Hello everyone,
I know there are tons of posts on this, but I just wanted to get the best recommendations for an engine upgrade on a budget. Let me explain...
My '09 GT is suffering from the notorious collapsed lifter issue. I've already been riding on it as such for a couple thousand miles and finally have the money to go in and get it fixed. My mechanic said that to change out the lifters, change the head gasket and fix some other minor issues the engine has, it will be $2400. I already know the engine will be pretty much taken apart and right now is the best time as any to do whatever it is I'm going to do to it. So my question is, are there any kits I can still buy that are still offered in order to upgrade certain components, like different lifters, valves, crank etc? I know Texas and Maryland Speed used to carry as such, I don't know if they still do or not. But here's the kicker, I live in California and will need to pass smog. Also, I will still be using it as a daily driver until I can finally buy myself an eco car in the near future, so whatever I do has to be budget friendly, especially because I also recently bought a new home. Also considering, I'm not looking to get any major power bumps that will make it idle rough and chug gas as it still needs to be a daily driver in the end (plus I have a lead foot so I don't want to get myself into too much trouble). Engine overall has been solid and haven't had any other major issues, aside from the collapsed lifter. I barely passed 100k miles on it the other day, so in a sense she is way under mileage as well.
Please advise on any and all suggestions. Thank you in advance!