Tradin' Motors

A few posts back, I mentioned a potential "no cash" engine deal I was working on. In the car & parts package I purchased, I got my choice of two engines: the single cam (SOHC) that was already in the donor street car (blown - cause unknown) and a twin-cam (DOHC) engine that had a rod knock. I hadn't witnessed either engine running, so I was left to choose based on gut instinct. The mystery engine in the street car was very frightening to me because it was clear that the previous owner was, to put it kindly, a moron. It's obvious that after the engine let go, the guy decided to pull it out - either to work on it, or just put a new engine in. Problem is, that he just started yanking miscellaneous parts off and cutting any hose he could reach.
The lack of any sense of order or common sense is probably indicative of the maintenance history as well. Take into consideration the 160,000 miles that it has seen, and my guess is that the engine needs a full overhaul. Not my cup of tea - at least not right now. So the DOHC was a sounding a little better. It ran, but had a rod knock. It was most likely a spun rod bearing, which is a fairly straightforward fix as long as the engine is out of the car. Which it was, so I wasn't too worried about that. What I was concerned about was all the extra "bulletproofing" that was needed to make the DOHC reliable on the track. A little (ok, a lot) of research on Neon engines revealed The DOHCs history of top-end oiling problems when driven hard, and the connecting rods were also a concern under race conditions.
The solution for many of the oiling issues is a very nice oil pan made by the fine folks over at Moroso. Unfortunately, the pan cost $375.00!! That's right, almost $400 bucks. I just about fell out of my chair when I saw that. You can find a damn nice, used, RUNNING engine for that. If you're smart (and budget conscious), you'll get a SOHC that doesn't need any of that crap to be reliable. Now, before I get a bunch of DOHC hate mail, let me state that the DOHC is a fine, powerful engine when all the oiling issues are resolved - just not for a guy who's on a shoestring budget. So that put me squarely back to the scary SOHC - poop!

Cruising the usual Neon websites, I found a guy who had a running 50,000 mile 1995 SOHC engine that he wanted to sell. His asking price of $200 was a pretty good deal, but that nagging budget thing kept popping up. After talking to him, I found out that he was looking to put a DOHC engine it it's place. "Wha?! Hey!! I've got one of those!"
After a few weeks of negotiating, we worked out a deal, and the week of Thanksgiving ('07) I traded a rod knocking DOHC and engine harness for a low mileage, running (I'm told) SOHC and it's harness. The best part is that everybody's happy with the deal.

So, there ya have it - my best trade to date. I have a new engine, and I didn't spend a dime. A little preventative maintenance and it's time to pop it into the car. The next major project is to pull the current SOHC out of the car.