[Walt Fricke]

If you find you need new pistons (likely wear being ring grooves, I think, not so much the skirts?), now might be the time to source good used Mahle's (discarded by guys who built motors with wider pistons), if not new aftermarket pistons, and have your cylinders Nikasiled. You could sleeve these, but I think Nikasiling is less expensive. The process involves plating the cylinder bore, then machining it down to spec, so the underlying condition of the Alusil bore doesn't much matter.

Do you, by any chance, have leakdown numbers from before it was torn down? In addition to an overall percentage, the leakdown can point to where the leak or leaks are: intake valve, exhaust, or rings - with the slight possibility of head to cylinder seal. If the leakage was low (say under 10%), and especially if mostly from valves (which can be reground, along with the seats), maybe just reuse rings and everything else in that department?

Sure, the best thing is a full rebuild, leaving you with a basically new motor, but you have a budget. So you do a 50,000 mile fix, rather than a 200,000 mile fix? If you do your own wrenching, that tends to look better than if you figure in shop labor to do everything.