So here is the story. I am cruising down the highway around 75 / 80 heading from Tucson to Phoenix. I go to try to accelerate and it stutters. I look down at my temp guage and it is reading HOT. So i immediately pull over. I have the car towed back to Tucson where it has been sitting in my parents garage. Now i Know the headgasket is toast due to overheating. What I am looking for advice for is what I should to do get the car running. Am i going to have to flush the oil / coolant lines and just change the headgasket / studs? Or is there more damage to the car, like needing a whole new motor. Also is there any way for me to check myself if I need to do the motor or just the gasket / studs. Any help would be very much appreciated. My dad wants me to sell the car If it is going to be a major fix. What are the odds I would just need to replace the head gasket / studs and be ok?

 

First remove the spark plugs and see if there is coolant in the combustion chambers. Do you know how long you overheated it for? Its possible that the head could have warped but only a machine shop could tell you if it is or not and if it can be fixed.

To change the headgasket you are going to have to drain all the coolant. Make sure you change the oil too. I would replace with another stock head gasket and the ARP head studs as well. The bottom end "should" be fine but like i said only a machine shop could tell you about the condition of the head. Also, make sure you change your thermostat as it is toast.

Do you know the reason why it overheated? I would change the water pump too.