What was that smoke...need Opinions

[BigBoox]

recently wrote in here about my "90 4 Runner overheating on my wife...turns out it needs a replacement. I wanted to just rebuild what I had( the current engine was a Jasper Reman, no indication of when it was installed and Jasper was no help based on my VIN). My mechanic(who was against a rebuild as we are so far, 100+ miles to any type of reputable machine shop) and his former employee who currently works for a major transportation shop in the area both agree. The reman route is the way to go.
Does anyone have a recommendation as to remanufacturer? Jasper is off the Table, since they pretty much refused to help me. "there is a tag on the engine block somewhere" in their best good ole boys drawl...without pulling the engine one is impossible to find on the block. I'm looking on eBay daily and the best I've found is this one; Toyota 3VZ Engine 3 0L Zero Miles 4Runner Pickups T 100 1988 1995 | eBay
Any inputs? thoughts? They look like they do a good job and there is a one year warranty. Obviously I'l want to move fast on this so please offer up your thoughts. BTW, there are stickers under the hood and on the driver's door frame from Jasper, and...the speedo only shows 173,000.
Transportation is important as we are well off the beaten path as far as getting stuff to us and shipping stuff out of the area.
thanx,
BigBoox

 

[KidVermicious]

I think a reman is a horrible idea, for the same reasons you already know - even from a Name company like Jasper you can't count on the motor to be reliably built. Your mechanic likes the reman because it gets you in and out of his garage for about the same profit to him as a labor intensive rebuild, but that just makes it the best option for him... not necessarily the best option for you.

I think you need to rebuild it yourself. Paying a mechanic to keep these older trucks on the road is a short trip to a light wallet - save yourself a buck and rebuild it yourself, and then you'll know it's done right. If transportation is important, why leave it to someone else? Or even look into the 3.4 swap as long as the engine is coming out, get yourself a few more ponies under the hood. But I would counsel against slapping another cheaply built reman in there if reliability is a priority.

 

[BigBoox]

RE...need opinions

I would agree with you on that point kevin, in an ideal world that's what I would do however, I live in the northern reaches of NY State, there are no, repeat no engine shops this side of the canadien border for at least 100 miles. When i look out my front door, or back door and turn north, all I see is water and then Canada. even the mechanics I've talked too are unanimous....get a rebuild/reman engine.
I am going to look into the 3.4L option tho.