88 engine..... rebuild or swap

[tenx]

88 engine..... rebuild or swap
posted this question in the second generation part of the forum but thought i might get more responses here. have a 88 second generation 2wd manual shift d50 with a perfect body and a high mileage sick engine. low mileage jap engines are no longer available. This has been asked before i'm sure but i can't put my hands on what engines will fit directly and one that will fit with some massaging. my engine still runs but poorly. can someone help?

[pennyman1]

First question - which motor do you have - 2.0 has a black timing cover, 2.6 has an aluminum cover. Have you done a compression check, and a tuneup, including a new fuel filter?

[tenx]

no compression check but smokes and runs rough on startup (bad valve guides/seals ?) but settles down after a couple of minutes. After it settles down it runs and drives really well. Continues to smoke a little when hot. Engine still runs without knocking, etc. so the basic rotating mass is intact and re-buildable. Wondering if it's better to rebuild the existing engine or is there a newer engine or engine/transmission that will go in without a tremendous amount of effort and massaging. Just looking for a basic transportation piece, no towing or performance stuff. The engine appears original, the stickers under the hood read "JMT2.0 2FFC4 Eng CID 121.9", the timing cover is black plastic. Thanks for your help.............

[geezer101]

So I'm guessing by the manufacturers' sticker and your description you have a G63B 2 litre engine. You got a couple of options for engine swaps if you don't need the headache of changing the gearbox over. There's the venerable 4G52 chain driven astron 2 litre, the 4G54 2.6 litre (the 4G54 came in both narrow and wide block configurations so you really need to do your homework on that one) and any Mitsubishi narrow block 4G6X fwd engine with a left facing configuration. So that means twin cam/ twin cam turbo 2 litre is on the table. There are also a few oddball sources like early Hyundais that used Mitsubishi engines. Go to your local scrap yards and have a look at some wrecks to get ideas. Don't forget engine swaps will need some thought when it comes to exhaust systems and ancillary stuff.

[noahwins]

Lowest cost option might be to rebuild the head and replace the gaskets. The bottom end is pretty durable. In fact the bottom end on your truck is 99% identical to the 4G63 turbo found in VR4s and DSMs. A DOHC head will bolt on, but switching everything from East-West to North-South is trickier.

It might be as simple as dropping the head off at the machine shop and asking them to give it a check up. Maybe piston rings, too.

[geezer101]

Lowest cost option might be to rebuild the head and replace the gaskets. The bottom end is pretty durable. In fact the bottom end on your truck is 99% identical to the 4G63 turbo found in VR4s and DSMs. A DOHC head will bolt on, but switching everything from East-West to North-South is trickier.

It might be as simple as dropping the head off at the machine shop and asking them to give it a check up. Maybe piston rings, too.

Good advice there too. Rebuilding ensures you have a sound engine and gives you a chance to tidy up the head with some port work. The G63B is a robust engine and doesn't take much tweaking to get useable power gains.