Trying to decide long term engine plan 18vL running vs rebuild a 18G H or go v6

I have being working through the kinks in the 73 Bgt, and it seems to be coming along. It has a 18V584ZL13559 motor in it now that runs great and does not smoke on start up or decel,(havent check compression but the plugs all look flawless.) I have been driving it daily on a 60 mile commute and so far so good. Minus my fuel tank vent adventure, and a smog pump locking up. So far I converted it to the saturn alt, changed the trans mounts, pinion seal, relocated the alt after desmog, cleaned the carbs and replaced the fuel tank.

I have had to desmog it due to the air pump locking up, so now with all the vac leaks fixed it seems to run even better (anyone need a gulp valve). The car came with a spare 18G-WE H27159 motor that looks in poor shape, I have not pulled it apart to see if its a rebuild candidate yet.

If it is rebuildable, is it a better motor to sink money into over the current running 18V?

If i do most of the assembly, minus machine shop work and short block assembly, either inline 4 rebuild is in the 2-3K range correct?

How much mix and match between the 2 motors? ie rebuild the 18Gshort block as a spare ready to go and use the v head etc,

I can also get a gm v6 and trans for $400-$700, so with the conversion kit and misc parts I am still in the $2Kish range for a v6. prob more reliable but takes me of the road sooner.

The goal is to make this the commuter car with looks, so mileage and reliability are the key requirements, although I would like to be able to at least move out against traffic. The current motor keeps up but it is reving pretty good.

Thanks for any thoughts
D.Brisson

With you doing most of the work, $2-$3k sounds about right. Can't really speak to the difference between the two B engines, but as for using the '73 as a daily driver, you're already doing it! ;) With maintenance and tuning, the '73's 18v with stock HIFs should give you good mileage and reliability. One excellent upgrade for the stock 1.8L engine is a 5-speed conversion or an O/D transmission. That pretty well eliminates the "revs pretty good" issue. (For what it's worth, though, the stock engine is very happy buzzing along at 4k-5k RPM for as long as you like. The toll on the driver is worse than that on the car, as long as you're maintaining the car.)

Having said that, while my '73 is my daily driver - year-round in Northern Virginia - I'm planning on converting a '71 GT over to V6, with an automatic transmission. Best of both worlds. I will say this: At the end of that project, the V6 will very likely go over the $2-$3k limit. Check over on the V8/V6 Forum for info there. Do a quick search on "conversion cost" and you'll find a LOT of good links.

Looking at transmission optins now, found a od unit over the pond for $800ish with shipping. The new 5spd conversion in the catalogs are over my budget for this car unless I find some used parts. The intial thoughts on the v6 cost were from prelim searches on the v6 forum.

"Knocks on wood" so far the orig motor is doing well, I will go over it again in a few weeks, plug check , compression, change oil etc. My fuel economy has been pretty good, 22-24 mpg, I want to get a few consistent calcs though, thats only be 2 work runs since I fixed my tank issue. I checked the fuel pump over, but still may do the add on pump for safety. It has a crane ign so I am trying to source a used spare.

18G is a 3 main engine.

$800 USD for an O/D, including shipping? That sounds like a good deal if it's in solid working order. Regarding the Crane ignition, send a note to Jeff Schlemmer. For a decent price he can refresh and recurve the 25D distributor for you. Like the O/D, you'll be amazed at the difference that makes in the driving.

As for your mileage, that's on the lower end of normal for the stock engine and 4-speed. That'll probably improve over time just because you'll probably end up tweaking things as you go along. Not necessarily because you need to, but because it's easy (and fun) to do. Satisfying, too, because you get immediate feedback on how well you did - good or bad. :D

Figured mpg was tad low, but thats traffic mpg also, plus the carbs were a bit out, not to mention the drag and air leaks as the bearings went bad on the pump. Higher than that is bonus plan in my book, since the other car I had as a daily driver got 18mpg.