new header). And know exactly what i have! If there are no surprises at the machine shop!

 

I agree. There are a lot of shops that dont do the job right. I feel more confident it will be done right if I do it myself. The old saying goes "If you want something done right do it yourself".

 

One more thing to consider... a reman engine will almost always be built with the cheapest parts available... I would highly recommend building it yourself with the help of a machine shop, unless you know exactly who built the reman, and can get a list of parts, etc...

If you decide to DIY ask around for good shops or machinists. I just had a set of heads worked on by an old school racer/machinist, that I would have never known about had I not asked around. He's been doing heads longer than I've been alive, and only charged me $125. Even put new seals on and installed my new springs for me so he could vacuum check each chamber. I found the shortblock on craigslist. It was built by a local shop. Guy ran out of money, and had to unload the whole project. Turned out to be a great deal for me. I swapped out the cam, and got it all put together last weekend. It should be going back in this week if I can find the time.

 

Good point, closer9. Which dictates the next question: Who does a decent job in So Cal? I'll go pick the thing up.