My kid took the camera so I don't have any pics yet.
I did not keep track of the time spent on the job, as I have a million other things going on and I would work on it for 2 hours then clean up and work on it another few hours later.
However......, I would guess it took about 6 or 7 hours for disassembly and to get the heads off. I had some delays with the valve stem seals and the machine shop did not work on weekends, so I lost 4 days total waiting for parts and the heads to be finished. I worked about 2 to 3 hours while the heads were out, mostly cleaning the garage and tools and cleaning the intakes and other parts. I also had to drill and tap the exhaust manifold and ran a clean up tool through some threads.
The head job cost me $250 for both, that included a full valve job, hot tanked the heads, new seals and resurfacing. The guy said the heads were in great shape and had been removed before, which I suspected while I was taking everything apart.
Assembly was much easier for me, I like working with clean parts and had studied the manual extensively while waiting for the heads, so I was in good shape for the assembly portion. I will say that the delay over the weekend ended being extremely helpful, it forced me to clean parts and pieces, clean the garage and study the manual. Had I not had that time I think the job would have been more 'rushed' and we all know what happens when you rush. Bad things.
The assembly took me only about 6 hours total, went very smooth with a few exceptions. I would say the biggest pain for this job is without a doubt those 2 head bolts near the firewall, both removing and installing. It really sucks, there is no way around it.
The other biggest pain is the SAI system, and how it attaches to the coils. Seriously, who thought to put that at the very back of the motor? Stupid design, just stupid.
Total cost for the job was:
$250 for cylinder heads machine work
$245 for head gasket kit including head bolts AND new plug wires from Will Tillery.
$150 +- for misc parts to include new spark plugs, oil, filter, coolant and some other stuff.
My math makes that about $650 for everything including head job. The best estimate I got for the job was $2500, and that did not include new plugs and wires. I feel like I saved about $2000 doing the job myself, give or take.
I guess I spent about 20 hours of my time, so really I made out pretty well I think. There is also an intangible benefit to doing this job myself, and that is the overwhelming confidence I now have in repairing my truck. That may not sound like alot, but in this day and age if you can repair your own stuff you save a ton of money, I feel like I could take this thing apart without much worry.
So thats it, I will add some pics and more thoughts as time permits and things come to my mind.
