Labor Time estimates

Hello Everyone. I'm gonna get some heads,cam and intake. I dont have the resources to do it myself. I was just wondering if anyone could give me a ballpark on the hours involved. I'm pretty much lookin for hour estimates on anything on the car. It's a 94 GT aode convert. I want to see what is worth doing myself and what I can have done by my local mechanic. Thanks :)
 
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I'd say barring no interuptions pulling off the intake, heads and removing the cam is about 6-8 hours. Then cleaning up the gasket surface areas and reinstallation about another 6-8 hours. This is IF all goes well. I broke a intake bolt and had to run to the local hardware store to get a new one. Luckily the bolt broke off on the old head that I was replacing so no big deal. Little stuff like that can add up though.
 
bimmertech said:
i would charge about 14.0 to do h/c/i and since my shop charges $126 an hour i would say to learn how to do it yourself, you save money and get the satisfaction of doing it yourself.

$126 an hour?!?!?!? Do you guys work with gold tools and serve meals for the customers as they wait? :shrug:

Most places will charge around $800-1000 to install heads and a cam. I say buy a $200 set of craftsman tools and do it yourself. It is quite easy once you learn.
 
S/CBlack95GT said:
$126 an hour?!?!?!? Do you guys work with gold tools and serve meals for the customers as they wait? :shrug:

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

no we're just a dealership, i think the porshe dealer across the street charges $148. and trust me we as techs don't see all that, if we did my sig would include a ford gt!
 
its worth it to pay a friend some money/beer whatever to come help you for a weekend.

with a second person, the job isint too bad. by yourself it isint a fun project but should be about 20 hours of work for a first time job. that is taking your time, making sure all surfaces are clean, making sure you use all the right torque specs/patterns, marking vacuum lines you wont remember, ect.

shop will probably charge 1500 or so. i was quoted 1200 for just heads and a cam before i did it myself.
 
bimmertech said:
we're the only BMW dealer in KC and just won 2004 center of excellence for our size dealer. i just moved here from NW florida and we charged 98, much smaller area with poorer econ. anyway i'm glad i fix my own ****!

NW Florida blows!!! I come from central Illinois and even there I never saw such run down ghetto living conditions.
 
ok makes sence. being in the bay area i thought we had one of the higher labor rates besides places like ny. I used to live in san diego and our labor rate was around 80-90 an hour but the cost of living was way up there. People are always compaining of how much our rate is. seeing there expressions when u tell them they need pads and rotors all around and its going to cost aprox 1000 bucks is interesting.