Well this is what the new beast will begin as. I didn't pay much and thank god. I was doing some tinkering yesterday and found out that I am going to have to sink some cash into her. I have 2 cylinders that don't even hit 10 psi of compression, soo a rebuild is in her future. It has the 1.6 8 valve currently, but I have found two of the 1.6 16 valve engines and I am thinking of up grading if the cost and hastle isn't to much. What do you guys think? Should I just rebuild the one I have or buy one of the running engines I found?

I would stick with the 8v. Take the coin you would have otherwise spent on a conversion and get some shiny go fast parts for the 8v

Let me turn your question around - which would you prefer to have - an 8v that you KNOW to be in "mint" condition - or - a 16v that you're uncertain about?

It kind of depends on how much you know (or trust) the source of those running 16v engines, and what your plans for the vehicle are - personally I would rebuild.

i am kinda in this situation also. i thought i had fuel issues, but it was the damn crank key
so, do you put $$ in a crapshoot wrecking yard motor, or replace the crank(and bearings of course)??

I would pull the head and look at the valves , and see what is needing repair. if the valves had been improperly adjusted it could just have some bad valves .

Before you even pull it apart - wet & dry compression tests, will point you in the right direction and a leak-down test will confirm.

Well I have come to a conclusion at work today and it looks like you guys are in the same opinion. I am going to work on the 8 valve so I know what I have. From what I have seen there is plenty of things I can do to get more power out of the 8v and it will have more than enough for what I plan on doing with it. I appreciate all your advice and I will for sure take a look at those valves and the compression wet and dry tests. It has sat for a couple years without being ran so I might take some MMO and put it down each cylinder and let it set a day or so, do a good oil change and run it and see what I get.

Take the cam cover off and look at the valves whilst you slowly turn the engine over - make sure they open & close properly - I've seen valves stick in the open position on an engine that was sitting for a couple of years.