I have a 4.6L Romeo engine with 320k on the odometer and it's knocking. I'm hesitant to drop a junkyard engine in it not knowing if it's in as bad of shape as the one I'm taking out. What makes it worse, the digital odometers in 99 keep me from knowing the miles of the engine on the PI head engines. My question is, why don't we have more people rebuilding these engines?? If you have, what were the costs associated?

 

An amateur rebuilding an engine is a mistake waiting to happen. It's easy to not do something exactly right and ruin the engine. But if you are meticulous and determined, take your time, and read everything you can find on the subject and don't need the truck for a good while, go for it. If you plan to keep the truck, I'd suggest getting a factory reman.

 

Ok, so it's an issue of the engine being so complex that people generally don't attempt a rebuild.. am I correct?

 

I think it's an issue of

you can buy a reman replacement engine cheaper than you can do it yourself.
if you have your heart set on a reman, buy one from Ford, $3500 or so (you install).
shop around, dealerships are different, you can find deals on them.

as for a used engine, I've bought plenty, hear it run first, don't buy one that they can't run for you even with a guarantee.
i've bought used running triton engines for $300+
again shop around, you can find a deal