8 to 10 hrs labor to change '225' head gasket ?????

[66plyValiant]

like others have said he has probably done it before and ran into broken studs and is accounting for that

slants are an absolute pain to take the intake and manifold off when rusted

 

[Dartnut]

This makes me wonder why the gasket blew in the first place......
I'm sure you could get another (good) slant 6 and have it installed for about the same money. A lot of people are practically giving them away these days.
Then i would get a fsm and tear the old one apart and rebuild it, then you know what you've got. It would be a great learning experience for you as well.
In my opinion, if you are going to have an older car, you better learn how to work on it yourself or you will pay huge amounts of money to keep it on the road paying mechanics for everything it needs now and then.
Most mechanics these days wouldn't even know how to do the job without a fsm in front of them, so you are paying them to learn to work on your car as well.

 

[Dartis]

I agree with 'pishta' it's the age of DIY

 

[dusterny]

Yup not rocket science DIY and a /6 is a good place to learn. Spend the same money on some tools IMHO.

 

[YY1]

This makes me wonder why the gasket blew in the first place......
I'm sure you could get another (good) slant 6 and have it installed for about the same money. A lot of people are practically giving them away these days.
Then i would get a fsm and tear the old one apart and rebuild it, then you know what you've got. It would be a great learning experience for you as well.
In my opinion, if you are going to have an older car, you better learn how to work on it yourself or you will pay huge amounts of money to keep it on the road paying mechanics for everything it needs now and then.
Most mechanics these days wouldn't even know how to do the job without a fsm in front of them, so you are paying them to learn to work on your car as well.

That's what I would do, as a "plan B"- save the money, put out feelers for a good running engine, buy a torque wrench, and tear into the existing one.