It's better to rebuild unless you buy new or a recon one, otherwise you're on the same boat. It's not too hard servicing the head yourself, you need a few tools you may not have already like valve spring compressor. Other than that it's only a few moving parts in the head itself. Get yourself some valve lapping paste and a valve lapper, something to clean all the carbon off the head, new seals and valve guides and some new lifters and you're done. Get a machinist to skim the head if it looks like it needs a skim when you're all done with it.
