XR8 Lamah

Hey all,

Just wondering what sort of money ppl have paid to have a new set of heads installed in their V8 falcon ?

For *labour only*, I'm being quoted around 11hrs or $700+

To my mind this seems a little high ? ( or am i simplifying the job heaps ? afaik its just unbolting a lot of crap, swapping heads, bolting it up again and doing some alignment)

If its normal, I'm definitely going to crack out the tools and do the work myself, I'd rather send the $700 towards a new exhaust system or something . . .

xr8_sprint

you have to drain the coolant
take off the upper manifold
remove injection gear
unbolt the headers
remove the lower manifold
take off the heads

reverse the process.

It's not difficult, just very time consuming. 11 hours wouldnt sound "too extreme", i'd expect to pay no more than $50 an hour labour at a mechanics which would be $550?

Just a thought.

Shane

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1981 XD Ex-Interceptor - 393C, AFD 4Vs, Methanol Injection, Powerglide

1994 ED XR8 Sprint - 347W, 5-speed, 3.9s


http://hi-performance.net

EDXR8

That seems about right, it doesn't really take that long for a mechanic to do, but that's what they will charge you for anyway. Do it yourself, it's not hard at all, just time consuming. Give yourself a whole weekend to do it and save yourself some money.

XR8 Lamah

Okies . . sounds like that's the plan now. . .
Queens Birthday long weekend . . . here i come !

Thanks guys

Anyone reckon apart from gaskets, leads, plugs and inevitable coolant, should i need any other new parts to fit the gt-40-p's to the EL ? ( no additional timing chain tension crap or anything ? )
One of the places quoting was trying to sell me a "rvs" or "nvs" kit or something . . . and i have nfi what they were talking about . . .

EDXR8

You will need a set of head bolts because you cannot re-use the stock head bolts. Get a good set of ARP bolts (PN 154-3601) which should set you back about $90. Unless you are doing a cam swap as well, you want need to touch the timing chain. If you are putting the tickford 220/250kw GT40-P's on may need some spacers for the rockers to get the proper lifter pre-load. Otherwise it is just time and gaskets.

B-1B

Also, when you replace the headbolts make sure that you get the headbolt that the negative battery lead connects to!It is located directly behind the alternater.
Roller rockers are the only other thing that you may consider.

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addo

The parts guys were talking about a "VRS" - Valve Regrind (gasket) SET. Buy a name brand that will suit your heads... and pay attention to the word "Front". Strange as it may seem, gasket arse-abouts are fairly common; first sign is overheating. For torque-to-yield bolts, a good torque wrench is advised (there's $300-plus), and ideally some prior experience on this type application.

If the mechanics screw up, the labour should be warranted. If you screw up, where's the guarantee? Not all their money is net profit. Also, I would never count on achieving 100% productivity on a public holiday - need one Ford-only part, and you're shagged.

FWIW, I distrust factory timing sets after about 40 000k's and would always go a Rollmaster or JP and dial the cam.

Out of curiosity - these heads are rated better (in public opinion) than the World Products jobbies, aren't they?

Adam.

Heritage

Don't buy a VRS Set, get a Head Set.
The only difference is the VRS has valve stem seals and the Head set doesn't, but the head set is cheaper and you dont need the valve stem seals. :)

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XR8 Lamah

Ahh . . . VRS . . . heh . . . it popped into my head last night that i meant vrs instead of nvs . .

Thanks for managing to decode my brain :)

I've got all the tools ( dad used to be a bike mechanic ), and have done a rebuild on my poor old golf previously . . but it was much MUCH less scary looking (1 head, no injection and you could pretty much stand in the engine bay with the motor )

Its mostly the possibility of having to fool around with timing that had me worried (I have this phobia of f***ing the cam timing/adjustment up) - but I read up in the workshop manual over the weekend whats needed to be done. It's all fairly straight forward ( much more so than I expected ).

I'm optimistic ( until proven wrong :) ) that it shouldn't be too much hassle, so I'll steam ahead and give it a bash in the next couple of weeks - thanks guys for the advice and suggestions :)