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

 

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 Post subject: $900 odd to replace an EL's head gasket?? "Are you seri
Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 7:24 pm 
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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
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 7:35 pm 
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$950 is pretty common actually, but hes a d***head for saying they might have to machine the head, cause as far as im concerned its something that MUST be done to prevent the gasket going again in a couple months time, considering the head can go out of shape over time

And machining the head doesnt affect compression much, maybe bump it up a beez d**k, only a couple thou is taken off to maintain a perfectly flat mating surface for the gasket.
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 7:36 pm 
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Yeah thats about the going price.

 

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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 8:08 pm 
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I know of someone that recently had to replace the head on his EF because it was cracked.....So all up including a fully reco head, AU head gasket and to fit it all it ended up costing the bloke around the $1,500 mark.

 

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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 8:23 pm 
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do it yourself. get a gregorys . ( see if it takes you 2 hours )
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 Post subject: Re: $900 odd to replace an EL's head gasket?? "Are you
Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 8:29 pm 
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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 if you can do it in "like two hours" please come and show me how.
i'd love to be able to do it that fast.

the AU gasket is about 20thou thinner then the old style gasket, when the head is skimmed it would depend how much was taken off, i've seen some only need a 5thou skim some need 20thou.

the AU gasket will give roughly .4 of a point. so for the an EF would go from about 9.3:1 to about 9.7:1

skimming 20thou from the head will not give the same amount. it will give slightly less of an increase
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 8:31 pm 
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yeah it think it would take you two hours to get the head off

 

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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 8:38 pm 
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At my work, a head gasket job on an E series is anywhere from $800 to $1500, thats depending wether the head needs straightening, welding up corroded areas, regrinding valves, valve stem seals get replaced, etc...but all heads get a skim taken off, usually around the 5 to 10 thou mark, thats all thats required to clean up a good straight head.

 

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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 8:55 pm 
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learn to do it yourself, good skill to have and u can charge your m8s!
my friends thermostat seal was gone and he thort his head gasket was on its way out hehe,one of my utes head gaskets has been leaking for 4yrs, the shill be right thery seems to work well in its case rofl
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 9:16 pm 
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Just did my head gasket and it takes more than 2 hours just to remove the thermos, power steer pump, power steer pump bracket, intake manifold, exaust manifold and thats not even starting on the rocker cover to get to the head!! id love to see the whole job done in 2 hours!! $950 is a reasonable price as the VRS kit and head bolts is around $100. Head machining/testing, coolant and other things like oil and filter is extra. If it takes the mechanic 2 days as im sure they have other jobs at the same time the biggest $ is labor.
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 10:01 pm 
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My mechanic charges me 600 to do a head gasket but its charging me 1600 with some major head work at the same time this time around.
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 11:24 pm 
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sounds cheap, its about $1200 around here, i do them for $200 + parts, done heaps, easy cash :)
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 11:33 pm 
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joolz wrote:
Just did my head gasket and it takes more than 2 hours just to remove the thermos, power steer pump, power steer pump bracket, intake manifold, exaust manifold and thats not even starting on the rocker cover to get to the head!! id love to see the whole job done in 2 hours!! $950 is a reasonable price as the VRS kit and head bolts is around $100. Head machining/testing, coolant and other things like oil and filter is extra. If it takes the mechanic 2 days as im sure they have other jobs at the same time the biggest $ is labor.
air tools and the right flex socket peices and the head is off in under 40 minutes, cleaning sufaces 10-20 minutes, putting the head back on is a little slower with doing up the head bolts and stuff so say 50 minutes then final check and coolant oil what ever 10 minutes, theres ya two hours most machinics would be sick of looking at the f**k things and charge a (sick of this s**t fee) , allowing time for the head to be machined as well probably most would use a courier could take a day there.
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Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2007 11:55 pm 
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Last time i did my head gaskit in the EB ( done it a couple times ) took me a bit over 4 hrs, by myself. It's not a very hard job, just a time consuming job. They are rather awkward to lift of by yourself. I took the hood off & used my chain block attached to the roof of my shed to lift the head on & off. Much easier on my back. :D

Cost me just under $200 for the VRS, head bolts, coolant, oil, filters & so on to do the job. I had the head tested & surfaced, was told the valves & seats were still servicable so didn't change them. Had 10thou taken off the surface to get it flat. IIRC it was about $180 for the head test & surface job.

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ToranaGuy

 

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Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 12:17 am 
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fastleno wrote:
joolz wrote:
Just did my head gasket and it takes more than 2 hours just to remove the thermos, power steer pump, power steer pump bracket, intake manifold, exaust manifold and thats not even starting on the rocker cover to get to the head!! id love to see the whole job done in 2 hours!! $950 is a reasonable price as the VRS kit and head bolts is around $100. Head machining/testing, coolant and other things like oil and filter is extra. If it takes the mechanic 2 days as im sure they have other jobs at the same time the biggest $ is labor.
air tools and the right flex socket peices and the head is off in under 40 minutes, cleaning sufaces 10-20 minutes, putting the head back on is a little slower with doing up the head bolts and stuff so say 50 minutes then final check and coolant oil what ever 10 minutes, theres ya two hours most machinics would be sick of looking at the f**k things and charge a (sick of this s**t fee) , allowing time for the head to be machined as well probably most would use a courier could take a day there.


The times your sayin must be for a V8 cause an I6 takes alot longer than 2 hours even with air tools and flex bits. If you can do an I6 head gasket in those times im sure every service centre in oz will want you working for them! and to follow would be alot of p****d customers getting charged around $300+ per hour in labour. Im sure there are some ford mod members that will need the job done soon so i guess your the man to see.
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