OPINIONS PLEASE (UPDATE)...

[GemGTI]

Oh yeah I thought about a 2nd hand engine but how do i know that I'm not gonna have the same problem in a few thousand miles? That would be horrible if I bought a 2nd hand engine and then the same happened to that! Can you really garuntee 2nd hand engines??

[Agreeable Slick]

The way i see it, you have two options.

Rebuild it and have a fresh, but still the same engine as was in it before.

Or

Save some more cash, buy a second hand engine, (possibly uprate) and replace the existing one with that.

Either way it is going to be better to renew and refresh.

[Dizzie]

if it's rebuilt by someone who knows what they're doing and you look after it and nurse the run in miles period it should last you a long time and you'll have the peice of mind knowing nothing else should go wrong.

you really do take your chances with a 2nd hand engine. even low mileage 20vT units blow up soon after they're used in conversions due to the way the previous car was wrote off (my theory)

[AudiA8Quattro]

Rebuild it would probably be best, if possible.
The reason 20vt lumps blow up is probably because whoever is breaking the car is probably a bit economical with the truth when it comes to the real mileage 

[GemGTI]

Thanks guys, think i'll probably go for a rebuild. I'll ask a few questions first. I'll let you know what I do.

Cheers Guys 

[GemGTI]

Update...

Today my engine guy took the oil sump off to get a better look. He said the big end shells and the camshaft are very worn so advised a rebuild. He has quoted £800. I asked him to take some photos of different stages of the build for my own reference (also good if I sell the car) which he is going to do. He asked me what colour I wanted it! This question stumped me a bit as I didn't realise it could be a different colour, anyway I went for shiny black. He is going to do the rocker cover shiny black too. Although its a lot of money (which I can't really afford!) I am quite excited about it now because 1, it will (hopefully) run better and be more reliable and 2, will look nicer!

Gem 

[mix]

Nice one...and you will have a sweet engine to pose with at shows

and it will work, but thats just a side issue