Guessing it needs a head gasket job, lower bearings but maybe full rebuild? Is it cheaper to have a shop rebuild the engine or just either buy a new or refurb one? Its a 4.2. If I get it rebuilt any performance mods I should have done? Thx

 

Welcome to the site..

Id look into a quality low mileage used from a dismantler, or a reconditioned/reman long block.

With a Ford reman, the warranty is a good selling point. There are other quality reman engine suppliers as well.
If shop rebuilt-warranted yes, but some tend to only cover the engine should issues arise. Some of the reman engine vendors will cover labor costs should a build failure or related issue come up.
Not all shop built engines come with labor coverage unless some arm bending is applied...
Something I’d ask about before dropping my engine off at a builder....
In The days of old, pulling an engine that had a build problem wasn’t that big of a deal. Today, labor for a repeat removal would be significant..
On an engine from a dismantler, I always wanted to whiteness them run in the donor before being pulled when possible for that very reason...

 

Thanks for the reply. I really appreciate the info. Thx