Fn New Guy, Novice, Bury me in my CJ, not mechanic, engine question

[M1917]

Boys,

I’m a public service man skilled in rifles and woods but have zero mechanic skills, proper tools, or natural CJ fixing ability. I am in my 40s but grew up when owning an old American ride was still doable for
the mechanically skill-less like myself. I live in the SC Lowcountry but most of the CJ7s, etc I see here are owned by people whose single paycheck could probably buy my old house in Appalachia. More power to them, but I don’t want my 1984 CJ7 and daily driver to die. I am sure I could use a forum search button but most of this is foreign to me.

I love my stock 258 engine and its 1982 T5 transmission. It has 235,000 miles and while I am told it was once rebuilt I need to prepare for the possibilty of a new engine. Can anyone just shoot me straight on the best 258 crate/rebuild/remanufacture that I can pay someone to put in for me
without getting divorced but still be ready for the Zombie War with my Chilton’s manual and screwdriver?

With the exception of one fabulous garage I trust here, it seems like the honest mechanics I knew in my youth didn't migrate from the hills along with me.

If anyone can point me to a proper thread I’d appreciate it. Being a lazy man, I may copy most of this to another thread about a body work question. I am between selling the Jeep to get a new one or jumping into the deep end of some garage here. Any advice? I won’t be offended... The more I look at a JL the more I want to keep this to death - but still on the fence.

 

[CJ]

Hello, first question is do you want a short block or a long block?

The price can be a bunch.

 

[hole]

Cant recommend any major engine builder, I've always stuck with rebuilding my own with a trusted local machine shop. Talk it over with the above mentioned "one fabulous garage" guys to get their opinion, because if I'm reading your post right, you will not be doing the swap yourself. Every vehicle has issues, some more than others. Ours are pretty simple to fix, at least compared to newer junk, but finding quality parts can be the bigger challenge.

 

[j6824]

Boys,

I’m a public service man skilled in rifles and woods but have zero mechanic skills, proper tools, or natural CJ fixing ability. I am in my 40s but grew up when owning an old American ride was still doable for
the mechanically skill-less like myself. I live in the SC Lowcountry but most of the CJ7s, etc I see here are owned by people whose single paycheck could probably buy my old house in Appalachia. More power to them, but I don’t want my 1984 CJ7 and daily driver to die. I am sure I could use a forum search button but most of this is foreign to me.

I love my stock 258 engine and its 1982 T5 transmission. It has 235,000 miles and while I am told it was once rebuilt I need to prepare for the possibilty of a new engine. Can anyone just shoot me straight on the best 258 crate/rebuild/remanufacture that I can pay someone to put in for me
without getting divorced but still be ready for the Zombie War with my Chilton’s manual and screwdriver?

With the exception of one fabulous garage I trust here, it seems like the honest mechanics I knew in my youth didn't migrate from the hills along with me.

If anyone can point me to a proper thread I’d appreciate it. Being a lazy man, I may copy most of this to another thread about a body work question. I am between selling the Jeep to get a new one or jumping into the deep end of some garage here. Any advice? I won’t be offended... The more I look at a JL the more I want to keep this to death - but still on the fence.

Anywhere from the $1600-2800 range, plus shipping...then there's install

A local shop might be able to beat that by quite a bit, if your block is good