What would be your preference? Buy it of fix it?

Given two cars that are equal in every way except for the engine, which would you prefer?

A. a clean, complete running engine that has not been redone. Mileage and performance indicate it will need attention at some point down the line.

B. An engine that has been redone by a known shop. Includes the paperwork and list of replacement parts and machining.

Would you rather do it yourself and build it the way you want it, have it done in advance of purchase the way the other guy wants it, or save a few bucks and drive it the way it is until you're ready to go to the next level?

A.
I would rather have an engine that has not been opeoned up and runs well enough, all the factor bits are there and I would rather go through it myself later. There are good shops, but where they put money/time might not be where I would put it. And I have seen alot of ?? work by 'good' shops.

It depends on your purpose. If you want to restore the car to "original", and the car is an E or an S, then you would want to keep the matching motor to retain maximum value.

If you pupose is to build a hot rod, and the car is a T, I would say go with the car with the better motor after a PPI confirms compression, and all the essentials.

Tell us more about your goal, and we can provide a better answer.