you can clean the block yourself, just need to get the old gasget crap off it and make sure its all clean of anything that will affect the head gasget sealing

ok. thanks for your help guys.
i know that this may be annoying but just to clarify, take the head to a shop, and clean the block myself?

you're right, not everyone is rich. I'm not rich, but I made sure I did a proper job so that it doesn't stuff up sooner down the track. Spending that extra $200 odd to get the head reco'd could save you another $1000 job to get it fixed again IF things go wrong. Obviously things can go in either favour depending on circumstances.

Money does play a big role, but personally I'd rather sacrifice booze for 2 weeks and make sure the car is right.

hi guys job done, head recoed for $150 did everything else my self new gaskets and bolts cost me less than $250 including new oil and filter, coolant and air filter. thanks for all advice

Like I said there is always someone willing to the cheap nasty job for f**k all money. That's fine by me as I'm not interested in doing it.
You have a choice, you don't have to do a s**t cheap job just because some one asks you to do it.
You can tell the person you are not going to do a half job and advise them to see another workshop about it.

Never work down to a price, You should be taking pride in your work and working up to a standard and pricing the job accordingly.

Why are you acting like it's my workshop? Like f**k If I could control what we worked on there would be no landrovers on the apron, but you know what, I just work there.
And why, in times like these, would anyone turn down work!
There is nothing wrong with replacing the headgasket and milling the head if it's just a failed gasket.
And FFs stop saying I am a cheap and nasty mechanic, you don't know me nor have you seen any of my work. I don't appreciate it.

Taking pride in you're work dosnt mean everything that comes off have to be recod and replaced to be perfect. You can take pride in you're work doing a simple head gasket by making sure all the parts are clean, it gets new plugs and ect to have it running nicely and you do a good job! It's not hard, why would anyone rush and doni easy job poorly.

Because if the job can't make you a profit or has the potential to damage the reputation of your business, you just don't do the work.
So yeah I turn down jobs when the owner doesn't want to pay for it to be done properly.



Yes there is. You need to know the head hasn't gone soft and you need to know the seats still seal properly and you need to know the guides/stems are not worn.
There is not a falcon out there with a blown head gasket that doesn't ave something els wrong with the head.

It doesn't cost much to check and fix this stuff. I've got a head off an AU at work, after inspection all it needed was 6 new exhaust valves face the intakes and touch up the seats.
Simple fix, not much cost, job done properly.

Or we could have just skimmed the head and slapped it together and p****d it off. But chances are the stuffed exhaust valves and seat would only burn out more causing poor idle and the bloke would then either need to spend the money to remove the head AGAIN, or get rid of the car and loose out as the value is now lower due the need for major repair work.
I prefer the fix things properly.



You boss might control what gets done, but you still defend his way of doing things. Your no better if you are happy to go along with half a*** work.



Until that poorly sealing valve seat burns out or the soft head can't hold the gasket or the guide and stem wear mean the stem seal can't seal the oil out and you end up with a smokey engine and oil fouled plugs every 10 000km.

I can't see how you are taking pride in you work if you are happy to ignore obvious problems.

Last time I had a mate mechanic do a head for me start to finish cost me a carton and my help...... Does that make him cheap?
Dont know were you mechanics are that do good jobs in the mountains. I have had loose bolts on a timing chain change, quoted almost $400 to drop a dumpy on a car and told my quoted price didnt include labour ( and didnt I know that already?????). In my experience, my area of around 80000 people there are 2 good workshops that dont charge huge prices and do the job you would expect from a mechanic. Not to mention the " head gasket kings".
What I am trying to say is mechanics are no different to everyone else working for a chain, it doesnt matter on the job as much as the numbers. Thats the way of the world. If you guys b**ch can do a 100% job every time then good on you. I admire a perfectionist, but the rest of the world with bosses on there a** will push to keep there job.
Me personally, I think mechanics getting $90+ an hour around here is steep. I am a pestie and the boss makes $10000 profit a week...... so I am not pointing just at mechanics. The difference in the rate people charge for labour and the price the worker gets is too much. Maybe for the small bloke its ok, but chains getting huge profits is not on.
Also people dont have money to get high paid jobs done on there cars. A head reco and gasket change up here on an Ef with 175k would be around 2 to 2500k. Why would I do that when the car cost me 1800? I work full time 50+ hours a week as a Qualified pest controller for $530 take home, with 3 kids and bills like everyone else how do I pay those prices? My head goes and I cant work out how to fix it, the job will go to the cheapest bloke and I will have to hope for the best as thats all I can afford. I am not alone

