Then, on Christmas Day, trouble began. By the next day, white smoke poured out of the exhaust pipe and the car idled really roughly. It was obviously serious. I took it to a mechanic, and got the dreaded diagnosis: broken head gasket. The repair cost for this (and associated work) would be about $1700, what I paid for the car!<\/p>\n Grant suggested that replacing the engine entirely would be cheaper and simpler than getting into the head to replace the gasket and resurface the head. And, this would be a procedure he’d be comfortable doing himself! Having always wanted to learn more about engines (and knowing next to nothing at this point), I jumped at the chance to take on this project.<\/p>\n We found a used engine on Craigslist with low mileage for the year, and a good price (because it was missing a distributor – something I already had). It was delivered this week and I worked with the delivery guy to get it up on the hoist. All is in place for a weekend of greasy work.<\/p>\n![\"My](\"https:\/\/www.mynameiskate.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/car-project01a.jpg\" "\\"My")
<\/a>In the fall, I bought a car to help facilitate my separation. After a morning of intensive shopping (up and down Aurora Avenue), I found a 1992 Honda Civic 4-door that was a good deal. I paid $1700 for it (plus fees). I had a good feeling about the car, and it served me well for a few months.<\/p>\n<\/a>I retrieved my car from the mechanic with a “no, thanks.” Luckily, Tim has a second car he’s not using, and kindly allowed me to borrow it for the time being. This gave me time to consider my options.<\/p>\n