Engine messed up. Replace or rebuild?

[patdaly]

Ok, now my first thought is they didn't either replace the valve cover gaskets, they had one slip while installing it, or they did not make sure the bolt tabs were replaced.

Chevy engines use pretty thin steel valve covers, so to spread out the forces of the retaining bolts ( only 4 for that cover ), they had thicker tabbed washers, been a lot of years since I played with one, but it seems like they were about an inch or an inch and a half long, with the hole offset up so that the main part of the washer would bear on the lip of the cover. You also have to be VERY vigilant about not tightening them up too much, you can easily cut a new gasket and cause a mess.

Hate to say it, but you really need to find perhaps a board member close to you and have them take a look at it.

Something else that might do you good is to see if you have a local community college that offers beginning classes in auto maintenance. You don't have to go full bore into auto tech, but even basic classes would help you out immensely, and things like this might not freak you out as much.

For right now, I would look the engine over closely, and see if you can find where the worst has leaked, and then use a can of brake parts cleaner spray to clean that area, let it dry, and have someone start it while you are watching the engine, I would almost bet you find it leaking at the bottom of the valve cover/top of the cylinder head.