Bought a Defender 90 200dti a few weeks ago

So I'm new to Land rover ownership and have been thrown in the deep end.
The Defender I bought has many new parts, the chassis looks sound and I like how she looks sprayed black.

I noticed fluid leaking down the clutch pedal, master cylinder seals have gone, so I should finally be replacing that next week.

Then I noticed the coolant level constantly dropping and I discovered a crack in the engine, I got money back which will cover an engine change, bit disappointing, but I like her so decided to persevere.
(K seal has stopped the coolant leak for now)

Didn't expect to have major work like this from the start, but oh well, will get it sorted...

Needed an off road vehicle for shooting with my dogs and always wanted a Defender.

I've seen your other thread re rebuild or recon and was just wondering how bad the crack is and wether you have looked into getting the block stitched?

No I haven't, wasn't confident that would hold, someone said it would probably crack either side of the repair, but what do they know?
Doesn't seem too bad though, I need to find someone who could do that to have a look and depends on cost.

Couldn't you buy a short engine and rebuild it?

Can't tell from the pick but is it a hairline crack?
A proper stitch job shouldn't crack either side of the repair as you drill just past each end to stop it spreading.
One question is wether it is the only crack and why it happened ie casting fault, lack of antifreeze etc.
Blocks have been being stitched successfully for a long time but there are less people doing it now but to balance that you have the benefit of Google to find them.

I'm not in the position to rebuild an engine myself, can do other maintenance and repairs but nothing that major.
Will research repairers, I don't know how the crack happened...