Install cost for heads and cam
Teching In
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 34
Likes: 0
Thats what I was thinking, a local mechanic shop that we use for the company fleet quoted me 600-700 but they are not a specialty shop, and the specialty shop basically said with parts it would be 4 k (now I could get the parts for 1,800 so they want to charge me 2200 for install, sounds way too high).
Thanks
Thanks
My car is in the finishing steps of a cam swap, I sat by and watched my buddy do some of the work. It is quite intimidating, what seemed worst was getting to the cam it self. Then the cam slides right out lol.I would advise you not to do it completely alone, theres a few minor things you could forget that would result in breaking parts. Ask a friend for help.
I had heads, cam,lifters,rods, full intake (Vararam), full exhaust (American Racing), manifold, fuel rails (After market), new injectors, transmission, diff, mounts for the torque tube, catch can, u get the pic 1580 with out tune.
12 Second Club
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 114
Likes: 1
Splurch, i have never done this before either but I will be doing it myself with the help of some friends in a few weeks. I'm just going to buy a manual and check out some write ups and take my time. In the end, you will save ALOTTT of money and have the personal satisfaction that YOU built your car all by yourself. If you dont have tools, either borrow from friends, or hit up sears/store that sells them by you.
TECH Addict
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 2,099
Likes: 3
From: Texas/Afghanistan
yeah my take on it is to just do what u can when u can. i have plenty of tools and equipment to do most things my self but sometimes it just benefits u to have a shop do it. like my cam for example, i had to put my car in the shop to replace the oil pump(something that was a little over my head) so while they are in there they did a cam swap. but before my pump went out i intended on doing it myself. and i still fully intend on doing my heads install, but thats provided that something doesnt come up again. but best case scenario will always be "built not bought".
Hey bro, look into EFI Alchemy in Jax, brand new shop they just opened, very nice and very cool guys, they quoted me around $1600 for install and dyno/street tune, I would be supplying my own parts. Harrison is the owner, they are not a site sponsor, but look for them in the Florida section. Here is their phone number....904-923-3907
Our new shop number is 904 531 9367
Cheers
12 Second Club
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 114
Likes: 1
splurch, as posted a few weeks ago yesterday i just finished my heads/cam install. it was only me and one buddy who have never done anything like that before. i followed the write up on ls1howto and everything turned out great with a just a few set backs. in the end it was well worth saving $1000+ in labor, plus it makes me feel great that i just took apart and rebuilt a large portion of my motor without the help of any mechanics/shops.
im not a mechanic or an expert in anything but the advice "do it yourself its not hard" that i hear all over this board is wrong.
That's actually a really damn good price if the work was done right.
It's easy to sit on the sidelines and criticize shops for what they charge, but some people have no clue how much time goes into doing a good job building/tuning these cars. Sometimes, it takes more time to tune them then it did to build them. A quality experienced tuner is worth their weight in gold. Just beware of the hack jobs, because there's a LOT out there.
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COMP - FAST - PACESETTER - DIAMOND RACING - EAGLE SPECIALTY PRODUCTS - CALLIES - COMETIC GASKETS
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Largest Stocking Distributor of LS-x Engines / CHECK OUT OUR NEW WEBSITE!
COMP - FAST - PACESETTER - DIAMOND RACING - EAGLE SPECIALTY PRODUCTS - CALLIES - COMETIC GASKETS
RAM CLUTCHES - MOSER ENGINEERING - KOOK'S HEADERS - ARP - GM BOLTS AND GASKETS - MSD - NGK
POWERBOND - ASP - AND MORE!
He has a pretty generic (and incorrect) way up setting up your rockers, both stock and on the Yella Terra. Other than that the write up is pretty thorough if you know what you're doing. However, that's not a small discount. Knowing how to set up your valvetrain properly is 75% of the install IMO.
a correct h/c install should include degree of new cam, machine vr if stock pistons, new adj.chain, gaskets, bolts. correctly install and verify new valvetrain, if not using stock rockers.
and new pr, along with tune. document and verify scr and dcr, quench with new gaskets. thats pretty basic and is a hella good deal for 1000-1500$
and new pr, along with tune. document and verify scr and dcr, quench with new gaskets. thats pretty basic and is a hella good deal for 1000-1500$
He has a pretty generic (and incorrect) way up setting up your rockers, both stock and on the Yella Terra. Other than that the write up is pretty thorough if you know what you're doing. However, that's not a small discount. Knowing how to set up your valvetrain properly is 75% of the install IMO.
12 Second Club
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 114
Likes: 1
hmm. hearing this about thr ls1howto doesnt make me feel to good. i just did the install and followed the tq specs for everything including the 22 ft lbs for rocker arms. should i pull the valve covers and retorque them? if so ill be doing so asap
TECH Apprentice
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 359
Likes: 0
From: Hudson florida
Dont go to precision. They dont do good work and will charge you out the ***. They quoted me almost 600 to install headers awhile ago. I had a very good guy do my cam swap for 400. That is dual springs, cam, pushrods, oil pump, and everything. He said for heads it would have only been like 100-200 more.
Last edited by Damian; Aug 14, 2009 at 09:19 PM.
