Head Gasket....

I keep getting conflicting views on whether it's worth persuing with a MK 1 that has had a head gasket blown.
I know it's a fairly big job but is it worth doing?
I have just picked up one for ?25 so that's not bad but should i be looking for other issues.
It over heats within 5 minutes and in the engine there is a milky white resedue on the cap and inside.
I hope it can be sorted as i feel it's a great project but never quite seen this white resedue before?

Just to add it starts everytime but is very lumpy but no more than a minute before overheating starts

The milky residue is normal for a blown head gasket. It happens when the oil and water mix. That also adds to the motor overheating very quickly. If there is no other damage to the engine it could be worth while, however if it overheated severely then the rings will bind in the pistons and could have seriously scored the cylinder sleeves.... meaning a complete engine rebuild which would probably be quite expensive. In that case the motor will start burning oil badly, but may still pull fairly well. Difficult to tell unless you can spend some time driving it, or opening the engine up

Last week i tackled my head gasket. It took me 4 days but apart from a few glitches it runs like a dream . It had a perfomance manifold on it which was a pleasant surprise.
The worst was putting it back (always is) but i got there.
How sweet it is to turn that key and go for a short very gentle spin.

I asked the VW dealer a quote he said ?1000 all in.
 8O

It cost me about ?80 in parts….

I started another yesterday from i guy i met at a rugby club and got the parts  all off, and tomorrow hoping to get it all back.The head may be warped though but you can never know without straightning it up by measurement , you can't see by the eye, mind you the pistons where in good condition for a 25 year old car (re-conditioned me thinks) It will be good or bad news for him tomorrow  :dontknow: