i bought an 81 L28ET a few months ago thinking it only needed a head gasket and new freeze plugs. i was planning on disassembling it, replacing all the wear parts, reassembling it, then installing it into my 76.
i removed the cylinder head a few days ago and brought it into the shop to get a basic freshening up, valve job, and plane job, etc. well, the shop gave me a call before they started working on it and told me that the head is warped beyond planing and there is a water leak that needs to be welded up, the price for the work $300
when i removed the water pump from the water pump housing on the front cover of the motor, i found that part of the finned piece of the housing had broken off, i found those broken peices when i removed the oil pan... what does this mean? how would these pieces get into the oil pan? and do you think they have caused damage on thier way there?
Basically what i'm wondering is, is it even worth trying to rebuild this motor? if there is damage to the head there will most likely be some damage to the internals of the block...correct?
Thanks for any help you can give.
-Domenic