Rebuild or New Motor?

[SSafety20]

I bought a 91 Eclipse GSX with 141,xxx miles on it last Saturday. I am new to the DSM world so I need some help on trying to figure out which direction to go.

Problems:
Cracked Valve cover
Puking Oil (Oil Cooler... Maybe)
Oil all over the Engine bay
Oil in the Coolant
Sludge in the enitre Cooling system
Idles at around 3k

Good:
Its a Clean 91 GSX!

Car is not my daily driver. I live in CA so I'm not looking into huge HP gains just looking for a fun car with around 275-300HP.

1st option
a stock engine rebuild, new hoses, radiator, water pump, Timing belt job, etc..?

2nd option
Or should I find out where the fluids are coming into contact with each other and fix the problems one by one.

3nd option
Buy a rebuilt motor?

Final option
Scrap it and find another hobby....

I'm new to the DSM game and I not experience in these matters... I do know my way around a car, but im not an expert.

I can dedicate a couple thousand dollars, but Im not rolling in the dough either... I bought the car for $1000 so I'm not in too deep to just walk away, but I really want this to work out.... If you can share your thoughts and a rough guess on what it might run me on $$$$.

Thanks

 

[92AWDHX40]

Buy the parts you want rebuild engine or have someone who knows what they are doing and toss it in done.

 

[Tyeler18]

Take it apart and see how everything looks. Do a compression test first though so you can see the health of the engine. I'm going to say that the headgasket is blown, so you're results will be a little wacky, but hopefully you can get a good reading on at least 1-2 cylinders. From there if you've got the cash I'd highly recommend starting with a fresh, rebuilt engine. It's how I start on all my DSM's and they're reliable as can be.

 

[Luisito]

Well I Think buying a new engine for the car will be very difficult. Like the person above me said, you best bet is to do a compression test and see the condition of the engine, do some basic maintenance and judge from there. One of the best things to do is to look for a motor locally, you can usually buy for 500 + depending on the condition and work on that motor while you still have yours in to use as a daily driver.

 

[SSafety20]

Thanks for the input...

Rebuild it is...