How much does a machinist or mechanic charge to rebuild or fixtwo 289 ford Cylinder Heads.
i took of the cylinder heads off the car already they worked fine they just have never been touched(rebuild) since the car was first bought.
I need some estimates from you guys that have some experience i do not want to get ripped off.
i would appreciate your help.

 

Depends on what it needs. Could be as little as a few hundred, could be as much as $1,000.

 

I rather just get some new edelbrock heads if the price goesabove $400.

 

I had mine port matched , polished, new valve springs installes ( igot them from summit with my cam) and new retainers. they also had to replace my intake valves because mine were worn really thin on the edges. I paid$525 FOR THE WHOLE ENCHELADA.

The kicker,you can buy new aluminum heads minus rockers for about $1k. it seems like a lot but it will take you to a whole nother levelin performance. If i had it to do again i would have paid and got the new buggers.

Aluminum heads can be worth as much as 80hp.

Not even c;ose to the best performing stock (worked) heads

 

If its over 400.00 get aftermarket heads, and that would include hardened valve seats as well. Unless it is a concorse show car aftermarket heads will give more power, longivety, less octane requirement, did I say more power, I'll say it again more power, again more power and usually better milage and with todays prices that is worth every penny.

 

So what you trying to say is you would of gone and bought the new ones from the beginning.
i might end up doing just that if thats the case.

 

Yeah, you can get Edelbrock heads for around $1000 for s pair, and they are way better than any stock head. The advantages definately outweigh the disadvantages, and for the money there is really no replacement for a good set of aluminum heads.

 

As others have suggested/recommended, a good set of aftermarket heads will probably be just a little more expensive than rebuilding your existing ones.

Rebuilding cylinder heads is not difficult, but it is fairly labor intensive. Unless you have a rare set of performance heads, it's usually cheaper to replace rather than repair.

The cylinder head will have to be disassembled, hot tanked and inspected/magnafluxed for cracks. The deck surface will need to be measured and probably machined flat/surfaced. The valve guides will need to be removed and new ones pressed in. The valve seats should be cut-out and replaced with hardened seats. Then the new seats will need to be cut, usually with a basic 3 angle cut. The valves will then need to be fitted to each guide, measured and possibly cut. Once all of the machine work is completed, the heads are re-assembled. It sounds like a lot of work, but once you get going it does't take too long.

I used to help out in a machine shop. It seemed that the machinists were always jumping from one job to another, but I'd venture to guess that it would probably take a good 8-10 hours to completely rebuild a set of heads. 10 hours times $75 and hour = $750, plus valve guides, seats, springs, keepers, and any valves that had to be replaced.

I highly encourage you younger guys (or anyone for that matter) to talk to your local machine shop owner about pushing a broom around the shop a few hours a week or on Saturdays. You can learn an incredible amount about engine re-building in a very short period of time. That, and you'd be surprised how many people drop off their engines/cranks/heads and never show up to pick them up when they hear about the bill. The shop owner will sit on these parts for a while, but eventually "clean up" day comes and these parts get thrown in the scrap metal bin to be sold for their weight. You can get some really good deals.

Dave

 

hm^ now theres an idea. ive got a fair amount of free time on my hands these days on fridays... i might have to look into this