[v8volvo]

I've never paid to have it done, or had anyone pay me to do it, either... fortunately or unfortunately, the only ones I have had to really seriously take apart have been my own. :-P

I'll second the advice to find someone who is a) already knowledgeable in working on VW diesels and *also* b) willing to use someone else's special tools and Greenbooks and learn the new techniques that are necessary for the D24T. You are correct that the question of whether this job will last as long as it should comes down to who does the work on it.

If there is nobody near you, I would almost suggest talking to one of the TDI guys in your area... there is a good one in Austin TX and another one in Dallas. TDIs are different in some ways but similar in others, and more importantly the guys who work on them are generally pretty smart and ready to do a job right even if it means taking extra time to figure out how... there is also an excellent cylinder head builder in Missouri who does TDI heads and could probably get your existing head back into shape, or put another one together for you and do a nice job. Or, you could get the car (or just the engine) sent somewhere, maybe to one of us on this board, to get put together right and just have someone locally do the plug and play part, but that gets expensive pretty quickly...

I have a couple extra D24T heads, though one is incomplete (got torn down for a rebuild and not put back together yet) and the other needs some machine work. If you get to that point I would be willing to sell you one to get your wagon back on the road.