Hi,

On average how long does it take to rebuild heads including valves and everything else (so they're ready to bolt on as it were)?

I apologise for the simplicity of the question but I am currently getting some heads rebuilt (August) and am still awaiting their completion.

Any information would be great.

Thank you

 

this is entirely depending on the shop and thier workload .ive had two sets done at my local napa machine shop (which is a fairly busy place )and got each set back within 3 or 4 weeks ,and i told them no rush .you should always discuss a time frame with the shop and hold them to it .

 

X2. Took about the same for the last set of BBO heads that I had done. Mag, hot tank, machine for insets and big valves, surface, machine for Teflon seals, and assemble.

 

IMHO, 3-4 weeks is too long. I suppose if you're on good terms with the machinist and you're truly in no rush then that's ok. However; I had my local machinist rebuild a set of Ford 5.4l heads and it took him less than 2 weeks. It didn't need valve guides but they are OHC heads so they were that much more complex than old school Oldsmobile heads.

I suggest going to the machinist to retrieve your heads immediately. They aren't interested in completing the work. A competent machinist wouldn't need more than a day or two to do the actual work. Even if the heads needed everything.

 

My last set of heads were 3-4 days.

 

It's less than a day's worth of work to do a basic refresh of two classic V8 heads. So it's all up to the shop's scheduling. And whether or not they lost anything (it happens....)