Thanks for the information. When I first purchased my VW the owner had a standing lien on the car, and wow... I can't tell you how annoyed I was by the amount of time it took to have it satisfied, and removed from the title.
I'm hoping to avoid that at all costs this time.
My brother is a mechanic, and I guess he's done quite a bit of work on similar engines. Worst case scenario I have to rebuild the engine.. I'm always up for a good learning experience after tearing my TDI apart 3 times for upgrades/cleaning.
Thanks for all the help guys, I really appreciate it.