Annoying… Annoying…

I’m the proud owner of an ’89 Chevy Pickup.  My goal is to restore it, and have a good solid running truck that’ll last longer than any of the cars I’ve owned.  Thing is, I’m a gearhead without a garage.  I’d absolutely LOVE to take the engine apart and fix it myself – right now it’s developed a really nasty valve tap and I’ve essentially parked it.  20 years old, 174k miles, purrs like a kitten until I give it some gas.

It needs a rear main seal, an oil pump, and from the sound of it – probably could use a valve job / cylinder head.  So far I’ve only found one local shop up to the challenge and off the top of their head quoted around $2000 to rebuild the motor, or half that to install one that I supply.  Course, I don’t know these guys from a hole in the wall.  Could they be the best?  Maybe.  Could the $ figure go way over that quick and end up leaving me broke with a 20 year old truck?  Maybe.

What I want is a good, reputable engine builder capable of either overhauling the motor I have or installing a new one, plain and simple.  Quality Engine is gone, apparently the owner died and that was that.  Precision in Middletown apparently only wants to work on race motors, they won’t touch what I’m working on.  The Engine Shop, LLC doesn’t return my calls.  One private guy I got a recommendation for didn’t call me back either.  So right now my main options are A: Do it myself in my dirt driveway or B: have Orange County Custom Hot Rods take care of it.

Doesn’t seem that complex!  All I want is a solid stock motor, no frills, no extra performance, I just want a reliable engine that’ll last as long as what I’ve got has lasted.

So I’m using Google to try and find a good remanufactured engine source, or a builder, and coming up with nothing.  Anyone have a suggestion that returns calls?  I don’t want to go to the first person that answers me but at this point, it’s all I’ve got.