[East Bay HC]

i am going to be rebuilding my engine and i wanted to save some cash and pull the motor myself with the help of my father. i have never done this before so i was just wondering how hard it is. and how long it should take. also how much do you think my car will be worth after the rebuild. thanks.

[2Manystangs]

What are your goals and budget for the car?

[East Bay HC]

im not looking to supercharge or anything. i just want to have a fresh motor. im pretty sure i have a bad rod bearing. also im going to be using it as a daily driver for a year or two. and then its going in the garage. eventually i will sell this car. maybe get an 04 or 04 somewhere down the road depending on my situation.

[East Bay HC]

i meant 03 or 04 haha

[2Manystangs]

Well at this point I'd just shop on Ebay or Craigslist for a used engine takeout, lots of them in the $2000 range (I can't imagine the teardown and rebuild being less), then sell your bad engine to help finance the project, the car will be worth as much as they go for these days, maybe $5-6K if it's in good shape

[2Manystangs]

Another budget option would be to toss the dohc and put a 5.0 in it...much, much cheaper, esp if the long term goal is something else

[East Bay HC]

i have a hard time buying from ebay...plus i can get a rebuild from mmr for 1600 if i pull the motor myself. if they pull it it will be around 3000.

[2Manystangs]

is that for the shortblock? on exchange? Or the whole longblock?

[East Bay HC]

well now that i think about it they are just going to replace my rod bearings, grind the crank as needed, and also give me arp headstuds and all the gaskets.

[2Manystangs]

Listen, I'd just sell that car as it is and find a "tweener" car until the day you get your 03 Cobra...I've found these big projects cost triple, and take forever with many headaches as what you think and you'll never get out what you put in, not even close...trust me unless you are flush with cash, it's your best option...good luck

[East Bay HC]

thank you. i was kind of thinking the same thing. but i dont know of anyone that would buy it like it is. i guess ill just keep posting ads everywhere. such a bummer cuz i havent even had the car for a month.

[2oo5GT]

I would fix it and keep it till it's paid off or if it's paid off, save money up and in a few years either sell the car or keep it and have an 03-04 Cobra.
If you keep it basic, just a fresh rebuild and do some of the work yourself, it won't cost that much. If your like some of us, and i'm guilty, you start simple but then you want to replace this and that with better more expensive and then you've blown your budget. Just see what it would cost to get one from ebay, a fresh rebuild or just parts replaced and stick to that budget. If you don't go boost or nothing crazy, stick to the oem studs not ARP. If you plan on keeping it, then i can see doing that.

if you have the cherry picker, jackstands and know how to turn a wrench, you can remove a engine. It's not as hard as it seems. First time i did it, over 12 years ago, i though i was going over my head, afterwards i thought it wasn't nothing special. done several after that too.

[98SVT_Le Tank]

i just pulled the motor out of my 98 cobra about 2 weeks ago. this was my first. i have the want to do it so me and my buddy got it out in about 25 hours. sounds like alot but we took our time made sure everything was right. a chiltons will help guide you i emphasize on guide you bc thats all it will do. it isnt that hard to pull the motor plus it gives you alot of know how and experience for future projects you may want to do.