That's sort of my plan. I keep vacillating between pulling the whole motor and doing a complete rebuild, or just doing the top end. I kind of think it would be easier to pull the motor even if I only did the top end. Especially if I plan on doing the clutch and rear main seal. A compression check should help me make up my mind.

The engine has 170K miles on it. I would love to be able to drive this thing cross country on a family camping trip. Even if I buy everything engnbldr.com has to sell for my motor plus all the machine shop work, I should still be under $1K for an almost new motor. A motor that I know was done correctly and built with decent parts. engnbldr.com does sell decent parts, right?

lordy.... more to come!