Leaks are not impossible to trouble shoot and fix, start with that. With only 17,000 miles you should not need a rebuild, but should check and adjust clearance on the bearings, probably while you have the pan off already to fix a leak. Wouldn't expect this to cost much, and nothing like completely "rebuilding" the engine. Think of it as making the best of what you have, an essentially free good running engine, it should be reliable for a good long time with proper care.
With that done then start playing with transmissions (T5 ?)and rear axles/gears, find what you like, at which point you'll probably want more power. Then while still happily driving your old 216 you can take your time finding and rebuilding a 261 or even a 302 GMC. In a long weekend you can swap engines and be back on the road.
Take it one small step at a time,
Grigg
PS, to answer your original question
"Is rebuilding a 216 worth it?"
So we're on the same page about what "rebuilding involves.. to me rebuilding involves complete disassembly of the engine, machine work as needed, with lots of new parts, I would expect a good bit over $2,000 worth of work for a 216. If that's what you meant by "rebuilding", then I don't think rebuilding a 216 is a good idea unless you have close to a 100% original truck and like it that way. If you don't care about that then jump to a 235 or a 261, they simply bolt in so you haven't really (if at all) hurt the value with this type of upgrade..
Last edited by Grigg; 12/07/2008 1:31 AM.
