Replacement 1.6TD engine - recommendations?

[bagpuss]

My T25 with 1.6TD has as good as died (still hoping to take the head off and see how bad the damage is...). So I've been looking for a replacement and as I live near Aberdeen I'll have to get something couriered here.

Can anyone recommend a place to get a JX (or equivalent) engine - the current engine is a CY that was rebored, ground and generally f**@ed about with before I bought the van. It has only done 25,000 since and has never really been happy (I now have exon valdez scale oil slick on my drive from its various leaks and things over the past 4 years and I live in constant fear of red lights flashing on the dashboard!).

I have seen a place on the internet called AW engineering (Darwen, Lancashire) http://vwenginerecon.co.uk/ - sounds good, but has anyone bought an engine from him? I don't want to spend a grand on something as badly put together as the last one. This is apparently a rebuilt "long" engine. What should I be looking for on the spec?

I would be happy to spend about £100 on an unknown donor engine, but I can't see the point of spending more on something that might drop dead after a couple of miles - I don't have facilities to put in a new engine so I have to add that cost to my bill...

So if you've got a great engine sitting in a workshop, or have experience of buying recon, please let me know. I bought a VEGE short engine for my old Type 2 about 15 years ago, and that was sound - but they are bloody expensive, or am I just too tight?

Hoping you can help.

[geordie skydiver]

Fit a 1.9TD, source the Golf TD (or other varient yourself).

Check out the alternative engine forum.

[bagpuss]

Fit a 1.9TD, source the Golf TD (or other varient yourself).

Check out the alternative engine forum.

Thanks for the suggestion Lee, I've thought about this option, but it looks like a lot of faff, so unless the engine comes with a "guarantee" that could be a lot of money out the exhaust pipe. I know the AAZ engine is supposed to be good, but try finding one with less than 100k on it - I don't want to spend upwards of a grand (adapting parts and setting up is not going to be cheap?) on an engine that will have been driven hard and is going to sit on its side in my engine bay.

I know I sound negative but I've had my fingers burnt with this van so don't want to repeat tricks unnecessarily. Also doing a botch job could just end in divorce, which is not actually my preferred option.

I was quoted £2.2k for an AAZ, recon and fitted - but I don't have that much cash lying under my rock & roll bed... I'd also have to drive 400 miles on a dying engine... know anyone that can do it MUCH cheaper? In Scotland?

[R0B]

have you tried these guys... http://www.syncro-nutz.com/ .....and they are in scotland