- Location
- Middle Tennessee
As many of you know from a recent thread, my engine is high milage and has some issues with scratched bearings. While the oil pressure looks good and it seems to run fine what little time it's been run since putting it back together, I'm still leery about running it.
So I've been pondering what to do.
Stroker! Yeah, that would be really cool. But wait.....I have a Renix which opens a whole can of worms figuring out the intake, throttle body, and TPS issues that come up. It is the most expensive, even if I put it together myself. Besides the fact it HAS to run on 87 pump gas and I have no idea of how to put together a combination of parts that will guarantee driveability. The more recipes I find and read, the more questions come up about whether this will work best for me. The power aspect is a huge bright spot for the stroker. Besides, it's just cool to be able to say you have one.
Rebuild it myself! Looking at this option seems like the best route. Not the cheapest but it would be guaranteed to run since it would still be all stock, just new. My Renix engine has over 300,000 miles on it now so a freshly rebuilt stock 176 HP Renix would definitely be an improvement.
Buy a reman! Groomes sells remanned engine for about $1650. It would have a warranty and be local to me. Not cheap but the reliability factor would be great here. My 1994 has a reman Groomes engine and while an HO, it runs like a scalded dog and gets 17.5 mpg to boot.
Used! This is by far the cheapest option for me if a good running engine can be found. I know there are potential underlying problems that can't be seen and might rear their ugly head later, but.... I can buy a whole XJ and part it. I've been looking for a used engine and they are cheap but most are going to be HO engines. That leads me back to the issue of making it work in my Renix. I can't just slap on my intake and roll. None of the intake ports match. So we are back to the issue with the TPS, throttle cable, etc.
I know the TPS stuff can be sourced through Hesco or made so some of those problems can be addressed through more money (Hesco) or fabrication (or booty-fab in my case).
Right now I'm thinking used or stock rebuild to keep things on a time table that I can control. I'd like to have the engine done and installed in advance of the Crawl to help eliminate any gremlins that could pop up.
Anyone have a great running Renix engine lying around?
So I've been pondering what to do.
Stroker! Yeah, that would be really cool. But wait.....I have a Renix which opens a whole can of worms figuring out the intake, throttle body, and TPS issues that come up. It is the most expensive, even if I put it together myself. Besides the fact it HAS to run on 87 pump gas and I have no idea of how to put together a combination of parts that will guarantee driveability. The more recipes I find and read, the more questions come up about whether this will work best for me. The power aspect is a huge bright spot for the stroker. Besides, it's just cool to be able to say you have one.
Rebuild it myself! Looking at this option seems like the best route. Not the cheapest but it would be guaranteed to run since it would still be all stock, just new. My Renix engine has over 300,000 miles on it now so a freshly rebuilt stock 176 HP Renix would definitely be an improvement.
Buy a reman! Groomes sells remanned engine for about $1650. It would have a warranty and be local to me. Not cheap but the reliability factor would be great here. My 1994 has a reman Groomes engine and while an HO, it runs like a scalded dog and gets 17.5 mpg to boot.
Used! This is by far the cheapest option for me if a good running engine can be found. I know there are potential underlying problems that can't be seen and might rear their ugly head later, but.... I can buy a whole XJ and part it. I've been looking for a used engine and they are cheap but most are going to be HO engines. That leads me back to the issue of making it work in my Renix. I can't just slap on my intake and roll. None of the intake ports match. So we are back to the issue with the TPS, throttle cable, etc.
I know the TPS stuff can be sourced through Hesco or made so some of those problems can be addressed through more money (Hesco) or fabrication (or booty-fab in my case).
Right now I'm thinking used or stock rebuild to keep things on a time table that I can control. I'd like to have the engine done and installed in advance of the Crawl to help eliminate any gremlins that could pop up.
Anyone have a great running Renix engine lying around?