So, what I though was a blown head gasket is a cracked block. Can someone help me find a good short block, or what it would cost to build a nice short block?

 

Weird. That would explain a lot.

You can get that whole motor used for $700-$900 in my area. If you look hard, you might find one that's been in a fire and you can just swap all your perpherals over and save some money.