74 COASTER that needs loads of work... help and advice needed

[roger the coaster]

hi there,

I've had my dear Roger, a 1974 Coaster converted into a motor home before I bought it, but to be honest not being the best of mechanics let's say i bought a good vehicle for the price but would have been better if the engine would have stayed alive a little longer. Well after a long period of not taking care of it I got myself into making my good old Roger all shining and running all fine again. The only problem is that as I said earlier I am not that much of a mechanic, but I'm a damn quick learner. So one day I had a problem with the head gasket and then broke again and apparently (as the dodgy mechanic told me so I'm not too sure if he had a real good look at it) one of my pistons is dead so the whole engine is dead with it and I would need to get it reconditioned or get a second hand engine.

As much as I intend to do most of the work to get it shiny (paint job, interior design, etc.) which I'm more than capable of doing, it was never my intention to do anything with the engine myself. But I have a very limited budget and I would like to gather as much info as possible to prevent other mechanics with bad intentions to rip me off (Been a bit unfortunate with this one and just came across one that now is way too far from where I live.

The pieces of advice and infos I am seeking right now are ways to find a 2nd hand engine or if it's better to recondition my engine, actually ways to find on my actual engine what it is exactly (I just know the engine number and that it runs on leaded petrol/LPG) so I know what to look for, and finally if it's possible if I change the engine to change it to a 5 speed (obviously my one being a 4 speed)

Well here it is and I really hope I'll find help with the Toyota community.

cheers

Seb

[JDM-GTFour]

Have a look on the actual engine for the type it is.. something R.. or in the engine bay... or google it.. forget about reconditioning a motor that old and worn out imo... if it was me I'd try all the jap import places for a suitable running replacement engine.. lots of phone calls for you...You will need a lot of equipment to get the engine out Im guessing, a big job. good luck with that.. will be fun when its going though.