Bad luck with RB20 and now RB25 =/

[radianation]

Just want to vent a little and maybe get some friendly advice. Back in May of 2007 my KA24DE started to go bad. I pulled it out and was going for an SR20DET swap. The local shop convinced me to go with an RB20DET. Three months later it died. Pistons were bad.. RB20DET got pulled, sold for like $300.

Then I saw a sweet deal on Ebay for an RB25DET that was allegedly rebuilt with Wiseco pistons, greddy head gasket, and literally a pallet of parts (including a new GT35R turbo).

The second local shop working on the car let me down. The parts were shipped directly to them, they failed to inspect them or do anything with my car for about two months. Then they told me to get lost.

I am now at the third shop and they are making some progress on the vehicle. Here's the bad news.

First we find out the turbo was a T3 Super 70 $200 knockoff. Then we discover the engine was in fact not rebuilt, but factory OEM (not even new) rods/pistons etc. so we decide to leak test the engine.

FAILED.

Engine was "freshened up" and all of the other parts appear to be legit, but this thing was a polished (chromed) engine that ended up being a pos.

As of right now, with both swaps and all of the other after market parts I've purchased for the car I have spent almost $20,000.

I'm at a point where I need to decide whether or not to call it a day due to consistent bad luck, or push through this and dump another $4,500 into the motor to get it rebuilt properly and get this thing back on the road.

It's a 1996 Nissan 240sx that I bought new in July of that year. It's a very special car to me and I think that's what has gotten me into so much trouble. I'm not thinking very logically about things.

My power goals were 550rwhp and all of the parts I have were leading up to that. I planned on using the car for autocross, road racing, and the occasional drag race for fun.

Any advice (besides the obvious "wow you're a sucker") ... ; )