How much $$ for resurface?

kotu100

Active Member
Nov 23, 2006
1,899
0
36
Easton, Ma
how much did you guys spend on getting your head block resurfaced? is this something that can be done w/o stripping the block? i got quoted $250 for the block and $180 for the head. seems kinda high for me.
 

Tanya

Supramania Contributor
Aug 15, 2005
1,851
1
0
43
Naples, FL
Wow, that's retarded. I was quoted $60 to mill my 5M head in Florida, and $40 to do it here in Wa.
 

pimptrizkit

thread killer
Dec 22, 2005
1,572
0
0
vancouver Wa
40-45 for the head or the block is what i pay, a surface is a surface to my machiniest..

altough, it pays not to be lazy and do the tear down your self, if you bring it in and drop it off with out removing every thing it raises the cost.

on the head every thing but the valves need to be removed ( ask your machine shop for best info)

and the block need's to be stripped.

no crank, rods or pistons, you need to remove all the freeze plug's and pull the rear main seal, also pull the timming covers and backing plate off, the backing plate need's to go with the motor to the machine shop to be surfaced along with the block so the head gasket fits right,

there is also a freeze plug behind the timming cover.

i would pay to have the freeze plugs done by the shop, while reinstalled atleast. the one behind the timming cover is a dish shaped style that need's to be smashed into place by hitting the center and concaving the disk


there is no way to surface your block with ever thing still in it because it must be cleaned after surfacing , and most hot tank's will eat the bearings right out..



hope this helps, shop around even the smallest towns have more then 1 machine shop..
 

monkihead

driven to thrill
Jul 23, 2005
93
0
0
texas
i paid 250 for head surfacing and stainless o-ring installed. just to have a surfacing job for 250 on the head is eye gouging.
 

kotu100

Active Member
Nov 23, 2006
1,899
0
36
Easton, Ma
yea i knew it sounded high, im gonna keep shopping around but i wanna make sure im not gonna bring it to a shop thats gonna do a shitty job on it. oh and the $250 for the block is with me stripping it down...
 

89turborunner

New Member
Dec 18, 2007
36
0
0
39
oregon
kotu100 said:
yea i knew it sounded high, im gonna keep shopping around but i wanna make sure im not gonna bring it to a shop thats gonna do a shitty job on it. oh and the $250 for the block is with me stripping it down...

I paid like 180 or so for my head surface, crank polish/inspection, block surface, block inspection, and hot tank treatment. Surfaces were done to better than 10 RA. There was only 2 or 3 machine shops in my town though... might make prices higher.

those quotes are ludacris. find another place.
 

cuel

Supramania Contributor
Jan 8, 2007
1,536
0
0
Baytown, Texas
You sure that's not having the head rebuilt? They're cleaning, resurfacing, and doing a valve job on mine for $280. Maybe clean and prep for the block, with all new freeze plugs, could run that much. Not sure though, haven't had mine done yet.
 

kotu100

Active Member
Nov 23, 2006
1,899
0
36
Easton, Ma
yea its only for a resurface, and he said they get it to about 19 RA which doesnt seem too good to me. im gonna keep shopping around even if i have to drive up to 2 hours to find a good shop, im not skimping out on this engine. thanks for the advice guys!!!
 

a_sesshoumaru

Suprita
Jan 7, 2007
455
0
0
El Salvador
i am getting my head resurfaced, the engine block bored to fit my ross pistons and resurfaced, i got my crankshaft cut .010, balanced, etc, etc for 167 USD dollars, :biglaugh: but i live in El Salvador.:naughty:
 

TheRemedy

Sweeping the Streets
Nov 7, 2006
62
0
0
PA
Dont forget they sometimes straighten it as much as possible before they mill it...im sure not all shops do this..so the ones who do its worth something..
 

pimptrizkit

thread killer
Dec 22, 2005
1,572
0
0
vancouver Wa
yep!

another good question to ask!

from what i've been told if the head is warped past limits it should be straitend in an oven/heating kelm/bath before it's milled of find a head that is not so far out of tolerences.

what happens is the cam jurnals become out of line, or distorted in that matter. so the cam doesn't spin smoothly and so on.


