Advice on opinions on a blown Astra SXI?

[TOMsSXI]

Hey guys,

I have a 2004 Astra SXI 5sp manual with 245,000 k's on the clock (I've had it from new), the head gasket let go between two cylinders about 2yrs ago and the car has been sitting in my garage since.
Being a 2 door and my baby daughter coming along the way, I wasn't in any rush to fix it as I required a 4 door at the time (so I ended up buying a Xtrail as the family car)... but now the car is taking up space and I'm in two minds, flick it or fix it.

I'm pondering on buying a z18xe from a wrecker and swapping it over (the currently engine runs but hey, a lot of k's...and not worth fixing)... how hard (and time wise) would it be to do a straight swap - z18xe for z18xe?
Would I need any specific tools? I wouldn't mind a 2nd car, so I'm thinking of keeping it (I also purchased some RE02's for it just before the gasket let go)... and attempting to diagnose the issue I spent a fair bit on spares...

I was hoping to sell it and get a couple of grand for it, but after seeing the SRI's for sale, I can see it's near worthless...?

What do you guys think?
Cheers,
Tom.

[adam_92]

Z18xe can be bought with decent kms (under 100,000k) for between $500-600. Can be swapped out in a day if you have the know how. No specific special tools needed. Just a decent socket/spanner set and maybe torx bits. Id also reccomend doing the waterpump and timing belt while the engine is out of the car too

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