parts under the hood

A head gasket is the gasket, a thin piece of material (usually cork or silicone based), that seals between the head and the block/cylinder... It should be noted that not all cars have this gasket, but almost everyone you have ever seen or heard about does. The block is more or less the main part of the engine to which everything is put in or on, it may or may not have the cylinders bored into it... In cases where the cylinders are a seperate piece it may be called 'the case' since it is just a crankcase in that example. Describing what the head is, is slightly more complex. I suggest you google 'how an engine works' to try and figure it out. This question is a little more complex than it seems simply because there are so many exceptions to the 'rules'... In fact there will probably be 3 or 4 people who reply saying 'all cars have a head gasket idiot' or 'all blocks have the cylinders bored in them'... They are in fact wrong, but in most cases that is true...

ah i see well right now i have guy working on my car and they said it needed new head gaskets then decided just to replace the whole engine or somethin like that i have absolutely no idea what they are talkin about and they ask me what i want them to do

Well what are their reasons for coming to this conclusion? Why is the car there? If you have a problem give us more information, we can't read your mind.

they said something about with the head gaskets being bad our best bet would be to replace the whole engine because we would end up replacin it in a few months anyways wel it needed a new battery the battery was completely bad when we got it ive never even driven the car so i dont know much about it just that for some reason it haad problems runnin and they had it checked oput said it was the head gaskets which it's gna cost somethin like $220 to fully replace thoes or we can spend $ and just replace the engine and be done with it 350

If you're justing buying a used engine it's gonna likely be the same story different day. If you get a new/rebuilt engine it will cost more than 350... I'm assuming from the 220 for the head gasket to be replaced that you are in Europe somewhere, since with current exchange rates that would be about $390 from pounds? in which case they are telling you ~$600 USD to replace a motor?!?!? The cost of a new/decently rebuilt motor SHOULD be MORE than that. It would have to be a salvage motor at that price. What kind of car are we dealing with here anyway? Is it a heap to begin with or is it a decent car?

it's a decent car id have to talk to my dad before i could tell you what kind of car tho bcuz ive only seen the thing a couple times. my dad got it from an older couple who had the money to just go buy another one so they gave it to him and he decided he would give it to me after he got it fixed. no i live in missouri in the U.S.i dnt know a whole lot about the details they just showed me a reciept for all the parts and things to replace the head gaskets and it said somewhere around the neighborhood of $220 so and then he said he had a friend at a salvage yard that would sell him a good motor for $350.

It's still a salvage motor... I'd be willing to bet a leak down check hasn't been done on it so the sealing ability of the rings is unknown, bearing wear is unknown,and there is no way to tell how it was cared for. In my experience the only time you should get a salvage motor is if you need and can't afford a rebuild. Plus how much is it going to cost to put the new motor in? If you have the ability to put a new motor in yourself, you should be able to replace a gasket yourself. Just my $0.02... For better or for worse, usually worse, parents tend to do what will help their friends, so I'm not sure there are really that many options in this case. Good luck if you have any issues or other questions, just reply back

I agree with Adam, and my advice would be "take it to a different mechanic!" ...although getting a head gasket replaced for $220 is a pretty good deal (as long as the guy doesn't f*** something up).

ya im kinda of afriad of that he isnt a certified mechanic just a friend and he is doing it for free we are just paying for the parts

Yeah, that makes sense. Don't get me wrong, I'm usually "that guy" who works on my friends cars for free, but I stay away from issues I'm not well-versed in, and unless this guy has a decent resume of engine builds, I would be hesitant to let him do head work. Replacing a gasket is not necessarily difficult (compared to something like rebuilding a transmission or replacing rods) but the consequences of a mistake are pretty high - especially during the reassembly of your engine after he's done. But if the car isn't something you depend on, it might be worth it to give him a shot. After all, it's a hell of a lot cheaper than going to a real mechanic.

ya so far he knows wut hes talkin about i guess my dad trusts him and i trust my dad so i guess were gonna let him do it i just didnt know what would be the better option to just replace the heads or do a whole new engine im not very car smart so i know how to put the gas, oil n all that stuff in but thats about it lol