Head work

[Cobain03]

whats normal to be done when sending heads off to be "freshened up" ?

i got prices form the people who may be doing my block: 3 angle valve job is 50 a head, 7 angle compition valve job is 75. milling is 25 a head.

 

[Edbert]

"Normal" is a highly subjective term but I think you have already identified much of it. Only other things I'd add to that would be replacing all the valvetrain, springs/valves/retainers. They'll usually hot-tank them and clean them up too. Milling them just insures a good seal on the head gasket unless they plan to take a bunch off in which case you can see a compression ratio increase. The 7 angle is a waste of money for a mild DD in my opinion.

If you want to increase the performance you can have larger valves installed, choose stainless steel valves, have the press-in studs replaced with screw-in ones and have guide plates installed. Also the chamber can be cleaned up and unshrouded a little, then have the ports gasket-matched, the exhaust port could use a little porting too, it is notoriously small on factory 289 heads.

 

[Dark Knight]

He cant run guide plates, has the early heads with the narrow slot built in..

Odds are that if the heads have never been rebuilt, it will need some new valves and springs for sure.. if you plan on running something other than the stock cam, now is the time to get the matching valve springs

 

[Edbert]

I thought only K-code heads had that "slot".

?????

 

[LMan]

Not just K-code heads. Other early heads with the non-rail rockers are narrow-slot, later rail-rocker heads have the large hole. The rails maintain alignment in those cases.

 

[milner351]

Those are good prices.
Buy new springs that match your cam for sure.

You may need a valve guide or two which will be a few more bucks bot not much.

If you plan on doing any port work, do it before you send the heads in to be machined.

It's a good idea to have the compression face ground just enough to clean it up and make it flat, which usually is not very expensive. Good insurance.