head gasket advice!

Got to the bottom of the overheating problems! Head gasket has gone,got oil in the water :/  The man who sold me the car saw me coming! 
     anyways I love my car he needs to be fixed! What are the options? New head? New engine? He's done 150,000 miles… I'm bracing myself for a dip in my bank. 

Any advice would be welcome! Thanks 

Amy, if you only need a Head Gasket, then get just that done but have it done by someone who really knows what there doing because if the screw it up.
It can cost you a packet down the road!  

Is yours a post '84 Cabrio? If so the water cooled oiler cooler sandwich above the oil filter can fail forcing the oil into the water. Wouldn't necessarily cause over heating, but some symptoms are similar. 

If you go for a rebuild yourself the head gasket is around £15.00 and new bolts (a must) are around the same but make sure you get the head skimmed. I did mine recently and got the head stripped skimmed and rebuilt for £50 and a handful of manifold gaskets, bolts, nuts and time later I had the lot back together for not a lot over £100. So it can be done for a reasonable price.

Thanks for the replies!

 Mines a G reg clipper 1989, the garage definitely said it's the head gasket,its loosing water too 
   if I'm doing a rebuild is there a good website to get the parts from? Won't be able to do it myself,although after buying this bad boy I've got a feeling I might get to know more about cars!

Vw heritage or avs are good for parts. If you do it yourself take loads of pictures to help with the rebuild.

if its a late cabrio as said, its probably the oil cooler NOT the gasket. if oil and water were mixing at the head gasket then i would expect your oil to be FULL of sludge. if your dipstick is clear get the cooler replaced and coolant flushed

easy DIY job really

Amy tell us roughly where your located like a City.
Maybe we have a friendly kind Member who could take a quick look at this for you before you spend a packet!    

Don't forget with have more Members than all the superstore outlets put together, so I'd hope we'd have someone near you!  
 

The system needs pressure testing before any spanners are let loose on it.
Talking of seeing you coming…..
I bought some second hand binoculars for £300 once……
I think they saw me coming as well!