Decision: Swap blown engine or use as parts car?

[viking67]

Hey folks,

I was recently given a '90 Celica GT with a blown engine. My buddy's wife had ignored the low oil light, and eventually ran the engine so lean the pistons blew. Their mechanic recommended replacing the engine instead of rebuilding because it already had 230000km+, but they decided to buy a Solara instead and gave me the car to play with. The car sat in their driveway for the past year, and while the body(red) is in pretty good shape, the front brakes have rusted up and the sunroof has started to leak. It also would need a new tranny.

So, do I try and replace the engine myself, which I don't really have the time or place to do an engine swap, or do I buy another used 90-93 Celica (i would prefer a GT-S and in almost any other colour than faded red) and use this one as a parts car?

Thanks

Ross

[evo]

if you don't have the resources to do an engine swap, you're left with selling, or keeping it as a parts car - so I'm a little confused by the question

keep that car while you look for a gts that suits you, see if you need lots of parts from your red 90, swap what you need and sell the red (or part it out, but it sounds like you don't have the resources for this)

if you change your mind about an engine swap, a 3sgte (turbo) engine will bolt in, there is a good thread on this site detailing the swap