Timing chain problems do not sound like a knock. There is usually nothing wrong with the chains just the guides. Just change the guides and tensioners would be my recommendation and that can be done by just dismantling the front of the engine.

 

I wouldn't use Sam-on-crack as your benchmark.
When you swap an engine, to a different brand no less, you are becoming an engineering-prototype test lab. I wouldn't do it.

My buddy who runs a trans shop built a Porsche 928 LT1, with a conversion kit. There are no electronics, or can buses etc to worry about. So it runs and drives. Fast, light and pretty cool.
But vibrates so much that it's not really enjoyable to go anywhere with.

 

I'm not seeing the logic here. You don't trust anyone in Portugal to change timing components but you would have them do an engine swap? I would expect even the exact same engine would be more work, certainly it would cost more, and then you have an engine with unknown history.
You could have a mechanic do the "zip tie" method to just replace tensioner guides. But first I would suggest investigating the knock more. Speaking of Samcrac, I think he's kind of an idiot. But he does have a video of a 5.0SC with a bad supercharger coupler knock (not the one where he failed to fix the head gasket). The video has a pretty clear knock sound. You might want to compare to yours. You may have the same issue.

 

I had similar problems. If i wanna do something on my range i have to talk with mechanic 4-5 hours, drink coffee, vodka
He is always saying “come on swap this engine with an toyota in 2 days”
I am saying “no no just thermostat”
Even good mechanics doesn’t want to repair range rovers. Reputation is bad.

One time they told me i have to replace head gaskets, valve stem seals and some piston rings because i burnt oil on starts. Pcv valve was bad. 40$ repair.

 

Thank you so much for the comments and answers. I ended up selling the car so I didn't need to go into this consideration any further. I didn't sell the car because of this eventual issue. It was running perfectly. Like I said, I could hear some sort of thumping (or a kind of "dry") noise coming from the front part of the engine. It was very subtle or low in terms of level. I even discussed it with the chief mechanic and he could only notice it once I pointed to it.

I really loved the car... Maybe a little bit emotionally attached to my SC... some good memories... But anyway, sometimes we need to move on and I'm now the happy owner of a 2011 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography Ultimate Edition (Otago Stone). And it is in an incredible overall condition too!

I wanted to revamp the interior of my old Santorin Black SC but unfortunately, it was difficult to find the right people to do it in Portugal... Not that they don't exist... I just couldn't find them I believe. I was forced to look internationally, discovered the Hog Ring community and so many great possibilities... but in the end it was little bit like the engine swap idea... I would go through a lot of stress, costs, waiting... I wanted to bring my car to the Autobiography Trim level and completely change it (eventually going mostly black with some orange accents à la Rolls Royce). But an Ultimate Edition appeared in Germany at the right price and that was it!

These cars with the 5.0 SC engine are basically non-existant in Portugal. Diesel engines reign supreme in this part of the planet. And the dealership... Just to give you guys a small example, my digital cluster was in miles. After digging in the forums and the power of the internet I even got have an idea of what to change on the settings, printed it and gave it to them (which they gladly accepted). After 3 weeks of having the car there, and after several phone calls in between, and people saying that I would need to change the digital cluster altogether, they told me that even that would not solve the issue. That it was impossible...

And please, keep in mind that they don't follow any kind of manufacturers man hours reference or whatever... If they are doing something for the first time, you'll be the one paying for their learning curve process... That's why I was considering to just swap the d@#+! engine if the problem was to be the infamous time chain issue. The other day, through word of mouth, I got to know a person specialized in old/classic Land Rovers restoration (incredible fellow even receiving cars from several european countries - UK / France / Germany). Visit his shop and it was amazing... I'm too much into classics but it was fantastic. When I told him about my difficulties with the official dealer he jokingly said, "you can go there if you want an oil change... if you really want to repair something, the furthest you'll be able to go there is to have your windshield replaced".

And the SC AUE has the odometer in km/h! Even though I loved my Santorine Black SC, that alone almost made the reason for the swap!!!