great idea but 9K, no sweat. Honey, where the petty cash box??? that'd be an expensive $5K truck.
there are options out there, +/-$1K to rebuild mine, $800+ for a used motor, $1100-1500 for a rebuilt short block or $2k for a replacement truck. Figured I'd find out whats going on with current motor before I make any hard decisions but a rebuilt short block seems attractive.
seems like as you noted a rebuilt short block or long block assembly would be a good option...especially since no other engine related mods would need to happen. Don't know if there are some good options out there in the re-build world...I assume new yota stuff would be $$. Or you do the rebuild locally or have a machine shop do it.