My LeMons racer is currently a Saturn SC2. The 1990 Volvo 244 is yet to be built and will not debut until 2014 or 2015.

The original motor in the car spun a bearing in the AL block due to oil starvation because I foolishly changed the oil (sludge and carbon clogged the pick-up screen). The machine shop says it is not rebuildable...but only the block. Crank, rods and pistons are good as well as the head. Local "core" location does not have any rebuildable cores either.

I have a spare running motor but I would like that as a spare. I want to do a "built" motor which is officially cheating but I can justify it. By built I mean REAL alloy main and big-end bearings, slight head shave, new gaskets and new timing set.

Where would you find a rebuildable block or long block? PnP is about $110 for just the long block but these cars litter the yard due to broken timing chains. My "labor" for pulling a long block is about $200 (my take home for the same amount of time as pulling and tearing down a motor) but I can tear the motor down in the yard for evidence of spun bearings or other neglect. A normal salvage yard charges $250+ for long block but I cannot break it down...in lieu of that they offer a 60 day guarantee.

So what would you do if it was your time and money?