Ouch. There's a lot of labor that goes into doing a timing set though.

 

Still better than a rod knock

 

Miles better than rod knock. Glad you got it sorted before you bent all the valves.

 

Timing set takes 4-5 hours for a competent mechanic. Easy as pie. I do them on high mileage cars at work all the time.

If you know a decent mechanic that won't kill you on it, should cost no more than $5-600 as the parts are cheap and the work isn't that bad. Get a complete timing kit and cover gasket, new bolts for the crank and cam pullies, and it's not a big deal at all.