Cory,
What car is this engine going into? Are there any emissions concerns?
A high-mileage 16v (depending on how well it was taken care of) may or may not give you trouble. Given the prices and info, I believe (this is just my personal opinion) I would go for the 3A. In my opinion it isn't even worth buying a 1.8 16v unless you need it to pass a mk1 thru CA emissions. I would definitely buy a 2.0 16v if the 16v thing is what you want to do. Much better base to build up, plus it's more worth it to rebuild. I don't think I would spend the money to rebuild a 1.8 16v. But that's just me.
If the 3A bottom end is solid like you say it is, I would buy it. Plus I believe it would be more trouble to swap in the 1.8 16v; you would need the entire injection system, manifolds, airbox, etc etc. The 3A would be a kickass torquey daily driver that you could drop a lumpy cam into later on and have a screamer. All this is MHO, don't take it for fact...
HTH
Joe
>Well here is the scoop,