Honey we killed the car/blown head gasket

[koop]

Greetings all,

I wonder if I could get a little general info. I bought a 1980 SD with 118k on the odo (which I suspect is way wrong, but it ran well) and I love the car. So much so that I took it to a MB shop and spent a thousand on preventative maint.

Car overheated and is in the shop. They say thermostat and head or head gasket, $2500. I did drive it a little while overheated (I know, dumb, but I thought these things were bulletproof and I spent a lot of money on a 77 BMW before I figured out the gauge was wrong) to see if it was the gauge or not.

Is that about right? Is there anything simple they might have overlooked?

Any simple fixes (pepper in the coolant) or am I stuck with a new head and if I do get a new head can I pretty much forget about the engine for a while?

TIA