2002 Chrysler Van sudden overheating

Voyager van overheated Monday. I stopped when it hit the top & started chiming. Got it towed to my favorite mechanic place. They checked it out, it held coolant, ran for half and hour, cooling fans ran, heat and A/C worked. I picked it up and my grandson had to drive it for home, and it overheated within a mile or so. Let it cool and took it a few blocks to a bigger repair place. It hadn't lost hardly any coolant at that point. ! Their Master Technician checked it out and the next day called to say his diagnosis was engine head gasket, plus the water pump and the timing belt that drives it on this model, which I did about 4000 miles ago. Plus some extra & labor, only $2200.00 plus tax. I don't even have that much credit. My wife-type is home with a broken ankle and can't drive her '90 Marquis so I waited until her dtr. Was off work this Sat, I took a deep breath & picked it up, drove it about a mile or so when temp gauge started to go to the top. On advice from the old mechanic, I left it running, popped the hood and jumped out to look if it was steaming or cooling pouring out. It wasn't, but suddenly a mighty gurgling sound went thru the upper radiator hose, that I was holding. I jumped back in to see that the temp gauge had gone back down. So I put on the heater, it went to normal, and I drove it the other mile home. When it cooled down, it still hadn't lost any coolant? I drove it around our neighborhood about a mile, it gauge showed it was heating up again, so I put on the heater & headed home. By which time it went back to normal. So I kept driving around, put on the A/C, they gauge still stayed normal.