Needing to have a Head Gasket replaced on turbo car

[Xtrempickup]

I bought a car as a few month back with it known to be leaking coolant under boost and its was easy to see it was leaking out. i bought the parts. the shop by me says its a 10 hr job, would cost 700$ not including the parts as im bringing my own. is that fair? it seems it to me

[roachjuice]

Good lawd dats a lot of money!

[Xtrempickup]

i guess it is, but i was thinking it could be worse. no time or garage or local guys available to help me

[wheming]

8v car??
In all honesty, I don't want to do stuff like that anymore. But I did, and it wasn't too bad if you aren't in a hurry. I have no lift or garage space, but at least I have a concrete driveway.
If you break it up over a couple days so you don't burn out, it helps.
But the kicker is getting someone to help for 5 minutes to lift the head off, and then for another 5 whenever you're ready to lower it back on.

You just need to figure if it is worth the 700 to not have to mess with it. And then you need to worry if you are going to get a $700 lift&slide, or if everything is actually getting cleaned up and prepped good and any crud that falls in the cylinders is getting sucked out before it goes back together.

[trannybuster]

700....in no way would I pay that but Im sure those are the rates nowadays.

[Xtrempickup]

16v car, i dont want a mess, its getting a cometic hg

[wheming]

Well, frankly that would scare me too! ;)
8v's are much simpler for sure.

[trannybuster]

Understandable.

[cordes]

I'd charge more than that.

[GLHNSLHT2]

don't you need to have the head and deck prepped for a cometic to a certain RA #? Basically you're rebuilding the engine at that point though. There's no way I'd let a shop touch one of my 16v setups.

[Xtrempickup]

same shop did mine last time with a cometic and a friend did my last rebuild with a cometic also without going crazy and both have held no problems at all as long as they were clean and the head and block were both straight

[Khajjathefang]

What part of nj?

[jcronk23]

What part of nj?

I Second that question.

This guy is in the tri-state area and is relatively decent with these cars :thumb: Ask for Brian Slowe!

Autotime Service Center
3554 Emerald St
Philadelphia, PA 19134
Neighborhood: Kensington
(215) 535-7780

[DCTZ]

What kind of engine? 2.2 / 2.4 ?

I am also in NNE NJ. Last north exit on the GSPW.

Also know a couple of guys in the area which have done this a few times closer to the PIP.

[Xtrempickup]

im in northern nj, bergen county. its a TIII spirit r/t motor. Philly is just too out of the way as i have a trans that also has to get to brian slowe except i dont have 2 1/2 hrs to drive down there and drop it off and wait until it can be done and drive back maybe a week later best case scenario.

[Tempted]

That's a lot but what concerns me is the question of how much experience they have on the motors. The Masi and Lotus heads are so uncommon that most shops have never seen one. I wouldn't let a shop turn a wrench on my 16v cars. Its better to know how to do it anyway, and better to know what was done rather than taking someone's word on it.

[Khajjathefang]

I Second that question.

This guy is in the tri-state area and is relatively decent with these cars :thumb: Ask for Brian Slowe!

Autotime Service Center
3554 Emerald St
Philadelphia, PA 19134
Neighborhood: Kensington
(215) 535-7780

Right where I was going with this, :nod:


im in northern nj, bergen county. its a TIII spirit r/t motor. Philly is just too out of the way as i have a trans that also has to get to brian slowe except i dont have 2 1/2 hrs to drive down there and drop it off and wait until it can be done and drive back maybe a week later best case scenario.

If you need a spot to temporarily park ---- im a literal 10 minutes out of philly


"relatively decent" :p

[Xtrempickup]

That's a lot but what concerns me is the question of how much experience they have on the motors. The Masi and Lotus heads are so uncommon that most shops have never seen one. I wouldn't let a shop turn a wrench on my 16v cars. Its better to know how to do it anyway, and better to know what was done rather than taking someone's word on it.


he has done them before, he has personally done my daytona iroc r/ts head gasket before. i trust the guy because he has stoood behind his work and even replaced a timing belt on the motor 1 years later because i only put 500 miles on it and it was it tore the teeth off of one day probably because he tensioned it too tight the time he did the belt with the head gasket. i guess that says something about not completely knowing this motor but at least the head gasket he did withstood 408 whp/and 442 ft lbs torque on the dyno with probly 27lbs of boost.

[jcronk23]

"relatively decent" :p

I was trying subtlety, which I am not normally known for.... How's this?

http://i208.photobucket.com/albums/bb217/jcronk23/pistons/3987642924.jpg

[turbovanman²]

$700 is more then fair, considering the head will need to be stripped down to get cleaned and machined etc, I'd charge more. Trouble is, most TM'ers live in the not real world, lol, you don't realize shops have OVERHEAD, doing it in your backyard or yourself is not the same.

[Xtrempickup]

i think i can get around the shop. MR Overkill said he could use the money and would be willing to do it

[Mr overkill]

Yup i got the car now and to be frank 700.00 LABOR ONLY for a 16v is not high if it was a 8v then i woulg agree but you all 16v are a diffierent animal.

hopfully after this weekend the bmw will be gone an the mercedes( finally running just have to get it to idle at spec) then the sprit will be next in line

[turbovanman²]

16 valve isn't that much harder, in fact, I prefer my TIII setup over my old 8 valve setup for R @ R's.