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I did something even dumber. So dumb I won't say what it was. Suffice to say I was right where you are.
I chose to fix my car myself, and it is a very big job. I got 80% of the way through the removal and asked myself 'why?'. In the end I got the head off (not easy) and looked at the bores. They were like new, even with 120,00 miles, and poor maintenance.
At that point I knew the car was worth fixing. I had my turbo rebuilt, pulled the valves and put in new oil seals, I replaced all the seals in the head, the head gasket, head bolts, and replaced all the vacuum lines. All time consuming jobs, and all necessary to restore the engine.
It took me a few weeks (I was busy at work) but my car fired right up ran like new when I was done, and it is very satisfying to 'bring it back from the dead'. I have gone 30,000 miles since I did it and the car still runs great.
If you are mechanically competent then go for it, if not, pay a mechanic, because it is a difficult job. I doubt many people on this forum have tackled that job. Or could.
Two more things, 1) it is not a cheap repair, so make sure the car is worth it. Maybe just pull the head and see if the engine is still okay. Just to pull ht ehead is several hours labor.
2) I neglected to do it, but you should get the bottom of the head machined if you are going to re-use it. Or look for a used head.
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