Well, I got my cylinder head back from the shop. Good news: it's not cracked. Bad news: valve seals and seats need replacing, and the shop I took the head to wants $370 to fix it. Unfortunately, the shop I took it to is a half hour from my house, and their customer service is TERRIBLE. I prefer my local shop because I can drop in on them, but they don't do any work on heads. Bummer. So, my options are to let the shop with the bad customer service fix it for $370, buy a remanufactured head complete with new seals and seats for $380, or put in seals and seats myself. I'm looking into doing the latter option since if I screw it up I'm not losing any more money by starting over and buying a new one, but I stand to save around $250 by trying to do it myself along with the "added learning bonus." From my instructions, valve seals look easy. However, since I haven't started into the project, I need to know if my engine has integral cast valve seats or separate ones. Since I don't have alot of machining stuff, I'd rather not tackle integral seats. MY engine is a Ford 200 inline six, and it's in a1972 Comet. Thanks for any help you can provide!
Seals are relatively easy, seats are not. I'd leave the seats to a good shop. I would buy the reman head for $380, it will be ready to bolt on with a resurfaced deck, new seals, seats if required, and new or reground valves. Should have a limited warranty, too. Sometimes it's better to just bite the bullet and spend the money and make sure it's right instead of pinching pennies and hoping for the best....
Ditto, buy the remanufactured head, and if your still into doing the work yourself atleast you'll have a running car. Plus if you do it right, youll have an extra head.
The seats are integral to the head casting. To install hardened seats you need a mill to cut the old seats out and to size the hole for new seats to be pressed in. Like has already been said - its a job for a competent machinist and a well equipped shop.
