Just my opinion here but even if I had to rent a car for 4-6 weeks while Jake fixed the engine it very easily could be a whole lot cheaper in the long run, especially if you end up buying someone else's problems. At least with Jake you will get longevity and considering what you already invested in the car it just seems prudent.

 

Just do the V8 conversion....

 

The challenge with all this is you really have to drop the engine and do some dis-assembly to find out just what is the matter with the engine. In the case of my cracked head I had severe intermix, but never had any coolant in a cylinder or any smoke of any kind. The good news is that I now have 13,000 miles since my fix and the engine is running strong (although I did have my e-gas throttle go bad recently).

As for s shop to do the head repair if it is a cracked head, Costa Mesa R&D (engine-machining.com) knows and repairs these heads.

You could drop your engine and ship it to Flat6, or ship the whole car. Jake is probably the best out there. But if is not a cracked head then you engine or car could be there waiting a long long time.