To rebuild or replace?

[Tassie Spiderman]

I'm in a little dilemma at the moment. Our much loved 1999 Millenium Spider is out of action due to a major malfunction a few months ago.
A full examination has revealed that the rear main bearing has disintegrated and in the process thrown a piece of metal through the crank position sensor.
The dilemma is... Do I pull out the engine and do a rebuild which will probably mean new crankshaft, bearings and possibly pistons etc. or do I seek out a good used Twinspark 2.0 motor (which seem to be a little thin on the ground).
The car is under cover in a fully weatherproof garage so time is not the big issue. Would appreciate any advice/thoughts/suggestions.
Thanks for reading!

[warsch]

I'm for buying used engine too. In my experience it's cheaper to but a whole car with a twinnie, grab the engine and part out/sell/scrap the rest. Here in QLD you can find 147/156 for 500-100 if you're a bit patient. Please mind, that 147 has 3 catalytic converters, which scrappies happily take off your hand for 100-120 each. 156 has only one cat.

[norman gen]

there's 2 156 wagons for sale in tas on gumtree  1 manual , 1 selespeed

[Tassie Spiderman]

Thanks to all who replied. Looks like I'll go with the replace option. Have the workshop manual for the spider on CD so can follow engine remove/replace in that.
Any hints or tips from anyone who has done this sort of transplant would be welcome.

[norman gen]

Vinaka in Moonah, Hobart are an authorised service agent for Alfa/Fiat. I was only in there last week booking in a friend's 147 GTA. They may also beable to help you out with a TS engine as I saw approx 6 147/156 spare cars . Talk to Monty

[norman gen]

If you're in the north of the state near Sheffield , the local garage there is owned by an ex alfa owner who turned to the dark side ( now into citroens) but one of his mechanics is italian and into alfas....

[Citroënbender]

Great hint there - thanks. My new garaging address for the Tas 147 is not too far south of Sheffield.

Was back in Launceston Friday, one of the first cars I spotted was "JTS-159", last seen in Riverside late 2018 before I left town. This time almost exactly the same longitude but opposite side of the Tamar. Life feels like slow motion sometimes.

[Tassie Spiderman]

Thanks to you all. Have sourced a 2.0 Twinspark motor but need to freight it to Tassie. Has anyone built a crate/mounting for this purpose? Wondering if it's possible to weld a frame to bolt on using engine mount points and then crate the whole thing up. If anyone has mud map/sketches etc would love to hear from you.