VW T25 engine leak

Hope this is ok but at a loss, a good friend of mine has water leak in their 1983 1.9 petrol T25 . The leak seems to be coming from the water jacket seal (common fault by what I have read) the 4 head gasket rings seem to be ok as oil is fine and runs well still. (Won’t know till it’s opened up). However two separate garages have said it will need a complete engine rebuild costing between 3-4K. Can anyone tell me if this is correct or can the water jacket just be replaced and if the head is not pitted just be put back together and driven.

Any and all help, comments and advice are welcome as it’s their only transport at the moment and been without it for 15 weeks and now at a loss and they fix one leak now to find this one


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