2G How much for a head gasket and timing belt job

[BoostKrazy]

Ok, so i decided im gonna be running a much bigger turbo then stock on my engine, i have all supporting mods atm but want everything perfect before i just slap a huge turbo on my block.. so im ordering a timing belt kit (with bs eliminator) and arp's and a oem HG from extremepsi.. total bill on parts is $668 so far.. how much will a shop or dealer charge to do all this work at once? Car has 130k on it (not sure on maintenance from previous owner but i know it probably was not good because ive had many problems with this car so far and he seemed like a shit head).

 

[bryanwheat]

A dealership would probably charge you anywhere from 1500 to 2000 to change a head gasket and instal timing components. They however will not usually install parts that you bring in. They will almost every time require that they buy the parts and they install them to oem specs, so they likely wouldn't even install the arm head studs for you. If you find a random shop to do it (hopefully they are experienced with these cars or it probably won't turn out well) than you are probably looking at 600-1500 depending on the shop.

 

[crand]

do some studying and maybe find a few other dsmers in the area and see who they use/trust...

 

[3kgt2nv]

I would find a local dsm guy that knows his stuff and throw him some cash before you take it to a dealership.

i think a hg job flat rate is 12 hours so at current labor rates your looking at 1000-1200 just for the hg. and like mentioned some dealerships will not use parts that are not oem

 

[Arthris]

Have you considered doing it urself? I dove right into my car not knowing what to do or reading up how to do it. But ive worked on cars for a while. The VFAQ is amazing in describing what to do. Ive never used anything special to do anything on my car other than a Torque wrench. If you familiarize yourself on the steps to do it and have the correct tools I would see if there is a local dsm'r to help out. Maybe entice with food and beer(if ## of age at-least) Some will come to help just to help out. Its also a great way to know more about ## car and if youre confident in what you did you will know it was done right(or at least as far as you know) And instead of playing the blame game if something went wrong you can say that it was either ## mess up or something else unforeseen happened.