i changed my head gasket myself.
au head gasket- $100
bolts -$15
head skimmed,new stem seals fitted and springs $88 ( i supplied springs )
also replaced dissy cap and leads.

pretty easy to do, only took me 1.5 days. 4 hours of that was getting the head serviced.

started on saturday morning, had then head off by lunch time, dropped it off at head shop. picked it up at 4 that arvo then got it back on and running by sunday arvo.

I'd do it for a mate for a bottle of jack. But that's not what we are talking about here.



That's your choice and clearly there are workshops around willing to work down to that sort of standard. You take you car to them and you pray.


Doing the cheapest work you can all the time only serves to get your workshop the reputation of being the guy to go to when you have no money and need a cheap fix. You then start to get more and more of that sort of customer.


Also your bad experience with poor work has nothing to do with me.
You clearly stated you shop around for the cheapest price you can get.
Quite obviously you got what you paid for.

Are you some kind of retard?

I'm a mechanic, I spent years on sub $500 a week. My pay barely cracked the $500 mark as a qualified. I drive a 23 year old car to work every day and my wife drives 13 year old falcon.
I live in a run down 35 year old house.
I AM NOT RICH, I have debt just like every one els.

Do not EVER pretend that I don't know what it's like to have little to no money.

The dumpy was not the cheapest price at $400, I got it done for $80 and I got a great job. The Timing chain replacement was not the cheapest price, but from a local " reputable" mechanic. It doesnt matter what the price is mate, just means the same job is done for more money.
I actually got a head done on an xf ute a few years ago from Mt vic service centre, I had everything done to the point all they had to do was undo the head bolts and replace the gasket out of the vrs kit I supplied. The car was towed to them. They got the head pulled apart and tested/cleaned and machined from a local bloke. That cost them $285. Once they got the head back they put the new gasket on with the old bolts, so all they did was torque 12 bolts. That cost me $600........and they stuffed it up by not torqueing the bolts correctly. So $600 to undo a head and do it back up, is that cheap?
How many heads on falcons do workshops do? Bet most could do one with there eyes closed, so why is the price so expensive? Parts a really expensive........no. The time it takes? Would be almost classed as a routine service job for mechanics as they have done so many, so shouldnt take that long. So why so Expensive?
Example: Time to get real people.
I do Termidor termite barrier treatments on most 3 bedroom houses for around $3500. Its so expensive because chemicals are expensive, s**t. Termidor used on a standard 3 bedder cost pesties around $700. Insurance? s**t. Pest control insurance aint that expensive.Labour? s**t. I can do one in a day easy by myself. So the local poor bloke who has termites eating his house has to find $3500 or his house falls down just so companies can be paid $2000+ profit for a days labour? Without over exagerating what profit would a local 2-3 mechanic workshop take from a head gasket replacement done for $2000?
I love my Ef Monte and I hope to have it for many years to come, but do I make my family starve or go BADLY without so the car can run? And why do I have to make this decision? The original bloke who posted this topic was on a disable pension, how the f**k can he find $2000+ for a head fix for a car he obviously needs? Why should he?

Amazing, someone who would most likely get there headgasket done at a workplace like where I work And would be extremely happy with the finished result in line with the cost. What a crazy world.

Hey seriously tickford_6, if you're workshop, Where you work and more then likely are still a 4th year That chases the boss' tail around all day, is so f**k awesome why don't you just buy every customer a JMMdev engine. More then likely it'd be cheaper then the job you wanna get from them. Would be much better engine aswell.
That's the smart thing to do. It's the perfect fix, a new engine!