240D rebuild, whicha way

[Stevo]

Gentlemen

I have started tearing down the engine out of my parts car, a "80" 240D (manual tranny). The PO ran out of oil and 2 journals on the crank are scored, engine was not frozen. I am not by any means a master mechanic and have not been into an engine for many years but want to learn more about these incredible cars. My daily driver is a "79" manual 240D with over 250K. The engine is strong and uses only a qt of oil in 1500 mls. The body has no rust, a color we like (blue), a very good interior, all in all worth keeping. Sooo the plan is to put the rebuilt into the "79" and the "79" engine into the parts car, which would be sold to help finance the project. Anyway to my question. Some folks say " spic everything out and replace what needs replacing, have scored crank fixed, basically "dont fix anything that aint broke" All this would require allot of expertizes that I flat dont have although I could do it that way with a little help from my friends. However the other option is for about 2$K there is a shop that will put in new pistons, line bore for the crank, do the head, in short give me a disassembled long block and all I have to do is put it all back together. I am unsure at this time just what all they do but a friend of mine has had 3 engines done by this shop over the years in this way and is very happy with the results. Since I want to keep this car and considering my limited skills this seems the best route too go. I should mention that for another $1K they will put it all together for me but I should be able to handle that if I were to take my time, right? after all part of the idea is to learn something. and its not like I have to walk till the car gets fixed.

Thanks for reading this, I know it became a little "windy"

[engatwork]

2k sounds a little steep in my opinion. I had new liners installed, the cylinder head reworked with new guides, etc. and the shop labor came to right around $400. Spent approximately another $400 on parts.