2 bad rod bearings. Invest the time and effort, or just say screw it?

[thor]

hi all

i've been an infrequent poster here with a few problems, and a few fixes. But listen to this-

I just finished my talon (93 n/t fwd auto) after buying the car with a blown head gasket.

First, I replaced the gasket, put it all back together, and the car wouldn't idle correctly because the valves were partially open. head job #1

I pulled the head back off, had a complete valve job done, installed 3g lifters, and put it back together. Finally getting it to run right. Head job #2

Girlfriend drives it 3 weeks, brings it home in tears saying it started losing power and is knocking like crazy.. I fire it up--- rod knock. I can push pistons 2 and 3 down with a screwdriver through the spark plug holes. Seems to be 2 bad rod bearings.


Now I was wondering if this could have been a possible crankwalk problem. It is a 7 bolt engine.
I have a 6 bolt engine from my other talon (font end damage.. good motor) but it burns oil from the last rebuild someone did, and it didn't seat the rings properly.

Should I invest the time and effort into this, or should I just say screw it because it's a cheap car to buy? The body and interior are in great shape, so it's a shame to scrap this machine.
anyone want to buy 2 talons? just kidding. Of course I just bought and installed 4 brand new kumho tires last week too. It figures

 

[thor]

I see my thread title got changed by the mods. I apologize, my original one was indescriptive.


Thanks!