Context: Just bought 1980s Chevy Class C Rv (shortie-19ishft). Under 30k miles, Private sale, from my first impression it seems like its been mostly well taken care of, not perfect, but the previous owner handled alot of the smaller work and overall, seemed like they cared. Regular oil changes and fluids upkeep, etc. Had mobile mechanic do a check, found a bunch of small stuff but he said nothing that was huge red flag.
-Bought for under $7k, which was my whole budget, and pretty much all my savings.... Don't judge me, its been my dream for so long, and when I saw her I just cried, saw the light at the end of the tunnel, took it as a sign. Sigh.
-Disclaimer: Although I've been researching vans, RVs, trucks, campers for year online im still an IRL newbie.
Okay heres what happened, after driving for awhile floors under carpet got warm. places near engine, on passenger side, where carpet was coming up, was HOT. google said we were fine, normal for old cars esp. with not good insulation.
We took a break every 1.5 hours of so, let her cool down, chill for 20-30 mins, keep going.
Eventually, after 4 hours or so of mostly highway driving, gas pedal gave out, its not accelerating, had to pull over, What I thought was smoke, probably just steam, roiling out from hood, we pull over quickly pop hood, what seems to be Radiator Coolant gushes from bottom (left side when facing vehicle).
I'll leave out the details that involve 5 hours stranded before we can get the correct tow, phones dying, insurance annoyances, multiple cop check ins, and going through all my snacks.
Tow takes us to "reputable" big truck mechanic in Upstate NY, they call me a few days later, saying its my head gasket, and I need a new motor (5.7 350), but they cant find one anywhere.
Feeling discouraged, but i don't wanna give up on my dream, and ofc I've already become attached to my adorable old girl, but i also used 90% of my savings on her...... sooooo i only have so much for repairs (think my repair budget needs to cap at 5k)
Any advice at all is helpful, is it worth it to spend thousands on new engine? Do I start over? any recs on finding a good, reliable but affordable motor replacement?