Project:1998 Jeep Wrangler Sport 
Step 1: Determine the problem...
Step 2: Remove the offending item...
Step 3: Rebuild the offending item...
Step 4: Replace the offending item...
Step 5: Put everything back where it came from...
Step 6: See how many extra pieces are left...
Another "Project"
(Early June 2009) So here we go again... it just started making a funny noise. It sounds no different than the lifter noise I've always heard, maybe louder, more pronounced. After pulling off the engine head to get at the lifters, thinking maybe running it low on oil for the umpteenth time had finally ruined them, I find they're all still operational. That should have been my first clue... actually, my first clue should have been having to grind off one of the head bolts just to get the head off.
Off With Her Head!
I shrug my shoulders and decide to just clean them up and re-install them. While the head was already off, I decide that lapping the valves and installing new valve seals is probably a good idea. I obtain the new gaskets and bolts I need to put the head back on. I say that like it's ten minute's work. Anyone having attempted this can tell you ten hours won't even begin to cover it. At first glance it seems like a weekend project.
Off With Her Head! (Again?)
Back apart again! Taking it to Marty's is starting to look like the better choice.
By chance, I happened to lay my hand, just right, on the block and notice the #2 piston wanted to rock back and forth... a LOT more than it should. I compare the range of motion with the remaining pistons only to find what I never would have guessed... a bad piston?
Another "Project" (Again?)
Taking it to Marty's would have been the more expensive choice. This instantly becomes a much larger and much more expensive project.
I begin my research and discover that it's hard to find a piston for the Jeep online.
More online research finds a couple of Jeep forums, one local, both of which I join. Reading the (crappy) Haynes manual tells me the piston pins are press fit. Questions at the local Advance Auto reveal the crank end of the connecting rod will need machined as well.
The engine needs rebuilt... Sigh.
Things left to do...