Just as the subject says, I recently scored a 1981 1.6L N/A (but currently inoperable and I've been trouble shooting without any success) and also found a CY code TD to swap into it. Now I'm noob on this forum and a noob with diesels as well, so I will rely a lot on all the guys here who are diesel savvy on these kind of motors. I do know my way around tools and wrenches as I like to do my own work on my car. The fellow that i bought the TD engine from said that it ran before it was pulled but Im not sure if i should believe it. Looking at the engine, it seems like oil has been coming from around the head gasket area. So I was thinking why not just rebuild it since its already out and I dont have a history of the engine's past, that way I know that its done up to my standards. Any suggestion suggestion, comments concerns will be appreciated. Will post some pics once I figure it out. Thanks!
Doing a full rebuild is a significant time/expense commitment. You'll have many hours and probably $1,000-$1500 in parts and machine work. If mess up any critical step it will all be for naught. Have you don a full engine rebuild before?
If you install the engine as is, you might get lucky and find that it runs well for some time. If not, then you will be out the labor of removing/installing the engine.
Thanks for the input and I will keep that in consideration. Unfortunately, I have never done an engine rebuild before, and will be the first if I do decide to go for it. What are some of the common problems will I come across? I also purchased a Bentley manual for the MK1's just so I'm not going in blind on this .