i just got home from test driving an 89 Formula (305 TPI) with my dad. It was in excellent condition, but the single mechanical flaw that my dad (an ex-pontiac mechanic from the 80's) found was that upon startup, the smallest bit of blue smoke puffed out of the exhaust pipes. Now the car has 90k miles and is excellent shape otherwise, but id like to know how much a GOOD mechanic would cost to replace the valve seals. My dad has all the tools to do it, but not the air compressers, so he says that if we get the car, it will need to be taken to a shop. The parts apparently are very cheap, its the labor however that is fairly expensive. can anyone give me an estimate as to how much somethng like this would cost???

thank you.

 

You could rent an air compressor for the short time it takes, or you could forget about the air compressor entirely and use a piece of nylon rope.

 

Really? hmmm.. How much would it cost to rent an air compresser, and where would you rent one at?

anyone who knows how much a GOOD shop would charge, please let me know...im still interested in hearing about that.

 

You don't need any huge compressor just to fill the cylinders with air to keep the valves up, something small and portable like they use for air-nailers would be fine. Open up the yellow pages under Rentals, or try your local tool stores, or maybe even Home Depot.

According to GM, it takes 3.6 hours to do the right bank, 2.5 hours to do the left, or 5.7 hours to do both, adding 0.7 hours if you have A/C. Multiply by your typical local labour rates and add parts and shop fees to see how much it would cost.

 

ok... Now if we were to rent an air compressor, would we be able to do this inside the garage, or does this require alot of space to do?

 

well if you do it outside there shouldn't be any question about space. as for doing it inside your garage and having enough room to move around i'd have to see your garage.

 

Its not a complicated job, you don't need a lot of room. As long as you can keep track ofyour tools and parts and walk around the car, you're fine. The hardest part about it will be holding the valves up. With an air compressor you have to be able to maneuver into the plug hole, and with nylon rope, you have to shove a loty of rope in the cyl.

Would it be possible to rotate the engine just a bit each time and do one cylinder at a time and just let the valve drop and hit the top of the piston if its at TDC? How much space is there exactly? I would think that may be possible..

 

Well we have a regular 2 car garage. One bay is filled with a 03 4runner which can (obviously) be taken out...however approx. 1/2-1/3 of the second bay is filled with our 2 lawnmowers and a snowblower.

 

Yes,

This is how I do it...when a piston is at TDC.

 

a mack6, I just had the seals installed by I mechanic I know. It was for 305 tbi 92 RS. location NC. valve stem seals $24, labor $342. The bad thing was it smoked 3 times as bad as it had been. No exageratiion either. I pulled the valve covers and found oil puddling in the far corners of the heads. I found the oil passage in both corners. I picked and dug out dried, slugged oil, managed to push small wire through the holes that I guess drain back to crankcase. Anyway, did both sides, the passanger side oil galleys were so packed no oil could even pass through. Put it back together and no SMOKE!!!!! It be worth checking and alot cheaper. the car has 102,000 miles and ran well with the smoking.