Need Opinions ASAP before some thing stupid happens!!

[240user89]

ok so.... i have this problem. my ka24e is in horrible shape the guy before me did not happen to take care of it correctly and when i got it it had broken in about 4 months. the list of bad things are

the distributor is old resulting in the car to come out of timing every other day, burns through 1 Quart of oil in a day, i have a rod knock, the throw out bearing is bad (easy fix), and i think a injector has cut out on me but over all the body of the car is in perfect condition.

so heres the problem i have this guy that will sell me a complete de swap for 150 dollars but it needs a head gasket, he lives 3 hours away and i have no way of getting the engine back home. There is this other guy that lives about 5 minutes down the street that said he would give me a de engine for free. He had swapped out for a new engine because his engine had been waterlogged.

now my question for anyone out there is.. which one would be more bang for my buck. should i get the complete swap, the waterlogged de for free, or rebuild the original motor that i got and just put a de head on it make the compressions 11:1.

Please anyone with any sort of opinion help because i dont want to make a stupid decision and have wasted my time. (oh and im doing all the work myself so mechanic labors dont factor in to the cost of everything)

[locoluna825]

take both motors XD and you wont have much fun trying to get that head form the dohc onto your sohc

[240user89]

so take both motors? i guess that sounds like the most logical thing to do incase one needs something thanks that was simple and i appreciate it

[KA24M90]

I would go through them before you swap it. Do the motors have any known problems (other than head gasket, which might indicate something else might be wrong)?

[240user89]

yeah the guy that was going to give me his engine for free decided to tear it down and use the parts for his own use so it made my decision a little easier lol thanks for all your help guys much appreciated