1996 2.2 178k, new water pump, thermostat
well, i got exgaust gasses in my coolant resevior, and white smoke out the rear.. time for flush head gasket replace and fill! am i right? so, i was just wondering if any of you guys who have done this had any advice to me to help guide me into doing this correctly the first time, Oh, btw, water pump bearing gave out causing overheating and just replaced it to start it up with symptoms previously described

it could also be a crack in the block... that would cause those same problems...

Check your other post. You have a bad head gasket caused by a warped head. That is what happens to aluminum heads when they get hot.