cost to rebuild bottom end if I drop off the shortblock myself?

well Im 90 percent sure my 5 speed 88 TurboCoupe I bought yesterday has a rod knock, got a good deal on the car so I cant complain, I was thinking of just finding another motor and swap all the modds onto it or just taking this motor apart and dropping off the shortblock somewhere good and have them rebuild the bottom end,also while the motor is apart have the head ported along with a Ranger cam, this is a budget build so Im not trying to go crazy here but if its just worth having it rebuilt maybe I'l go that route, also how much would I be looking at getting the head ported along with a Ranger cam, and what kind of performance could I expect from it?

Bottom end rebuild cost will be driven mainly by the proper forged pistons. The budget friendly Federal Moguls are no longer available (no matter what the supplier says, they've been back ordered forever). Some shops will try to talk you into using hyper-cast pistons. DON'T. You can by Federal Mogul forged flat tops and have a dish milled in them, or go with a more expensive piston set(usually $500+).
Head porting cost will vary by region. If you want to ship your head out west, look into Boport (Bo-port.com) He does a lot of 2.3T heads.

Most local shops will charge $75 to $90 an hour to port a head so it can get expensive. If you are on a budget get a three angle valve job and some bowl blending.

I recently had my head redone and put in Boport drop in springs and his performance HLAs. Not much more then the stock replacement parts so that is a no brainer.

Also, make sure your head has the correct turbo valves in it. The turbo exhaust valves are non-magnetic.

If it's any concellation, I once thought I had rod knock too, and it turned out to be a really worn cam lobe and crappy lifters. Head rebuild and it was all good.

AND

Drop the Ranger cam from your list. All you do is lose friction, gain longevity, and lose performance with it. It is not an upgrade over stock except for the fact that it's a roller cam. There are much better cam choices out there. In my years of reading on this and other 2.3 turbo boards, the only way you gain power from a Ranger cam is if your stock cam is toast to begin with.

A partially blown headgasket can also sound like a rod knock.
Do yourself a favor and do a compression check first before yanking the motor.
FWIW, I just bought Diamond forged pistons for my extra engine and they were $378 shipped. HTH.

interesting thanks guys, my powersteering is screaming so once I shut that up I'l be able to hear the motor alot better, hopfully it turns out not to be a rod knock or anything serious, the motor was supposedly rebuilt like 50k ago but thats what they all say, what kind of tests could I perform myself to find out once and for all if its a rod knock or not, the coolant looks great, it wasnt started for a week before I got there and once I started it there was absolutely no smoke at all not even at start up, the oil was black and about 3 quarts low "but the dipstick wasnt even sealed into the block when I checked the oil the dipstick setup just fell out so Im hoping the puddle under the car was from that not rear main seal and supposedly the car hasnt been driven since its been leaking...what will a compression test verify for me exactly, and will I be able to fit that tool in there or will I need to take off the Turbo and aftermarket header to get in there?

Sounds like you need to get the oil changed for starters.

A compression test involves a compression tester which screws into the spark plug holes, one by one.

This article will tell you how to do it. The engine needs to be somewhat warm to do a proper test.
http://www.turbotbird.com/techinfo/Compr...n_Test.htm

A compression test, (done twice, see article) can give you an idea of the overall health of the engine and help locate problems if there are any.

Ideally you want to to see all cylinder yielding about the same compression, like within 10 psi.
IMO compression readings of 140 psi and up are good, 150 and up is excellent.

Compression readings can indicate blown head gaskets or other conditions where compression is low/lost in one or two cylinders.

A blown gasket between the turbo and exhaust manifold can also sound like a knock. I would encourage you to do some more investigation before yanking the engine for a rebuild.

There is some info on knock diagnosis in this post
http://natomessageboard.com/cgi-bin/ulti...200#000000

how about that header, will the compression tester even fit in there, looks like Id have to remove the header and turbo just to change my spark plugs!?...I tried a compression test on my 87 MonteCarlo last year and it wouldnt even fit between my long tube headers on a car with no AC or heater crap in the way, im going to advanced auto to check out there tester maybe itl feed in like a snake "but that would be too easy make too much sense lol"...hopfully their tester is nothing like pepboys tester

If you can get the plugs in and out you should be able to get a compression tester in there. Get the screw in type. Don't bet the crap that you try to hold against the plug hole