The speculation now is, what else was damaged by the overheating? Radiator, electricals, etc? I could get the car repaired for less if the damage wasn't extensive.
tanstaafl: Regarding the blown head gasket, I didn't notice coolant smoke coming out the exhaust until the ticking sound was severe and loss of power was scary. I didn't drive it until seizure, but rather until compression loss made it stall at the highway exit ramp red light.
Other symptoms of note: In the month before death, I twice noticed a puff of blue smoke from the exhaust when I first started the car in the morning; just that once per day. A friend suggested leaking valve seals, letting oil into the engine overnight. Not fatal, apparently. Or was it a chink in the head gasket?
The things most likely to be damaged by overheating are pistons/rings and cylinder walls. If the damage has gone that far, then it will be less expensive to replace the engine rather than repair it. Radiator and electrical etc. will not have been harmed.
You wouldn't have seen coolant smoke from the exhaust until the head gasket failed into one of the coolant channels. Most likely it failed first on the outboard side of the head (thus the ticking) and then got worse and worse until it was dumping combustion gases into the coolant, and vice versa.
Puff of blue smoke is unrelated, very likely your friend was correct and it was worn valve guide seals. These would be replaced routinely during a head gasket repair.
I would definitely spend the few hundred bucks to pull the head and examine the cylinder walls and (as best as possible) the condition of pistons and rings before replacing the whole engine.
tanstaafl.
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