Here's the car right after I bought it.
I stuck 'er in the garage and started tearing in
I pulled everything out of the engine bay and pulled the engine wiring harness out. Right now it's waiting to be cleaned up and painted. I didn't originally intend to swap the motor, but after I got it out I started thinking about it. I hate TBI with a passion, and the fact that the G54 is a truck motor really bothered the heck out of me. So I started doing research on motor swaps, looking at build threads, reading this whole site, etc. I was torn between either a small block Mopar or a 4G63. In the end the 4G won out in my mind for a few reasons, including practicality. The car was a 4 cylinder to start with and I'd like to keep it a 4 cylinder, it's just time to bring it into the 21st century.
While pondering engine options, I was busy working on the rest of the car. First off was the rear sub-frame
Before:
After:
During my usual haunt of Craigslist last week, I found what looked like a good deal on a 4G core, so I drove 2 hours to Salinas and picked up this puppy
I paid $250 for the short block and a 2G wiring harness. The block has ARP head studs, and the prior owner claimed only 60,000 miles on it. It's a 7 bolt. After I got it home I discovered a gargantuan hole in the oil pan. It looked like a punch hole from a junk yard, and paint pen markings on the block seemed to confirm that hypothesis. I texted the seller asking for the real story, but he maintained that it was pulled from a good running car. We'll see.
Pulling the main caps, I was pleased to see no grooving or evidence of crankwalk. However there appears to be a slight amount of pitting on one of the main journals. I may have to get the crank turned.
I expect progress on the project to be slow due to the fact that I am working on paying off my other car right now. But I'll post updates as they come. Most likely the next project will be the wiring harness.
Thanks everyone!