2.2L head gasket job-need advise
 

Purchased my first Honda 3 months ago. 1994 Accord 2.2L 5 speed coupe. My son was driving on the highway and the car overheated. He might have just drove it til it stopped. I'm not sure. Back home in the garage it wouldn't start. We topped off the coolant, checked for spark, checked the main relay etc. Spark plug wires were melted into valve cover! so we did not check compression. Turning it over with Rad cap off we got lots of coolant blowing out! Heavy exhaust burnt carbony smell in the coolant when I drained the radiator. NO milky brownish in the oil and no oil in the coolant. the past 6 months we are very poor so we tore it apart to do a head gasket job and timing belt, water pump, thermostat, plugs, wires and oil change. The head is at the machine shop today. I don't want to put it back together without knowing what caused the problem??? this DIY is costing me a few weekends and my last $400. I did not notice a problem with the head, intake or exhaust gaskets like a break or burned mark , but I'm not an expert by far. Any advise to look at before or during Re-assembly would be appreciated.

I just found out the head is bad. a rebuilt head on Ebay is $230 shipped to my door. Could my block be warpped/cracked?? what are the chances I'm doing all this for nothing?

usually the head warps but it is possible. is it cracked we can't tell you that have a mechanic check it.

Yes he may have cracked the block. I would take it in just to be sure I had a similar problem and the block was fine but the wife warped the head. If you just put it all back together and it leaks its coolant again and warps the new head ur just pissing in the wind. Its not cheap but if you spent ur hard earned money to fix it do it all to be safe