I've got a '88 245 w/a blown headgasket...or so the comp-test and leak-down test says. It has about 145K on it...unless the odometer has gaps in it. It also leaks quite a bit of ATF out a hole in the bell-housing. The rear sparkplug hole is stripped out (not my doing). It has oil in the water. The leakdown had air coming in to the crankcase on #1 cyl.

My mechanic has a good motor and trans, that came from a car that was totaled. He had just done a bunch of work on it 2 weeks beforehand and swears that they are both intact. He wants $500 for both.

I can pull the head and fix everything, but I'd still have to pull the trans and fix it...assuming that it is just the seal. This would cost under $100, plus head-work.

The motor change is an easier job.

If it were your bucket of bolts, what would you do? I am thinking that I am changing motors.

 

as long as the rest of the car is ok then go for it. where can you get a good driver for that money?

 

I'd change the motor.

 

If the "new" motor is the same year and not any earlier, I would change it. The '88s are the last year of the Bosch LH 2.1"s injection and ECU range. The early '87s and all the 86's are part of the biodegradable wiring harness group...and the only other ones with the LH 2.1 injection systems. So be wary of a "drop in" swap using an older engine's wiring harness, unless that has been updated.