Chrysler Repair: headgasket, dodge neon, head bolts

Question
hey whats up roland its me again lol and thank you very much over and over again i have a 98 dodge neon sohc 100900 miles i have white smoke comeing out the back and i see some oil comeing down the back of the engine and i think it needs vavle seals i was wanting to know could i just put vavle seals and a headgasket on it with out checking for warping on the head or what or should i get a rebuiolt head or what and ideas and what else could i do and what else can i do while i have it apart and thank you very muchand if there is any thing you know that can help let me know thank you again

Answer
Hi Derek,
My suggestion of loosening up the head bolts and retorquing them, that I sent to you yesterday, is of course a way of possibly avoiding dismantling the head at this time. But if you don't want to try that and instead decide to take off the head then of course you can check it for warpage and then decide whether or not to replace the head on that basis. I would not trade away my existing head unless it was clearly damaged: you know its history which is always desireable. Once you have it off, then seals will be easier to deal with.
If you take off the head, then do the valve seals as well, and replace the timing belt if that hasn't been replaced since such belts are at risk when they reach 100,000+ miles.
That is about all I can suggest. Be sure to have access to a good shop manual for the engine you are dealing with. I think I sent you some of the pages about the seals, but let me know if you decide to remove the head, etc., and I can send you the balance of the pages (which I can copy for 5 cents a side from the '96 manual I have.) You have the 2.0L as I recall, correct?
Roland