Head Gasket questions-A lot

[Ripper95DS]

Ok, well I got in my 95 Honda Del Sol 1.5 to drive to burger king, all is well, I come home shut it off.
Three days later I go to start it up and it started really rough, I mean earthquake rough. Bear with me I'm familiar with engines and such but theres a crapload I dont know, so I'm a bit of a newbie. So it wouldn't stay running, if I let up off the accel. it just stalled. My girlfreinds dad said I blew a head gasket and o boy its fucked blah blah blah, but hes the type of devious asshole who will lie, make things seem worse than they really are and tell you theres no hope, just because hes a worthless piece of shit and wants nothing good to happen to anyone. SO...I thought I'd check here. Btw the car is Automatic. Anyway so the coolant is pretty low in the overflow but is still bright green. The oil looks like it might have water in it, so maybe it got into my crankbox? I found a kit online that comes with the Head Gasket, new seals for intake and exhaust, and a whole bunch of other crap. for 130 shipped. Should I buy this? Also I have a haynes manual but cant find it right now, o yay, but if anyone knows is there a walkthrough in there for doing this job? We've got a garage full of tools so thats covered, how long will it take to disassemble it to where we're down to the Gasket? Overall job length?

Sale is pending on the car so I need to get this fixed for the guy asap. So with that kit should I be ok? Now this has only been started a few times so I'm sure damage should be minimul to the surfaces, I hope. Will I have to get it machined, how much does that cost?

I'd appreciate any feedback on this as I cant trust one source, I really am stuck here, hope to hear back soon.

Thanks

 

[hcivic.com]

Do you have a compression tester? Run a quick test it will tell you if you have a blown head gasket.
A head gasket is an easy 1-2 day project depending on tools at hand and skill level. Its simple unplug and label all wires and hoses, pull exhaust header, dissy and Intake mani. You’ll then remove the timing belt cover set the motor to Tdc make every thing then pull the timing belt, valve cover, and head clean matting surfaces apply new gasket and put it all back.
There is more to it than what I listed but it is a fairly straight forward process than most beginners can do with a manual to help. On tool you must have is a torque wrench.

 

[VTECin5th]

+1 on MUST have the torque wrench.
The question is WHAT caused your headgasket to blow in the first place?
Typically,for a single cam, it's more cost efficient to buy a new engine for $300 or less. I sold my single cam VTEC complete swap with the ecu for $100 running.
If the gasket kit is $130, the head inspection/resurface is going to be $40-60, then labor of putting it all together for it to maybe not work, you might as well have bought a whole new motor.

If you're stuck on the idea to change the headgasket, it's going to be a weekend project. Most machine shops aren't open on the weekends, so plan 2 days out of the regular work week. Tearing the head off should only take about 3 hours if you're labeling everything/being careful.

 

[Ripper95DS]

I have a torque wrench, and I was planning on doing this myself, including after getting the garage to machine/resurface the head, so labor costs arent an issue. So we're lookin around 200 bucks for the whole thing?

Also do I have to remove the intake and fuel injection setup completely or just disconnect it and work around it? Also do I remove my distributor/do I have to zero in any gears, like for the crank and such?

Thank so far, I appreciate it.

 

[VTECin5th]

The book will explain it... and you will need/want the book for this, especially the sequence of head bolts and torque specs/directions.
Set the crank and the cam to TDC even though you'll be removing the cam.
The intake manifold can be removed as one piece sometimes.
You can remove the distributor, because you will need to retime the car after all is done. You're looking at $200 or so, but if you haven't done a head gasket on a Honda with success, get someone who has to help you. It will suck to do it twice.