I've heard a typical ring job from a mechanic will run anywhere from $1,500 to 2,000. Is this normal? If so, I suppose a new engine is in order. I've got white smoke coming out of my exhaust pipes when I rev to about 3,000rpm and a puff of black whenever it's first started. I've been told a ring job's in order to cure it.

 

Parts will probably run $500-$1000, gaskets, rings, seals etc. Everything else is labor. There's no guarentee that once the engine is torn down that it won't cost even more if other problems are found such as cracked heads, bad bearings, etc.

A new engine won't necessarily be cheaper. A long block may cost $1500+ plus will probably take the same amount of time to switch stuff over to it and install as it would to rebuild the old engine. The labor to to the swap could be more than a rebuilt.

A crate engine will cost a bit more but is more complete and will take less time to swap. The advantage of buying a new engine is that it will also come with a warranty. The more complete you can buy an engine, the easier the swap will be.