91 b2200

I am considering buying a 1991 b2200. Don't know much about this vehicle except that it has about 163000 miles on it and owner says might need head or head gasket replaced. How much trouble is it going to be to replace the gasket first? It starts and runs well, no coolant from exhaust. No water in oil. Smells alot like gas in oil though. What might this be telling me? Is this a warning sign of something serious? Needs exhaust manifold gasket replaced too, how difficult is that? (saw some headers on a parts website that I thought were cool, $150)

i HAD A 91 B2200 with 225000 miles on it before i slammed it...into the back of a silverado. those trucks are extremly low maintaince... go ahead and get the header if you're going to replce the exhaust gasket...replacing the head gasket shouldnt take more than 2 hours. keep up with the truck...and it will outlast you.

Fuel smell in the oil is a good sign that the oil hasn't been changed in a while. Carburetor might also have some normal problems causing it to run rich. Below is a page that I'm sure will prove quite valuable in the future.

B2200 Info (http://www.mazdatruckin.com/B2200/B2200.html)

If you replace the nessesary gaskets as needed and give it a full tune-up when you get it, it will be a good little truck. Just make sure after the head has been re-installed that you run the truck one heat cycle or drive it about 50 miles and cool and then torque the head bolts again at factory spec (60 lb/ft I think). The head is known to settle a little bit due to it being aluminum, retorqing will help garantee that the head bolts won't be loose and cause the same problem again later.