Head Gasket redux?

Hi, first post, happy to find this forum :)

A year ago June, we had to replace the engine in our 1994 Buick Century Special Wagon. Repeated overheats, decreased performance, and a pull of the oil cap revealed a strange, grainy orange foam (not actually foam, but words escape me) and the smell of coolant. Gasket shot, head cracked, bye-bye engine.

This morning, I noticed orangish oil on the driveway. Called hubby at work, he went out and pulled the oil cap, and sure enough, coolant in the oil. Again. But this time there have been no overheats, no performance problems, and a week ago, when we added a quart, there was no orangish crap on the inside of the cap.

What I'm hoping is that we can get away with a simple head gasket replacement this time--500 bucks beats 2,000 any day. Am I being overly optimistic? He brought the car home, and we won't start it again--we'll call the mechanic and have it towed tomorrow morning. Can we realistically hope for no engine damage this time around?

Also, is this a problem common to Buick Centuries? It's the 3.1, and it seems to me we should get more than a year and a half out of a new head gasket, shouldn't we?

Thanks!

Thrice

"It's the 3.1, and it seems to me we should get more than a year and a half out of a new head gasket, shouldn't we?"

Yes you should. I know nothing of the 3.1 liter. My 1992 has the 3.3 liter, cast iron heads and block. The engine runs great with 114k miles.

Some engines with aluminum heads, cast iron block have trouble with head gaskets, as the different metals react differently to heat.