Replace HG or do swap? (more time oriented, not money)

I'm just wondering if I should just replace the HG on my 165 engine. It's got about 130k on it, and ran pretty good before it blew. It blew because my dipshit buddy went hog wild on it with a brand new untuned EBC... he hit 19.1psi and ever since, it runs like crap when hot, but starts just fine and idles until warm. Will NOT move very well under its own power, and after heating up, eventually dies. It also spews oil and some coolant as the temp rises. I was told either oil gallies or HG. I'm wondering what the tell-tale signs are of a blown HG with these cars. I don't want to replace the HG and studs and such and find out it wasn't the problem. Thanks in advance guys,

-Joel

A compression and leak down test is a sure way to locate exactly what is wrong. Otherwise oil mixed with coolant and vice versa is a bad sign. Smoke- white or black is not a good sign. It could also be piston rings etc. A fair amount of white goo shit under the oil fill cap I think also indicates blown HG.

As far as time goes it does not take very long to replace a HG once the engine is out so it probably makes no difference. Stock HG and stock bolts are relatively very cheap. I think stock bolts for me were $5 each and HG was 60 or so. If you get ARP studs they are reusable so it would not be a waste of money.

That's the problem right there. Getting the engine out. If I have to go through ALL of that trouble, I feel I might as well get an import engine, put a beefy HG on there, and tune for 15psi... That's really all I'm hoping for right now... I'll modify later, but I want a stock bottom end with decent HG for decent pressure. Ideas? Any places you know of that sell nice JDM imports?

I personally wouldn't recommend a new engine due to the fact that you never know its history and can never be certain of its reliability unless you rebuild it at which point you might as well rebuild the one you have. If you get a leak down then you may only need to replace the HG in which case you could replace it with the engine in the car if you were keen.

I am not sure you could find a gen 1 JDM import very easily but if you were keen then a gen 2 would be a good upgrade especially for moderate boost etc on a stock bottom end but of course would require a lot more work. I was in a similar situation to you and decided to rebuild the one I had which has turned out to be very reliable and cheaper overall.

I don't have the tools or the time to be yanking engines out left and right...I was planning a 2nd gen swap, which if I'm not mistaken isn't THAT hard. You just have to redo some connections in the ECU and junk...am I right? I'll probably do the tests to see where this engine lies... Thanks for the input dude,

-Joel

HG is really simple, you don't have to pull the engine, just take the head off, and on the ST165, you can reach the timming belt tensioner pully with the engine in the car. don't even take off the wiring harness, just lift up the head and change the gasket, then put the head back on, helps to have a friend.

Although you problem might be rings. I would get it testd before you do anything, burning oil is usally rings, not HG.