Just thinking outside the box... but do you have any family or friends you haven't visited in a while? Maybe ones that live in a different city far away from Chicago? Like maybe down south?

The reason I say this is because some, or even MOST jobs have a regional price. Especially around Chicago, where a parking spot for a day costs 50$.
If grandma lives in Charlotte, call some shops around there? Get some prices. Drive down for a week, have them do it day one, drive it for a few days before the road trip back. If it drives fine, break it in with your kid on a cross country (12-hour) slow ride back.

Only difficulty might be not having a long term warranty.
Its weird, but possible.

 

As far as costs go tho.. I'd say it's gonna cost you on average, about $1700.00 for a remanufactured long block from one of the large engine remanufacturers.

And anywhere from $1,300 - $2,400 to have your long block machined and reassembled by a machine shop.

You will also need to take into account the tools you'll need and the chemicals and fluids to clean and refill the new block.

Oil and filter for first 500 miles.
Distilled water.
Coolant to refill radiator
New spark plugs
New rotor and cap. (seriously.. why WOULDN'T you take the opportunity to replace these)
New Thermostat
New belt and hoses as needed.

Cleaning chemicals like dish soap, brake cleaner, engine degreaser. (I'm four cans into the engine degreaser and six cans into the brake cleaner.

So, for all that stuff.. I'd say.. maybe $200 - $300


At this point, I'm sure you can see WHY mechanics charge $3,000 - $6,000 to do the job. After you add the average, 30% markup to the parts and materials used. And the $90. - $150 average per hour labor charges.


I'm sure you can do it for cheaper then listed above. I'm just throwing out high-end averages. I've read about folks here doing the whole thing for like $800 bucks total. But those guys tend to already have the necessary tools, chemicals, gaskets and fluids on hand. As well as the time to do the work.

 

I have had really good luck with Craigslist mechanics actually. I found a highly seasoned guy with his own home shop to help me R&R a transmission on my friends Audi. Most quoted we got were north of $4000 for the job. He charged up $1000 for labor and did it all in one day. Even took pics, kept all the old parts and let me know all of the details about the swap.

You definitely need to vet the guy (same as any mechanic) but definitely a viable option

 

I agree location is key. I had an unfortunate experience of overheating and breaking down upstate away from home. Not knowing the area, but in a bind I had the jeep towed to a local guy for repairs. He found a good used engine and did a swap with new hoses and fluids for $1600. It probably would have cost at least twice that if I was home.