2002 head rebuild

Subject: 2002 head rebuild
From: ausdal@domain.elided
Date: Wed, 16 Nov 94 0:12:59 EST
Someone asked (again) if a price of $500 was fair for a 2002 stock re
build of their cylinder head, exchange.

Well, yes and no, that depends on the tiredness of the parts.
You will need:
	Rocker shafts
	Rocker arms (especially w/new cam)
	Valve guides
	Gasket set
	Cam gear

and of course the machine work for the head includes:
	Level checking, possibly milling for flatness
	Pressure checking for cracks
	Cleanup
	Valve grind
	Installation of guides (by heating and pressing in) 
which may be a coupla hundred, so that price may be reasonable for
a long-lasting, reliable rebuild.  It's likely you'll get another
150K out of that work.

	You don't race it, you say, but you have some smoke.  
A cheap alternative is to simply have the valve stem seals replaced
but, well, you get what you pay for:  if your valve guides are worn,
you'll be losing some power, which will get worse over time.  It's
a tradeoff: are you willing to save $200 now and end up spending it
all over again fifty or a hundred thousand miles later? 

					thi v.