Good info above. Before I throw gobs of money at it. I would diagnose where the enige is at. 1 As mentioned compression test. 2 leak down test. Then do a vacuum diagnoses. If in spec check distributor for vacuum and advance. Vacuum leak? Then proceed through all tune up secs. Does the sniper...
What to check on the harness. The higher current loads. Loose conntions and brittleness at the ends and at bend. 1 check amp gauge wires. The black alternator feed at the amp gauge and bulkhead connector. The red battery feed at the same locations. If there is any indication of melted wire...
The harness thar your going to use. Now is time to inspect it. In my option the OEM harness is ok. Just a few things to check. Was it exposed to the elements. Two good things about OEM. There's less likelyness of shooty workmanship. The other is it's not made of soy. It attracts rodents.
Not that this is the problem but it's misunderstood. For one thing you not driving a Diesel. Diesel are built in a manner to idle for hours if need be. A car engine is built to start at high idle to warm up and run. Not to sit an idle. That is one of the hardest things on them. 700-800 rpms...
About that. Things are getting crazy here in PA. WAIT they have been! I have used a number of garages for inspections over the decades. 99% of the time they would look my fleet over. Then check what needs to be checked. If there was something close to being a problem they would tell me. The 1%...
I kid you not. I have had to do this. Remove a starter from an excavator on one mountain top then take it to an other mountain top and put it in. The high for the day was 8. The mechanic I was working with was 6' 5" 350lb a good old WV miner. There was no way he was going to fit. He looked at...
I would say at the very minimum. You are going to have to pull the valve covers. Rockers come loose or break. Bent push rods. Any oil laying on the heads.
You might be able to snake a USB camera down a push rod hole. And have a look.
It will work for now. To move it around and driving around until you get the a kit. That would be the time to do both. Not knowing if it was tore before. You don't know if the there is rust in there.