Head gasket issues gen1 time to upgrade!!

[mralbuquerque]

It looks like my headgaskets have finally began to fail. With that said I might as well get the heads ported along with a ported intake and change the cam.

The problem is getting the work done at a reasonable price. I live in Albuquerque NM. The dealer is wanting to charge about 28hours in labor as they said they have to remove the motor to install a new cam.

The dealer charges $99 per hour.

Any recommendations????

 

[JonB]

$99/hr is consistent w/ hourlies around USA......but Id check with Chuck {'dont call me Spud'} TATOR to see what the "REAL" hourly should be.....sounds about 13 hours high to me for just head gaskets. Guessing Chuck has done a hundred or so, and could probably do head gaskets in 12-15 hours......with his eyes closed. TATOR GARAGE.... NY 914 763 3136.

Can you get to LA? 1 Day Drive or Ship? Gaskets just damp? DAN CRAGIN at DCPerf would be a great option 310 841 6996. He can do the headwork and cam for sure.

-IF- the 28 hours INCLUDES the headwork and intake porting-polish, that is a deal. Not many dealers are capable of that.

Cam CAN be changed in the car...pulled radiator, heads off, mounts disconnected...but its sure easier on a stand.

PS: Enthusiast: If a NM Club member, you'ld have EZ access to their forum, members and vendors.

 

[TexasPettey]

If you are mechanically inclined and have a good bit of time, you can do the work. The motor does not need to come out.

I just did my Gen1 with heads and a CAM from Greg Good. I haven't dyno'd yet, but I will in Jan. I'll post the results then along with all the mods I did to get there.

I would think that $2K to $2.5K for labor is not out of reasonable if you are having it done. If they do pull the motor, it's an excellent time to clean up the entire engine bay. That would be a plus.

 

[redtanrt10]

Call Eddie Martin at Bill Luke Dodge in PHX, great viper tech and not too far from you