Gustavo E. Laff

I have a 97' Coupe DX, 5 spd.that has been my baby for 5 years..(only Shell V-Power, Bosch filters, hi-mileage oil, additives, etc).. 1 year ago it started giving me more issues than normal but that's I believe because I stupidly used it to deliver pizzas & inevitably ragged on the engine & it hit 200k in the middle of this. Now my engine is done due to blown head gaskets & overheating.....I DEFF don't want to scrap the car. Over the past 6 to18 months I've done the following:

Cosmetics :
-full body paint job (well done, good clearcoat, gun metal gray metallic)
-body work (all dents & dings pulled)

Under the Hood :
-new slave & master cylinder
-new radiator
-new alternator
-new water pump & timing belt
-new distributor cap
-new battery
-new fan
-new spark plugs & wires
-a few more things I'm likely forgetting

I am very illiterate as far as DIY anything cars go. Now, I have a trusted mechanic (good guy), who will fix my car & put engine in for $1300 (includes everything)...is this a decent price? Should I source the engine myself??? Should I ask him to pull the new alternator (lifetime warranty), water pump & timing belt out of old engine?....
The way I see it is I can scrap car for $400-500 bucks + $1300 by not putting in new engine = $1800+ - , buy $1800 car plus tax, tag ($2k) that is worth $1500 & I don't know anything about. Or put $1300 into my 97' which will than be worth roughly $3k (because the interior & exterior are mint), plus I know who's been driving it for the past 5 years & I know I took good care of it. So obviously it makes more financial sense to me to invest $1300 into a car that will than be worth at least $3k vs spend $2k on a car that will be worth $1500 & will 99% likely need a full tune up ($500).... What do you guys think? Sorry for the story, 1st post on here....
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for reading this far. Gus

Wankenstein

Is the current block still good (compression)? What is causing the overheating? Replacing the headgasket + machine shop work should be around $1000 or less by your mechanic.

If you go with a used engine try to find one that is in a car and running so it can be leakdown tested, compression tested and is running properly. Also, if you go with a used engine...yes, pull the new parts off the old one and install in the replacement engine.

In the price range your considering buying in ($1,800) you most likely won't find one that doesn't have some issues and require $500 or more to sort out. It's a tough choice. If you really like your Civic and there isn't any other major issues with it and you can either have the headgasket/head repaired OR find an engine with around 120k miles or less on it then I'd lean that way instead of buying another car.