GTJim

I have a 2009 Z06 with less than 1000 miles on it and I absolutely love the car. With the low miles I have on my car I've been putting off getting any thing done to rectify the valve wear issue. Now that my warranty has expired or will be expiring, I think it's time to do some preventive maintenance and get the heads done so I don't have any issues down the road. I'm looking to see what forum members have paid out of pocket to have the heads fixed and eliminate the valve wear problem.

Thanks in advance

djfury05

$2000 or so for headwork alone WCCH stg 2 heads. Then add gaskets, bolts, fluids and labor if your not doing it yourself.

Vito.A

It does really make a big difference if you can do the work yourself. If you don't feel confident, maybe you can get someone in your area to lend a hand. Take a look at West Coast Cylinder Heads online price list for LS7 heads. Also give Kole a call at American Heritage. Both have great reputations and will do exceptional work.


The other decision you need to make is do I just R&R the heads, or do I install a cam and headers. The headers are a no-brainer as they fall right into place when the heads are off. Changing the cam is an extra couple of hours, but still much easier with the heads off. You can also think about adding a C5R timing chain, upgraded valve springs, and possibly different lifters.


You should also study the various options for exhaust valves so you can make an educated decision on them.


After saying all this, do you really drive the car enough to justify this expenditure in time and money? But, maybe a cam and headers will make you fall in love with the car again and make it worth it.

Mr. Jean

"IF" your not going to be tracking it or really driving it much, you may want to pay to have them checked now, before the warranty expires.
So if found bad, they repair it and you save some cash.
Then consider a GMPP deal, it's your call of course. Good luck.

Racingswh

3500 for refreshed heads only including labor after you get back the core charge.

I paid around 10k for ported w/ Moldstar 90 guides heads, cam, link bar Lunati lifters, headers, CAI, dyno tune, engine mounts and labor for complete assembly. Labor was cheaper than the cost of the time it would take for me to do it and I am confident that it was done better/more accurately than I could do myself.

All depends on what you want the car to do when it's finished. For yours I would get the heads done and continue to enjoy the car once in awhile like you do now.

Unreal

900 and up.

dmuellenberg

Not sure how you can do it for $900 unless you do almost everything yourself. I would say $2000 and up if you send the heads out to someone like WCCH or AH.

Unreal

900 was wcch doing valves and guides and doing labor yourself. Friend did his for 880. No port work or performance parts. Guides, valve job, valves, cleaning. The rest that people pay is for performance. Wcch bill was 750ish, then rest in gaskets and fluids. You can spend less than 1000 or 10k depending on what you do.

GTJim

I'm not looking to do a cam or headers, just getting the heads done so I don't have to worry about dropping a valve is enough. I might get them ported/polished for a little extra HP but that's about it.

GTJim

I looked at the Katech heads and they were over $3000.00 a piece. Wish I had the money but unfortunately I don't.

dmuellenberg

I suppose if all you do is valves and guides you can get by that cheap. I had WCCH do my heads and I went with their recommendation on what should be done to the heads (I just wanted reliability, not more performance) and that meant SS valves and bronze guides and dual springs. Add in shipping and costs for parts needed (like gaskets and fluids) and my bill was closer to $2000.

Racingswh

I imagine your car is gorgeous.

One thing more power requires usually is a tune. For that you will need HP Tuners or EFI Live adding further to the cost. Dyno will be $500 and the program 1k I think. Mine came with the car so I don't know the price, purely guessing.

If you left the refresh completely stock theoretically you could reassemble it and go with no tune. I personally wouldn't do it without a tune and obviously that adds to the cost.

Bill Dearborn

With less than a thousand miles on the engine there is little chance the guides are worn badly. Even if they were outside the service tolerance when the heads were assembled they wouldn't be worn all that much. To get a dropped valve the clearances would have to be huge (much larger than .0037). I wouldn't worry about it now.
When you get around 12K miles in 60 or so years have the heads checked then. If you are really worried have them checked in 30 years when you reach 6K miles.

Bill

RamAir972003

BILL Really smh I've seen them wore out at 2300...

psp6158

You have a very reputable shop in your area... friend of mine had work done there and you won't find many (if any) negative comments. Horse Power Addicts, Forum vendor

GTJim

I understand what Bill is saying but I've read about cars with low miles dropping valves too. It's a gamble and not one I'm sure I want to take.

GTJim

Yup, one place I will be calling. Them and RPM.

RamAir972003

Yes but misleading people is what he is doing on here and that's not right that's why I started threads on this with Darin Morgan especially he doesn't know about this issue he still thinks its not real, and only few cars are exempt. I'm just tired of hearing well its not a problem or you dont have enough miles on car for them to wear, again its all wrong I'm just tired of the wrong information given to people who dont know. I have done 4 sets of heads sold two have an extra at home, all of those heads had less that 10k on them except mine I have on now they had 62k when replaced.

Midnight

Wow I see some pretty high prices in this thread, a lot of which is unnecessary. There should be a reputable shop in your area that will treat you fair on labor. Ferrea Valves, ARP Bolts and Head Gaskets will cost your 500. Machining your heads will cost 500 to 1000. You don't need re-ported heads even with a cam unless you just have to have 600 rwhp which you already said you aren't doing a cam.

Bill Dearborn

Remember the idea behind fixing worn guides is to avoid valve drops. GM says they are worn if they are over .0037 clearance, however, valves don't drop due to clearance issues until they are much more worn that that.

Have you ever heard of a valve dropping at that low a mileage? Guides being worn is one thing valves actually dropping is another. Even if they were worn out the day the engine was built he really doesn't have to worry for a very long time. At the rate he is putting on mileage 2300 miles will be about 12 years from now.

When a low mile car is that old the last thing you want to do is open the engine to fix any problem. The only thing to do with it then is to run the engine just enough to drive the car on and off the trailer at car shows and auctions. There are a lot of other things that can happen to an engine that is that old with that few miles and the car has moved from a driver to a potential collectable status at that age.

Bill