Valve issues

[FattyMcBaggins]

My girlfriend's dad has a '91 240SX SE. I am interested in buying the car but it has some issues. One of the cylinders isn't compressing, and he thinks that one of the exhaust valves is stuck open. The shops that I have spoken to said that this would cost about $1500 to fix if they have to do a valve job. The parts for that kind of job would only cost 4 or 500...so is there any way that I could do the work myself? Could I do most of the work and have them do final adjustments? I can't afford to spend 1500 on fixing the car if I'm only gonna pay a thousand to buy it. It also needs a new clutch. If I can do the valve job myself, then taking it to a shop for the clutch isn't an issue in the least. The engine has 160K on it. Would it be more worthwhile to shell out the cash for an SR swap with only 40K on it? If I can do it by myself, could anyone give me a walkthrough on how to do so? THANKS!

[180fan]

Think reverse. Do the clutch, send the head out to get worked.

[rwbrick]

You could save much by taking it apart yourself, though it can be tedious and you'd need a couple of allen sockets for the intake manifold and the heads removal and a crank pully puller. [Make sure the #1 cylinder is at TDC compression stroke!!] You'd need a Haynes manual (it's much more descriptive on removing heads than the Nissan manual), a head gasket set ($60-80), (recommended) a new timing belt ($20), (suggested) a new belt tensioner ($40), plus other nickel-dime stuff, a little patience and perservance. Send the heads directly to a quality machine shop; don't grind them yourself -- Nissan engines are very sensitive to good/bad valve work. The labor should be about $80-150. New valves, lifters, inserts would be extra.