Rebuild or swap?

[BuddhistWitch]

I figured I should put this in the KA-T forum since I'm planning on going KA-T after rebuild or swap.

My question is which is more efficient cost-wise and performance-wise. I have almost NO money right now, so I will have to drive the car until it's dead. Almost minimum compression in all 4 cylinders, crankcase pressure, bigtime idling problems, running very hot, and check engine light on and off.

So pricewise and performance-wise, would it be better to rebuild the KA, or to swap in a KA with low miles? Either way my mechanic will be doing it.

[Def]

You can get a lower mileage KA for almost nothing compared to just the parts for a rebuild. I'd say a hard look should find a few local KA's(especially in CA, the land of the SR swap) for less than the price of a set of forged pistons.

The only downside is you won't have as much headroom for bad tuning, but a rebuilt block with forged goodies won't be completely immune to poor tuning.

If you were going to rebuild with stock components, I'd still say a low mileage KA will be far cheaper. Machining costs aren't crazy, but they add up quick if you do a good job and don't do most the work yourself.