my77stang

a) ahittz, 140 is a damn good price. something tells me they are using stones on the seats (was the norm until the 90's) and i gotta wonder what kind of resurfacer they use (the large belt sander type are horrible). oh yeah, and nobody replaces the retainers unless your going heavy duty springs. most shops dont even install spring shims ( .060 is the norm when they do, but with carbide cutters and valve grinding - the valves are only getting sunk maybe .010 or .015, and with .060's and ANY bigger cam you risk coil bind)

b) a "good" valve job can pick up a couple ponies, but only if the heads didnt have a 3 angle cut to begin with. i'd say virtually all heads machined at the factory in the past 20 or 30 years have what would be considered a 3 angle valve job anyways, so in these cases your just touching the seats to make sure the valve will seal. however, when i cut seats i would always cut them a tad wider, which would open certain heads up enough to give a hp increase (however small it may be).

for illustration purposes cause some of you may not really understand whats going on here ( and i dont blame you ) i spent entirely too long in MS paint making this diagram showing what exactly a 3 angle valve job is, and how you can open up the seats while still using the original sized valves.