sethj78

Does this sound right...I will end up paying just over $1000 maybe $1100 for machine work on 455 heads...JUST MACHINE WORK, I had them put big intake valves in (I bought the valves) and hard exhaust seats, valve guilds, they ported 1 intake and 1 exhaust port to show me what to do, and they milled all the surfaces, I will assemble them because I want them back before I buy valve springs so I can figure out what I can and cannot use. Am I behind on money value, or a dumbass????

Lady72nRob71

For both heads, it sounds right. Machine work is costly. If the MACHINIST is good, then it sounds even more right.
I was quoted over 1000 for a rebuild / valve job / milling of a single Ford 2.3L head over 8 years ago!

rustyroger

I agree with Rob, if you want a good job it won't come cheap and you are paying for the machinists time and expertise.

Ported heads with enlarged valve seats take time.

If your machinist is good you are being charged a fair price IMO.

Roger.

sethj78

I could have bought a set ported and ready to install for around $800 and edelbrocks for $1600...the last engine I did they charged less than $500 for same stuff but over 8 yrs ago and I still have to buy springs and retainers. $775 was the cost on the lower end, CK10 bore, balanced and blueprinted, rebuild the rods, new rod bolts, turn crank........my butt hurts now, I could have put maybe $100 more into the heads and had aluminum.............................B!!!!!S!!!!!!

sethj78

I don't mind paying for good work but I called a machinest that was recommended buy some one on this forum and he told me he would do everything for less than $1000 and I ported 14 of the ports, I brazed up center exhaust ports and I will assemble them then I have about $200 in stainless swirl polished valves, probably another $200 - $400 in springs and retainers...maybe I'm just pissed that I am spending $1600 on iron heads

So you want to buy Ga heads with fresh machine work, fully ported to mondellos specs, 2.07 intake valves, braised exhaust center divider or trade for some aluminum heads???

oldcutlass

Back in the 70's a 1967 Cutlass cost about $500, now the same car in lesser condition $5000, I don't see your point. Did you not ask what the job will cost prior??

sethj78

I know all about porting, it took me the better part of a year to finish them and send back to machine shop and they really didn't port to much just enough in one cylinder to get me started

sethj78

They wouldn't tell me because they needed to do such and such first, so I just figured a good shop would do all and ship to me for a $1000 or less so these guys would be less because they did a lot less.


They guys do excellent work, I'm not at all questioning there work .... But let me ask you this... Would you spend $1600 on iron heads??

Lady72nRob71

I like iron heads! On the bright side, they keep the car more original.

sethj78

originality went out the window when the 455 was fitted in a 1978 Buick Regal, I would have loved to drop some front end weight!! I have headers and aluminum intake which helps but aluminum heads and aluminum hood are all that is left unless I want a fiberglass flip front end, head weight probably will not effect anything I will do with the car but Damn it they look cooler!!

oldcutlass

lol, sounds like cool project either way!

MDchanic

Sounds like there was a miscommunication here.

You believed they'd do the job for less than $1,000.
They perhaps believed the $999.99 was what you meant.

How much did they actually quote you?

- Eric

Oldsmaniac

Last year it was a G for a set of C heads, all new valves, hot tank, core plugs, magnaflux, resurface 2 sides, new guides, set valve stem heights, grind the seats, grey primer finish. I assembled the heads myself and provided the stem seals and springs and retainers and locks.

sethj78

No quote, I've been dealing with them for many yrs and was just super shocked at the price, I figured head work would be less than block,crank,rod,piston work. I just had no idea that it would be even close to $1000, if I would have had a price for everything and added it all up I would have considered buying the edelbrock heads. I have always been satisfied with thier work, the last personal engine they did for me was bored to match each piston (only pistons available at the time for a buick 350 were all different sizes by 2-3 thousands) every clearance was almost perfect. they did the heads on that engine for $400 maybe, I have already given them $800 or more so no turning back but used iron heads so I wouldn't have to spend $1600 on the top end! I may get it together and be happy about the money I spent but still have to come up with the last $200 to pay them off so have to decide what to sell to get them back

sethj78

Were these your heads you took to a shop or bought them finished?

455man

Wow. Makes them aluminum heads look good. I was thinking about putting larger valves in my heads when I get them done since i already have the larger valves but maybe I'll sell what I have and go with aluminum instead.

sethj78

Yea just looked and found summit has them for $699 for one bare edelbrock and $849 for an assembled. Not sure if I should punch or kick myself

Oldsmaniac

My heads that I took for a valve job.

68442CONVERTCO

I think head work just costs more due to the manual labor involved.

Here is my bill for a 351W for my 1969 Cougar.

10/2007 Heads: new valves,seats,guides, resurface, etc. $590.

10/2011 Block: New, pistons, recon. rods,bore,hone,deck,grind crank,new hi-po cam and chain, new bearings, partial vlv job, assemble short block. $1625

I thought the short block would be around $2500. Most of the block work is set up and let the machine go. The heads are still more grind and fit thing.

He now has my 455, and has already told me to prepare for some sticker shop as Oldsmobile parts are a lot more.

sethj78

Okay so I'm not getting screwed i guess and would have had to put the edelbrocks in lay-a-way or something so just kinda shocked.
Thanks fellas I will put some pics up when I sell enough blood to bond them out, I have pics of most of the engine and new stuff that went in it up somewhere

Oldsmaniac

I was surprised as well when the machine shop hit me with the bill.....funny I just had the block and crank done etc and when it came to the heads he wanted a deposit first? I thought wtf but hey business is business. It seemed to me as well I got away cheap with the other machine work.

