Mitsubishi Repair: Help with repair questions about my 94 Mitsubishi Eclips, mitsubishi eclips, dual overhead cam

Question
 The other day, I was just leaving my house and putting my car in to second when it died. It turned over still, but I wasn't getting compression. I had a mechanic come and look at it, and he found my timing chain to be broken. He also said that I probably bent my valves, and that the whole engine would need to be taken apart to repair the damage. He also told me it will be around $1200. Is it really that expensive to fix? I know a new timing chain is about $240, and I'm sure valves are expensive, but if I had my friend do it(he went to school to be a mechanic) would it still cost that much? I'd appreciate your feedback!
Sincerely, Marian C.


Answer
Marian,
The majority of the expense of this engine rebuild is labor.  It's a very time consuming process and with labor cost for most mechanic running around $80-$100/hour, $1200 is a reasonable ball park price.  Sometimes it would be cheaper to buy a rebuilt cylinder head.  Many times you can find those for around $500-$1000.  But if you have yours rebuilt, even if you have your friend do it, the price of parts may creep up on you.  Example, if you have a dual overhead cam engine, then all 16 valve would need to be replaced.  That also means there are 16 of each of several other parts.  

But if you want to have your friend do this, you'll want to really be confident he can complete the job.  It's a big undertaking and needs to have everything done precisely.  If not, then the engine fix won't last long.
Good luck!