240D head gasket on the cheap?

[Jake82240130]

Hi-

My 82 240D recently blew a head gasket while out on the freeway on the last leg of an 8-hour trip. It's always been a great car; engine has 130K on it and runs great (or, it did run great, and I hope it will again).

Have a couple questions:
1) I need to do the gasket replacement on the cheap. One major piece I'm really hoping to avoid is replacing the timing chain and tensioner. I know it's a bad idea, but seriously, is there any way I can get out of it? Can I just get a new master link for $3 instead of paying minimum $200 for a new chain/tensioner?

2) I'm a very amature mechanic. While I've replaced a head gasket before on another car and have done multiple repairs on the MBZ, I feel I could really use a solid step-by-step how to on this job. Something better than the f'ing unhelpful Haynes or Chilton's manuals. Searching the internet and this and other forums hasn't yeilded results. I know somewhere out there there's a good guide with pictures, probably even on this site! Can someone direct me, send me a link, etc.

Thanks much for any advice you can give!

[doktor4carz]

If you are willing to wait 2 or 3 days, I can enlighten you. Right now, I don't have the time for it...

[tanktube67]

those engines are very simple to work, but why do you want to cut corners? do the the job right and replaced what it needs.