head gasket help

[AmatureCDV Driver]

Ok, so i am a college kid with decent car knowledge. I found a guy who is selling a 92 galant sohc 4 cylinder for $250 dollars. The engine, clutch, suspension, ect. are all in great condition, but the head gasket is cracked. The car still runs and drives, but will over heat if driven too much. Now a head gasket only cost around $30 so i was wonder what is involved in replacing the gasket. How much extra money would I have to invest to get the car running. Would it have to be re timed? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Looking to buy a cheap winter car and this seems to make sense.

Jon

[nick mann]

How do you know the head gasket is no good? The head gasket seperates oil, water and cylinders. If the gasket is gone then at least two of those three are cross contaminating. If that is the case, then the car shouldn't really be driven anywhere, let alone driven too much!!

[AmatureCDV Driver]

the owner of the car brought it to a shop and they gave it that diognosis. The owner said that he is able to drive it around, but when he is driving, on the highway for example, the car wont over heat till he comes to a quick stop. Does anyone have any other ideas of what that would be.

[nick mann]

Maybe the head gasket is leaking water to the outside world, rather than to the oil or a cylinder. In that case your coolant will run low and the car will overheat. But this still doesn't tie in with the highway driving thing! I am not familiar with the 92 model and I can't really say anything more without a better description of what is happening.

[AmatureCDV Driver]

all i really want to know is how hard/ what is involved with changing the head gasket. The matience report says that it needs a new head gasket, so i just want to know how hard that will be.