Overheating/then Blown head gasket
 

My Camaro Was recently running like normal no overheating gets me point a to b.
Then it would use up a whole bottle of antifreez coolant.
so i would have to refill out of nowhere.
1 day i was drivign down the interstate when i forgot to put any collant into it and it lost some power i was slightly over the middle tempature on the gauge i say 220 or 230 and i pulled over and let it cool down.
I put water in it and drove it home less than a mile
So I turned it on a few days later and a little bit of white smoke came out but it still over heated. So i came to a conclusion i blew the gasket.
I took it apart to find my INtake gaskets were blown and the driver side head gasket was blown. So i replaced the driver side gaskets along with the intake gaskets. also i replace the head because it was cracked. but before all of this it would leak water right above the water pump id say about the exhuast manifold level right under the upper intake so im guessing i blue the upper intake gasket before the head gasket thats why it over heated and leaked water.
also i DID not check the passenger side head gasket because the mechanic who was helping me mentioned its rare for both to blow so we didnt even look at it.
So my question basically is What could of caused the over heating and do you think i should of checked the passenger side Head gasket as well.
I have not turned my car on at all since then. all it needs is some coolent and a jump start or new battery and to make sure i put back the throttle cable back on correctly and all the sensors need to go back where they belong. an online hanes manual would help alot. also im an amatuer so dont bomb me with criticism. im going to attend college for atomotive training.
3.8 v6 3800 series 2 engine

Re: Overheating/then Blown head gasket
 

also i remember taking it home one night and lifting up the hood and seeing the manifold glowing bright orange because it was so hot i have no idea why.
Same night but earlier i filled it up with coolant

Re: Overheating/then Blown head gasket
 

If I understand your post correctly, the intake manifold gasket was leaking water, typically a full container of coolant in a short period of time. You forgot to refill the system, and it overheated. Appears one head gasket was lost when this happened. Overheating can overstress the head bolts, stretching them, causing the heads to lose clamping force. Once the clamping force is lost, the gasket is vulnerable.

Question is, how hot did it really get? Is the V6 temp gauge marked different than the V8 gauge? "Slightly over the middle" is nowhere near 270-280*F on the V8's.

Courtesy of Shoebox:

http://shbox.com/1/temp_gauges1.jpg

What is the highest mark on the V6 gauge?

Re: Overheating/then Blown head gasket
 

Oh your right, I must of been looking at a v8.

Highest is 260 so i say mine reached about 220
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...1t:429,r:4,s:0
A little after the 210 line.
It did not reach the redline or past the line before it. therefore i say 220 230F