Engine overhaul, advice?

So, since it appears i may have lost a tooth on my pinion, and the engine is gonna be coming out to replace the trans, i wanted to go ahead and do the timing set, water pump, maybe seals, and fix my leaking head gasket.

 

My questions are, do you think it is likely my heads/decks need work? It has been overheated a few times and the symptom now is I have to top off the coolant periodically (every few days) as it gets pushed out the overflow. Also, is there a recommended brand other than SOA for gaskets? I am looking to spend as little as possible here since I am a college student that is unemployed and living off student loans.

Also, what is the easiest way to identify which valve cover design i have? Looking at the Fel-Pro gasket sets.

Some say that FelPro head gaskets are fine, some say Cometic are fine, some say only OEM will do. I think most people go with the OEM gaskets. Better than doing it twice, imo.

 

You can check the heads and block for flatness, do a search here. It's even possible to work on them a bit yourself but I would worry about ruining something myself. How much have you run it while hot? How many miles? Do the seals too.

 

Valve cover gaskets are a lot easier to do. afaik there are only 2 styles, one for the 2.2 and one for the 2.5. But I could be wrong.

I've installed a bunch of felpro with no comebacks. My old shop used stone almost exclusively. No comebacks.

 

Others insist all aftermarket gaskets are junk. I suspect these people don't do this for a living.

and use the proper torque sequence and don't mistake inch pounds for foot pounds