help to good to kill!

[scottishstu]

:mad: need some much needed advice!:mad:

had a time of it since xmas , car stolen then recovered then sorted it (long story?!) then got it fixed then wasnt running great turned out head fried!0 so any way got it fixed ?250 later had it two days but wasnt right took it back to garage they said head away again! so now skimmed twice! , car ran great for around 3-4 weeks until last night arg! car started to splutter then smoke out exhaust then few mins later engine smokin really bad , lifted the bonnet there was water every where but no sign of burst pipes etc , rac came out had look at it 4 a min and said head away again!!!!:mad:
sick chucking money at it but its my baby ! use know how i feel right?? lol the car got full history! even got the origianl doc when first bought! and only did 88k no work needed for last mot sailed , any way the wife to be wants me to send it to the car park it the sky!!!! (hell no!) shes not wantin me to spend to much as were gettin married in june all cash goin to that !help! any way long winded story , what use think cheepest option to fix ? or arg...
just came up with a crazy idea???? got a n plate vectra thats saw better days with a 1.8 ecotec engine in it would this be poss to put in big job???

all advice greatly apprecieted:thumb:

[Jon_nova1]

id guess the head is flat, the most likely cause would be a cracked head, warped/cracked block or cracked piston, theres not much else it could be

[Stuart]

throw a "new" engine in there, even if its a 1.6 they are peanuts to buy these days.

bear in mind that once shes got the handcuffs on you, that she will want kids and thats the nova definately gone lo

[Geth]

I would say the block needs to be decked too, just because the head is straight after a skim doesn't mean the surface it is sitting on will be. But as stu said, it could be just as easy to drop a complete new engine there.

[draper]

as said just chuck a 'new' engine in, GTE/GSi engines are bugger all to buy now-a-days, and tell the missus if she doesnt like it she better pack her bags lol :thumb:

[Jon_nova1]

id say it depends on the engine before it went wrong, or if you intend on modifying the engine.

and draper...a pug?? you should feel dissapointed, outsider :p

[Pillar]

dont use the vectra engine its too much hassle its as big as doing an xe! why not do that insted?

[scottishstu]

should have mentioned the car is totally standard , and my firsr choice would be to keep the original engine in , but money talks , and need it back on the road asap, think cost more to sort current engine?

[Pillar]

just get a 16 8v there worth peanuts probly be a lot cheaper than repairing