I may be a little late here, but it sounds like a bottom end bearing problem like you said. That being the case the engine has to come out. At the very least the crank will have to go to a machine shop to get turned, swapping a known good engine will be the cheaper option I imagine. Since your car is a 2000GT I don't think it is advisable to swap a non-PI engine in unless you plan to use your top end parts (heads up), which will result in slightly higher compression.