I hear you loud and clear. You don't want to give the engine away (since he asked for it) but you don't want to cheat yourself. I'm also surprised that he asked for it. Most keep it and sell it for scrap metal. How much did he charge you to replace your engine? I would ask for 20% of what the total bill was. ie - total bill was $3,200 ask for $640. The flip side of this is that he probably knows that you have no intentions on keeping it so he's going to play hard ball.

 

What do you guys think about her bartering with the guy? Give him the engine for shop time?

Most people like doing this...and in my opinion it could be a win win for you both. He gets an engine and she gets shop time WHEN the rover has problems. Neither parties have to shell out cash; all is well

 

Ok RoverChick here is what you need to do, this will be cheap and save you a ton of money in the long run.
Go to Sears and ask for a 1/4" drive 8mm 12 point deep well socket and a 6" extension.
Then everytime you get the oil changed tighten the valve cover bolts, only the ones you can reach, tighten them by hand with the socket and extension.

Every Sat. morning before you start the engine check the engine oil, pop the hood, pull the dip stick, no need to even wipe it clean, just pull it out.
Also take a peek at the coolant bottle on the passenger fender, there are lines on it, "full" and "add", make sure it is in between those two lines.
Again do this EVERY Sat. morning BEFORE starting the engine, try to park on flat ground the night before. (you can actually pick the day, but pick a day and ALWAYS check the oil on that day, make a habit of it, stick a post it note to the dash is you need to)

As for the other fluids, dont worry about them, they will check them when they change the oil.
10w-40 is the motor oil you want the guys at the quick lube to be using, just ask for it, they have it.

As for the engine, offer it to the guy in trade, he does repairs in exchange for the engine.
It was knocking, so its only worth maybe $500.

 

Thank you so much for all of this feedback. It means the world to me.

 

I was just reading through this again and I cannot tell you guys how touched I am by all of the response. I feel ten feet tall going into the negotiation. I think that I will probably try to barter engine for labor. He says that he has a bypass trick that fixes the three amigos problems and a modified gasket to fix the leaking in the power steering pumps. Therefore I can probably try to get him to take care of those things in exchange for my engine. You guys are top in my book. So many people told me I was crazy for replacing the engine on my discovery instead of dumping it and that I am too emotionally attached to it. I feel like I am in good company here. I will be going to sears tomorrow and get a routine down. Thanks for exact shopping list Spike555 as i needed that. Had I come here a long time ago I probably would not have had to do this engine swap. But I am here now so it is all good.

 

If the engine was knocking, I am not sure why the garage did not pull down the oil pan and replace the big end bearings first.

But then that would be rebuilding an engine piece meal - trying to save money.

If the garage will stand behind the rebuilt engine, then that is probably the way to go.

The garage wants the core engine to rebuild it for the next customer and that's fine.

 

I think rebuilding it for resale is exactly what he wants but I just had no idea what it was worth. If I can get labor in exchange for it then I would be very happy.