escort major problems

[Machine10000]

hi all have a 1995 escort 1.9L auto its got 80,000 on it. it dropped a vavle seat doing a little damage to head and piston, piston still looked usable and cylinder wall was good so had the head redone and installed it, about 50 miles later while going uphill at about 3k rpm began hearing loud noise (sounds like rod noise just a guess) car still runs but hammering pretty good, and the head looks intact any ideas and how difficult to fix? any replacement engines that will fit easily? thanks

[herefordman]

Sorry to tell you this but chances are pretty good, even though the piston looked ok after the insert fell out, it wasn't. The outer diameter of the top of the piston gets pounded out by the insert fragments so the piston actually grows in the cylinder and tightens up, hence now you do have a rod bearing banging, as its gone out of round trying to push a too tight piston up and down.
Easy out is a low mileage wrecker engine, if you buy it complete, its really easy to swap, especially if its automatic, as it doesn't require removing the trans.