replacing / rebuilding engine?

[911tracker85]

made the mistake of digging into why I lose a small amount of coolant. had not seen any dripping in the past, just loss of coolant from the tank. I had put a small bottle on the overflow to see if that was the cause but not that.

so decided to figure it out. found what I was afraid of, a very slight leak/weeping from the head gasket on the intake side.

fight for several days getting the head off due to corroded bolts at the water bridge.

when I started to look at the block to clean found my #2 cyl BADLY scoured. ironic in that if it had been #1 or #3, at #1 TDC would never have seen the damage. I was really surprised because not having any noticeable symptoms like excessive smoking. but with how deep the scouring is don't know why?

just got the motor out. intend to pull that #2 piston to see if/how bad it is damaged.

looking at options.

1. send block to Lindsey Racing, over bore and drop in new pistons. $2,000 + ?

2. get a used short block. found a couple in the $1,000 - $1500 range. unless I then rebuild that, a bit of a crap shoot.

3. saw a bare block that is tolerance group 0. my motor is tolerance group 1.

so my crazy idea is IF the pistons are good, get the bare block and have it honed/bored for my tolerance group 1 pistons and a new set of rings.

according to the PO, this engine had been rebuilt just before I got it. so I'd move everything from it to the new block.

suggestions for those who may have gone down one of these roads in the past.