Oh No, Wrong Engine

[jwynne2@domain.elided]

Hi All,

saw something last night that didn't make me very happy.  About a year ago,
I purchased a parts Scout II from a local salvage yard and was told it had
a 345ci engine.  I stripped the donor in a couple of days and have been
storing all of the usable parts at a friend's house.  Last night I was
measuring out the bore size of the cylinders, because I had been told that
if it was less than 4 inches in diameter that it would be a 304ci.  Yup,
it's less than 4 inches.  I used up a few cans of break cleaner on the
block trying to find the places that list members had told me would
indicate the size of the engine.  Sure enough, there it was, "304 A."

Questions:  Is this considered to be a dependable engine?

I know it was abused, but last year when I first purchased the parts
vehicle, the engine was seized from being in the salvage yard for about 6
years.  I managed to get the engine to make a complete revolution by use of
a breaker bar and gallons of BreakFree and Marvel Mystery Oil.  The engine
fired right up, and after the penetrating fluid burned out, the engine ran
beautifully.  Well, like I said, it's been sitting for another year in my
friends garage and has been partially disassembled for about 3 months.  I
want to do a complete rebuild on the engine, in which I mean to have the
block inspected and the heads resurfaced, and replace the rings, bearings,
and other nick-nacks.  The cylinders look great and they all still have
very noticable honing marks.  The pistons look great too.

Next Question:  Can anyone give me a rough guesstimate as to what the price
for a rebuild kit would be for the 304ci engine, and who carries the
rebuild kit with quality parts?  As far as quality parts go, I mean the
original gaskets were cork, and I'd like to avoid using that style on the
rebuild.

Ok, enough wasted space from me.  Thanks for any help on these questions.

John Wynne
76 Scout Terra(196ci)
Stelring, CT