blown head gasket? rebuild?

[nrthrngreaser]

Hi guys, I'm new here, but have spent a lot of time at the yahoo MB group.

I've an 83 300d that I just fired up for the first time this spring and promptly ran it out of coolant (don't ask) I think blew the head gasket. car was a beater and the engine didn't run well, but the engine was going to be given new rings, sleeves, a valve job, and dropped into a nice 85 300sd with a thrown rod that I'll be acquiring in a few weeks.

questions: how difficult is it to do the rings and cylinder sleeves in this engine, can I do it without removing the crank? do I need any fancy tools to remove and replace the cylinder sleeves?

obviously the head gasket won't be a problem any more, as it'll be going back together with all new gaskets and seals.

I'm a fair mechanic, but haven't done much bottom end work.

is there a good reliable manual or book I should use in this endeavor?

should I just say the hell with it and drop in a $500-1000 junkyard engine with 200,000 miles on it?

will a 617 952 engine out of the 300d fit in place of the 617 951 in the 300SD? keeping all the SD parts except the engine (incl IP and turbo)

summer project. time isn't really important, but money (as always) is.

thanks guys.

karl