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$900 odd to replace an EL's head gasket?? "Are you serious?" 

 

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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 12:58 am 
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lol...2 hours....my a***...

Doing it yourself is the way to go...just follow the Gregories manual, it's quite straight forward.
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 1:11 am 
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i dont see why your pullin thermo's and all the rest of the s**t and ppl taking bonnets off and using engine cranes no wonder takes all day. the hardest is the intake and i undo the bolts to the head and leave it in place same with the exust manifold just put it to one side leave all the power steer pump lines connected to the pump, why make more work, i have a job on a EF coming up in a few weeks i should record it and post it on youtube for ya. and i anit a mechanic i just have done heaps for friends and family with a cash incentive. O and i anit the only one on here that has it at around 2 hours labour. practice makes perfect and why would anyone hurry when there getting payed buy the hour
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 Post subject: Re: $900 odd to replace an EL's head gasket?? "Are you
Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 3:28 am 
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-GAS-MAN- wrote:
Hey guys, i was asking a mechanic how much it'd be to replace a head gasket on my EL (which does not require it) and he said "$950, maybe more if we have to machine the head"

$950? Does he think i am a retard?
The gasket it what, like $60 and it takes him like two hours.
Anyways :)

Quick question:
Is it worth taking the head off and sticking an AU gasket on to highten the compression? What sort of differences are we talking?

By machining the head to straighten it they would be hightening the compression right?
Thanks
Matt

What got me here was "If the head needs machining"..... That's an absolute MUST, not an IF!

Last one i done was maybe 2 to 3 years ago, from memory i charged them around $750 all up, that included servicing, plugs, belt, all filters, thermostat, radiator cleaned out, head bolts etc. I think i'd be charging a tad more now though.

As for time, i prefer to do a job right rather than fast, i run a tap down each thread on the block and clean the deck so you could eat off it, i'm always fussy as i don't like doing any job twice, and more importantly i get to keep a good name.
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 Post subject: Re: $900 odd to replace an EL's head gasket?? "Are you
Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 9:33 am 
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-GAS-MAN- wrote:
Hey guys, i was asking a mechanic how much it'd be to replace a head gasket on my EL (which does not require it) and he said "$950, maybe more if we have to machine the head"

$950? Does he think i am a retard?
The gasket it what, like $60 and it takes him like two hours.
Anyways :)

Quick question:
Is it worth taking the head off and sticking an AU gasket on to highten the compression? What sort of differences are we talking?

By machining the head to straighten it they would be hightening the compression right?
Thanks
Matt


mate, not too long ago, $2,000 was the going price. I did it myself and it took me a month. With the amount of s**t old bolts etc along the way and extra care that must be taken because of fragile parts, its not as simple as changing the oil!

 

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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 10:06 am 
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im a mechanic and on average half a day and ANY one who can say they can do it faster is playing with them self

 

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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 10:11 am 
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1sickEB wrote:
im a mechanic and on average half a day and ANY one who can say they can do it faster is playing with them self


I know a bloke in sydney that replaced the headgasket in my car and did a T5 conversion at the same time in around 7 hours, well would have finished but while fitting the box with the head off he turned the motor and snapped the timing chain guide..... this time was also including going down to his workshop and machining the head..

What im saying is it can be done in under 3 hours if you know exactly what your doing.
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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 10:41 am 
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Agree with most of the above posts these are an easy but time consuming job, the guys doing them in quick times are obvously not doing them right, things they are missing are radiator flush?? as per most guys that will do the machine work of the head and pressure test it to make sure its not cracked they will not warranty their work if you havent done a complete cooling system flush

I recently did a ED XR for a good mate car had done 180,000 kms needed new rad, water pump, welsh plugs, all cooling system hoses, head machined flat, water jackets welded as they were corroded in the head and all valves relapped............total cost $1350 labour time involved was 6 hours, and yes I do have all the right tools

so yes $950 is the average price to get it done but Id be wary of the price as when its all apart the price will go up. The car that I did required all of the above I had a fair idea it was going to need extra work so I over quoted, (1500 ish) to save my mate a lot of stress with a huge bill

2 hours to do a head gasket Id really love to see that, because as we all know when it comes to cars things can sometimes take a lot longer than expected due to something no going to plan

thats my 2 cents

Kev

 

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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 11:21 am 
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yeah 2 hours for a head gasket,,i'd love to see that,,it took me and mrs half a day to change ours,and i have the right tools and know what i'm doing,taking all manifolds off and the steering pump is an hour and half alone.

then you just got to hope all the hed bolts come out in one go.

 

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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 11:33 am 
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naughtyfalcon wrote:
yeah 2 hours for a head gasket,,i'd love to see that,,it took me and mrs half a day to change ours,and i have the right tools and know what i'm doing,taking all manifolds off and the steering pump is an hour and half alone.

then you just got to hope all the hed bolts come out in one go.


yeh, On the EA cfi intake manifold, some of those bolts required a bizzarre assortment of socket adapters and extensions. And dont even get me started on the issues the chain tensioner posed!

 

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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 12:12 pm 
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yep,,we have an mpfi,and to make it easier i take the fuel rail off.

but the assortment of socket bits need is unreal.

 

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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 1:10 pm 
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at our shop its like 800 and it take around 1 hour and a hald to get the head off with the right tools and it takes ages to get all the head gasket matierl off then you normal take about a day if the head place is busy if they are not should have it back within 2 hours then you have the same thing putting it back together again its like a 4 to 5 hour job

 

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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 2:40 pm 
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Went through all this about 2months ago. Was quoted $700 - $750, but my head was cracked in 3 chambers. The place quoted me about $1500 for a new head, VRS (bolts and gaskets), even replaced a couple of worn hoses, total bill was $1461.

Good workshop.

 

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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 12:38 am 
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i done it in one and half hours thats including using air tools

 

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thanks guys

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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 2:16 am 
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Including prepping the block face and head?

Damn, I wouldn't let you anywhere near my car!
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 11:02 am 
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I'm not a mechanic but I recently replaced my head gasket.
I removed the thermos because its easier to manage the serpentine belt. Took about 60 mins to get the head almost off. Then another 90 mins to get out the pin that the cam chain guide hangs from.
The head needed welding and I had the valves done and stem seals.
The inlet manifold is the most fiddly part followed by cleaning the old gasket off the block.

Permaseal Valve Regrind Gasket set $91.
TTY Head Bolts (14) $33.
Head weld, grind, reseat and stem height $400. (thanks Nico)
Nylon retainers for the tappets $26.
Coolant $18.
Oil and filter $28.
Cam guide bolt or pin $12 (bloody thing)

Took about 3 days in total. Plus I replaced the radiator.
Interestingly the previous owner had replaced the gasket too. The head man said the welding was dodgy and I also noticed it had the short threaded older style bolts that were all really tight at 215,000 ks now I am suspicious of how good a job was done last time. Maybe the bolts had only been used once before.

Note to self... make sure to drain all the coolant from the engine next time.

2 hours hmmmmm
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