Low budget engine prep

I'm waffling on how to approach this job.

Last week I found a $100 engine on FB Marketplace.  This week Pimpm3 picked it up for me, and it should be boarding the Stampie-train in the near future to make its way across the state.  (Thanks you guys, seriously.  I owe some beers.)

Why am I looking at doing another engine? Cause my old one went "berk you!" and E36 M3 the bed.  It was a bitch of a rebuild and getting it running and it seriously berkeleyed with my mental health when I couldn't get it running.  

As a result of the pounding I took with the engine currently sucking down oil and gas at equal rates, I'm wary about how I should approach this one.

This one has 170k on it, apparently blew a headgasket.  I'll know more when it gets here and I can tear it down.  I'm wondering about how far I should tear it down and what I should do to build it back.

The head on my current engine is good and has a couple tweaks I want to keep (especially if it did actually blow a gasket) so I will likely just focus on the shortblock.  Provided there was no water in the cylinders, at 170k they should be good, I was thinking of checking the bores out with my gauges and such, if I pull the pistons I might dingle-ball the cylinders and throw new rings in it.

How far do I go, though?  I'm a little gunshy on just dropping my new head on and sending it.  I'm also a little gunshy about pulling it completely down.

Guidance, thoughts, even funny pictures would be appreciated.

Pull the head and look at the cylinder walls while the head is off. I typically replace all the gaskets on a replacement engine (minus the headgasket unless like in your case, the headgasket is known to be bad). While you have the oil pan off, you could pull a main/rod cap if you want to know but I personally wouldn't. If it was mine, if the visual inspection looked good, I'd slap your head on and run it.

Yeah I'd repair what was needed and not needlessly berk with anything. Do not follow my example in the C3 thread. 

I've taken good heads and bolted then to blocks in decent shape and run them.

I was on a team that ran the Longest Day at Nelson's Ledges back in the early 90's that started the race with a totally rebuilt engine in a CRX. Tons of details dealt with, lots of money spent for the pro rebuild. The engine lasted about 2 hours.

We scavenged a 150K mile short block out of the trailer, borrowed an old head and threw it together in the paddock.

The car finished the 24hr race and I think even ran a few events afterward with the $50 engine.

Do the seals, shake the rod caps and throw it together.

Mr_Asa said:

Why am I looking at doing another engine? Cause my old one went "berk you!" and E36 M3 the bed.  It was a bitch of a rebuild and getting it running and it seriously berkeleyed with my mental health when I couldn't get it running.

...

Guidance, thoughts, even funny pictures would be appreciated.

No advice beyond what others have said, but don't get inside your head about the other engine. You're a competent guy and E36 M3 happens. 

I didn't read all of the rebuild thread but I'd take extra precautions with the head gasket this time around if you swap the new/old head on this engine.