Rickman48

Guess you missed my post on the new aluminium heads from Bernie Mondello - Complete w/manifold for $1150!
Sorry!

507OLDS

Sounds right to me.It all adds up,including all the nickel & dime stuff. By the time you clean,check,machine,valve job,install seats & guides,and do a little blending,no porting,you will be easily at $1,000.00. Just the porting for my F-heads,no other work,was $2200.00.
Yes,most iron heads are cheap to buy as cores,but all the work to make them what you need,will leave the final cost close or more than an aftermarket set of aluminum heads.One way or another,it will cost "X" amount of dollars.
If the car is not number-matching,or you are not concerned with originality,then I would go aftermarket.Get an updated head design,and save some weight.If you are doing a concours resto,or some type of sleeper,and want the stock iron heads,then go that route.
It will cost more to get a set of iron heads to outperform a nice set of aftermarket heads,no matter what.

Insom

Don't the edelbrock heads need costly machine work out of the box to gain the performance advantage over the stock large valve iron heads?

f-85

Keep in mind too. That a ported set of iron heads should outflow the stock Edelbrocks or The clone head.

507OLDS

Barely.A fully ported pair of iron heads will/can outflow a pair of Edelbrocks out of the box,but barely.Been there done that.You will have at least twice as much in the irons to get them there.It's what I wanted though.I,myself,would not run the Edelbrocks or the copies straight from the box.I would order them bare,do some finish work to them,and install my own valves & springs.

Bill in NC

My Ga heads are fully ported, large valve, milled, guides, seats, fluxed, blah, blah, blah.
They came in at roughly $1,600 w/o springs & retainers.

cutlassefi

But don't forget, apples to apples the Edlebrocks offer a better combustion chamber and the fact that they're aluminum also allows you to raise your compression ratio.

I'd always opt for the Ebrocks unless it's an all original build.

firefrost gold

cutlassefi do you do port work yourself ? If so do you do it all by hand or Bridgeport mill for any of it ? Don't take this wrong but do you send all
parts out and then re assemble them at your home or shop? Im sure form
seeing your post you have some time in on cams and such but how many builds have you done and what would you charge to port and set up a set of heads?

cutlassefi

I do assembly and such at my shop. I can and do some bowl blending and I have the equipment to assemble the heads and check spring heights etc.
However all of the valve jobs and any major port work I have done by Champion Race Heads in Palatka Fl. He does great work and has been around for years. He and I will discuss the usage for that particular build, the cam etc and go from there.

In the last couple of years I've done 4 builds, 3 Olds, I Chevy. My next one is a 455 Pontiac. Hope this helps.

BIGJERR

The set of C heads on my car were all done up with port work and big valves and for sale for $1000........Took off the gasket matched E's bolted them on and picked up 4 tenths in ET..........I paid $1200 for my brocks and had $1600 worth of work done to them at Rocket Racing.....Did all the good stuff,The resold my stock stuff to help offset the cost.....Now if I could just get them on a car......grrrrrrr

Bill in NC

I was just letting the OP know he was in the right ballpark on money spent for what he wanted done to his heads.

firefrost gold

Mark , Yes it does can you make any money on it or is it more of a past time seems alot of guys selling stuff are either breaking even or using cheap *** parts.

cutlassefi

It's basically a past time, but I'm careful as to which parts I sell. I don't recall having sold anything I haven't used myself. That's why I limit who's products I sell and am a dealer for.

coppercutlass

rocket racing did my heads it cost 1100 dollars. they put in new big valves, new springs i mean everything new., milled them down .024 and he did some bowl work that seemed like a good deal to me . he also did a bone stock rebuild where everything was good. He just replaced the seals and guides and milled them a few thousanths that ran 380 dollars and that was a few years back. when you add bigger valve springs, bigger valves it adds up fast

SBORule

I have about $400 in my hogged out #6 heads but alot of my time was spent doing most of the work myself.

Went from running 12.99 @ 103.44 mph best to 12.59 @ 106.?? mph with my home ported heads. But I can't say all that improvement was from just the heads, I also added a seriously modified intake and better carb.

I only took the car to the track about 5 times and I know I could get some 12.40s out of it if I keep tuning and working with tire pressure.

I know someone who was making right at 740 horsepower with ported F heads, try that with stock Edelbrock heads. lol

MaxDog

Can you paint aluminum heads with the Olds gold to make them look stock?

firefrost gold

Yes you can you can powder coat them also. one of the inline brothers
had a olds with edelbrock heads that he had done to look stock put casting dates and codes on them even. I talked to him but he wasnt willing to give
any more info other than what the article said about it .

bccan

Scroll down thread, there are some pics of my engine w/ painted Ebrocks & intake, not well suited to what you wanted to see but arguably better than nuthin. Unfortunately the good pics are before painting.

http://www.oldspower.com/vb/showthread.php?t=58763

Texas Jim

All in all, I wouldn't complain if the work was done correctly and the heads flow the way they should. It is a pretty cool thing that you have some cast heads, especially on a 455 Olds, that breathe super well and w/ your engine's combo, make great HP and Torque. The original cast heads that flow like that are few, and that car you have should run like heck. I'd feel great about having factory heads that make that kind of power, like I said, considering how they flow straight from the factory. Anytime you get good machine work like that, you should feel good about it. Money is just something that we all have to make and spend. The great flowing factory Olds heads, priceless, and I mean that...