Labor cost for removing/reinstalling Heads

[monnieh]

I am getting ready to pull my heads and send them to Greg Good. I need to purchase some belanger headers and am getting some T&D's 1.7's. I have a budget and need to find out how much the labor will be. Can you give me some ideas on what it should cost? I live in D/FW area (Colleyville)

[99 R/T 10]

It would be my best guess that it will cost around $1K for labor. Make sure to get it in writing.

[Viper Specialty]

Roughly 6-8 hours to pull heads, 8-10 to install, depending on what needs to be adjusted (roller rockers, pushrods, etc) Anyone who does it much faster than that is cutting corners and not using a torque wrench in all places. Obviously if you have multiple techs, it will go wuicker, but I am a firm believer of 1 man, 1 engine. I have seen WAAY to many engines that when taken apart, it is dead obvious two guys did the assembly.

1500 is not unreasonable at all for a head swap, rocker install and an exhaust install... in fact, I would say its at the low end. Exhausts arent always a peice of cake and you can easily sink 8 hours+ into an install if you run into issues with fitment, which certainly does happen.

[JohnnyBravo]

I think Daniel is pretty much spot on. I was told almost the exact same thing: About 8 hours to get them off, and 8 hours to reinstall them. Not sure what shop time is in Dallas, but I'm sure it's at least $80-100/hour. So figure somewhere around $1,500-1,700 for all of the work (including headers and rockers). Don't forget to figure in the cost of the gaskets! Those suckers aren't cheap. The little things can add up pretty quickly.

[SEASNAKE]

That's way to much time for the heads (If you're only doing heads that is). No thermostat change, cam, etc.? With a decent set of air tools and a lift, the heads can be off and reinstalled in less than 6 hours. Assuming the tech is familiar with Vipers...

The headers can indeed be more of a hastle. Can the tech weld and do they have welding equipment in house? Headers are much easier to get in place when the heads are off! 8 Hours is not unreasonable to get the headers installed.

[GTSnake]

I paid around $500 for the head gaskets from a dealer I've since learned that they can be gotten for less. But talk about sticker shock when I first saw the bill.

[2001 GTS]

It cost me $950 to take the heads off and put back on, install 1.7RRs, and B&B headers

[UNRATLD]

monnieh,

For the sake of your happiness and your Viper's future reliability, TAKE IT TO AN ESTABLISHED VIPER TUNER.

Unfortunately, I don't know any Viper tuners in Texas aside from Hennethief, so I can't recommend one, but I'm sure board members will know one in your area.

Doug Levin does *all* my work, and I couldn't be happier. When the 'official' Viper tech at the local Dodge dealership couldn't figure out how to open the hood for an oil change (I'm not kidding) I fled in horror.

No one touches the car now except Doug.

I also have Greg Good heads, installed by Doug and oh man... you are gonna be REAL happy when you get them on

[plumcrazy]

id say $1000-1200 is fair. not much more though

[jk]

Give Keith Laxson a call, I am sure he can give you an estimate over the phone. His shop is in Lewisville and is a supporter of the North Texas Viper Club.
972-434-5800 or 214-674-9340

[Jack B]

Originally Posted by SEASNAKE

That's way to much time for the heads (If you're only doing heads that is). No thermostat change, cam, etc.? With a decent set of air tools and a lift, the heads can be off and reinstalled in less than 6 hours. Assuming the tech is familiar with Vipers...

The headers can indeed be more of a hastle. Can the tech weld and do they have welding equipment in house? Headers are much easier to get in place when the heads are off! 8 Hours is not unreasonable to get the headers installed.

Dan may have been a bit high on the hours - but I sure would prefer a car done his way versus your six hours to completion. I have done it multiple times, have a lift and have air tools and there is no way to do a GOOD job from off-to-on in six hours.

[Viper Specialty]

Originally Posted by Jack B

Dan may have been a bit high on the hours - but I sure would prefer a car done his way versus your six hours to completion. I have done it multiple times, have a lift and have air tools and there is no way to do a GOOD job from off-to-on in six hours.

Perhaps my idea of "quality" is different than SEASNAKE, but Jack nailed it, there is NO WAY to do a head swap up to my or Jack's standards in that amount of time. MAYBE 7-9 hours total w/two techs that know exactly what they are doing, one on each side... but I posted above what I think of 2-tech engine builds.

Yes, I will take longer doing a car than a dealer or hack tuners, but I also charge less per hour in most cases, so it evens out anyway- but do you think they are going to take the time to get all the old gasket material off? check over everything? clean the head bolt threads? clean the cylinders and piston tops off? torque EVERYTHING to spec? replace worn clips/bolts? and actually take care not to break or scratch something that you cant even see? (yeah, dealers dont give a crap if they scratch the frame or something... *I* do)

PS- I would fire any guy who came through here and used an air tool during an engine build... ANYWHERE. I dont even use air tools for 90% of engine disassembly. Air tools break and scratch more things than they fix. Save them for getting suspension and drivetrain apart, where you can easily replace the fastener and nut if (when) the air tools rip it to shreads.

I stand by my rough times and our slogan- "Perfection. That is out only requirement."

My advice is to take the car somewhere that knows Vipers and prides themselves on quality, not price or time. I would also avoid any shop that pays its techs book time, as then they WILL be rushing your car along in most cases... even if the book is dead on at 8 hours, they get paid the same whether it takes 4, 6 or 8 hours... rushing? you bet.

Its your car, its your decision.

[hardtop]

Final GTS is right it takes time just in prep work.Cleaning out threads and cleaning off gasket material is very time consuming.

[Jack B]

Originally Posted by hardtop

Final GTS is right it takes time just in prep work.Cleaning out threads and cleaning off gasket material is very time consuming.

Lets add setting the rockers, since most are going to go with after market roller rockers or what about the fuel connector or electrical connector that is stuck. I just changed heads and added studs, every threaded hole had to be re-tapped - the factory bolts tore up the aluminum threads. The studs sound easy, but, that alone was a four hour job. Like Dan said, just cleaning the piston tops could take a couple of hours and you wouldn't typically t get a viper tech (no offense Tatar) to go to that length.

[Camfab]

I spent over 4 hours cleaning and vacuuming out the piston tops. It's almost embarrasing to admit how many hours I've put into my head and cam swap, of course I pulled the motor though.