if all the head bolts came out alright and weren't stuck then you should have a savagble head and so long as it's not cracked..



i could see 280 for a head rebuild. ..
 

kotu100

Active Member
Nov 23, 2006
1,899
0
36
Easton, Ma
pimptrizkit said:
yep!

another good question to ask!

from what i've been told if the head is warped past limits it should be straitend in an oven/heating kelm/bath before it's milled of find a head that is not so far out of tolerences.

what happens is the cam jurnals become out of line, or distorted in that matter. so the cam doesn't spin smoothly and so on.


if all the head bolts came out alright and weren't stuck then you should have a savagble head and so long as it's not cracked..



i could see 280 for a head rebuild. ..
yea the head bolts on the intake side were pretty damn tight, i had to use a breaker bar to get em out. but there was no bhg, so im guessing they cant be TOO bad. some pics of the engine in the build thread, you can still see the crosshatch in the cylinder walls. http://www.supramania.com/forums/showthread.php?t=60927
 

pimptrizkit

thread killer
Dec 22, 2005
1,572
0
0
vancouver Wa
more so what i meant is when the head is off or in process if you cant remove the bolts from the head..

i have a head in the shed that has 6 head bolts stuck in the head and 1 has a broken allen in it from the preivous owner..
 

kotu100

Active Member
Nov 23, 2006
1,899
0
36
Easton, Ma
oohh, no all the bolts are loose in the head.
do you guys only bring it to a machine shop that specializes in toyota, or engines in specific, or just any machine shop? i musta called 12 places yesterday and only 1 could do it, which is what i got quoted for.
 

TheNewRed

New Member
Oct 19, 2007
572
0
0
36
WA
kotu100 said:
oohh, no all the bolts are loose in the head.
do you guys only bring it to a machine shop that specializes in toyota, or engines in specific, or just any machine shop? i musta called 12 places yesterday and only 1 could do it, which is what i got quoted for.
WOW, my local NAPA machine shop did my old 420A head for $20... and that shit was warped pretty bad.
 

kotu100

Active Member
Nov 23, 2006
1,899
0
36
Easton, Ma
well i found a place that will resurface and clean the block and head for $250. looks like thats where im goin. its the only place left around the area that still does engine work.
 

Motofool

New Member
Oct 16, 2007
42
0
0
39
Spokane WA
there are many different levels of engine machine work, with a Small business license I can go down town Spokane WA and get a complete 4 cylinder motor machined, cleaned, assembled with my parts for 200$ head rebuild is 125$ or I can go to a personal friends machine shop that does top notch work and spend 1500$ on the same items just in labor and machine work. Most cheap machine shops will not guarantee a RA on their surfaces some will even give you the deer staring into head lights look when you ask about it. In fact until I starting playing with high HP turbo imports I never even asked or cared about RA on the head gasket surface, just had the head/block decked and put it together.

In fact that very shop I talked about being cheap earlier machines their heads with a glorified belt sander. Try putting an mls head gasket on that one with 20lbs of boost see what happens.

Every market is different so if no machine shop in the area wants to touch import stuff then they can basically charge whatever they want.

You may want to ask the machine shop how they are verifying the RA of the machined surface. If they don’t have an answer involving a digital profilometer I would question their ability to hold up to their claims.

Another thing to watch out for most aluminum heads won’t survive a hot tank they have to be put in aluminum cleaner.

If I was going to be building a motor myself which I will again I would have no problem spending 250$ on machine work for my bottom end to ensure that grease monkey knob turner Joe won’t be machining my block.

I have had a friend low budget college kid have a motor in this case v8 351 Windsor machined for the provided parts and when we went to put it together it was nowhere near the proper tolerances and at that point with the internal parts already bought we ended up hunting for a new block and a new machine shop.
 

kotu100

Active Member
Nov 23, 2006
1,899
0
36
Easton, Ma
some great adivice there, thanks a lot. ill be definitly asking a lot more questions when i go down there. i have about 3 years experience in the machining field so most of the technobabble is understandable to me, i know enough to know when they're dickin me around and when they're not.