Ok, so I was driving home a couple months ago from a friends house about a mile away and when I got home my temp gauge needle was pegged. I pretty much floored it through third but the last 1/4 mile I drove really slow because it was gravel. Little bit of steam coming out from under the hood when I parked and I could hear coolant boiling in the tank. Apparently my fan belt came off because it was wrapped around the fan. It is a 355 with an iron block and iron heads with around a 1000 miles on it. I don't know much about the internals as I didn't build it. Previous owner said the build cost 4K and it was a "racing" engine. Now it burns a little oil (saw a small cloud when it warm started today and was about a 1/3 quart low in ~400 miles). Anyone have an opinion on damage? I probably need to check compression as a start.

 

could have warped or cracked a head, but the only way to really know for sure is to take it apart and look at it. but before doing that, check to see if the cooling system holds pressure with a coolant system pressure tester that you can borrow from most any parts store... just pump it up and see if it holds pressure..

 

What NovaDerrik says, pressure test the system and see if you have any leaks. If you don't, maybe you got lucky and didn't damage anything inside.

how does the oil look? Like oil or like a chocolate milkshake?