Toyota Repair: 1989 TOYOTA CELICA

Question
Ted,

I have a 1989 Celica, 2.0L, non turbo, 5 spd man.  The car has over 200,000 miles and has never given me any problems.  I keep it well maintained.  A month ago the engine just shut off.  
I took it to a shop and was told that the oil strainer was clogged which caused the engine malfunction.  We cleaned it all up, but now it has a faint knock.  My guess would be the rods with quite possibly the crankshaft.  In your opinion which would be better to either replace the motor or rebuild.  I have not found too many reliable sellers.  Also do they make a short block for the GELC, Oct 1988 orig date?  Thanks.  Tom

Answer
Once there is a rod knock and considering the miles on the car it would most likely need rings and also a valve job, you have a couple of choices besides that, there are many suppliers that have remanufactured short blocks or complete engines, there are also used engines available, just do a little online research, I strongly advise against having someone "rebuilt" your engine, it may cost more to do that in the end. Most autoparts stores can order a short block or long block for you, long block comes with the cylinder head, I would also consider selling this car as is because you will end up spending at Least $3000 to have a long block put in and about $1800 for a used engine including labor, this far exceeds the value of the car which is about $1000 in good condition.