on to part two of my question.
since the main reason I need help is because my car is smoking more than a pack a day, and I think its the rings, here is another option.
Rings mean the head comes off right? Well another friend of mine has a VTEC head for a CRX, would it be worth my time to have that put in my car along with new rings/etc? I can find out exactly what head it is if you need (which im sure you do)... an engine with 200k+ on it doesnt seem like a good investment to me, but reliability does.
p.s.s.s.s.s. what does a ring job go for?