sc2 engine rebuild...just read it

i need some help. a friend of mine ran his 2001 saturn sc2 for about 10
minutes with almost NO oil left in it. mechanic says the car needs a
whole new "bottom engine" whatever that means. first, i don't trust
anybody that gives opinions that affect there salary so im wondering
wether it really does need a whole new whatever. second, if its going to
cost money to install this whole new whatever, we'd like to see if its
possible to do it ourselves to save the money in which case we would
need a diagram of the engine.

any help/opinions/diagrams/links would be appreciated

I dont know if the "bottom engine" refers to the engine block or not, that would be my guess, but you could probably do it yourself with the right tools, an engine crane, and a driveway (if the problems aren't too severe). My 97 sl2 has a cracked cylinder head and i will replace it myself once i get a good set of tools together. Get a chilton and haynes mechanical manual; you will save money doing it yourself, plus you have the great help from this forum as well as www.saturnfans.com, but some things may be beyond the home mechanic in which you may need to take to a repair shop.

the bottom end is basicly anything below the headgasket (crankshaft, connecting rods, pistons, rings, bearings) what exactly needs replaced can only be told by taking the engine apart and inspecting and measuring. i would inspect the cylinder head also because it tends to starve for oil before the lower end.

if you dont know what the bottom end is you shouldnt try to work on it and shouldnt even be allowed to change your oil. but do what you want .

if you dont know what the bottom end is you shouldnt try to work on it and shouldnt even be allowed to change your oil. but do what you want .

Ah, pay no attention. If you can take it apart, you can put it back together. So long as you're used to taking things apart and putting em back together. If not, might wanna have a test run with a lawn mower. :D

PS- Buy a shop manual. Not haynes or Chiltons.