About how much could I expect to pay to have machine work done on a set of L98 heads to make them like new and also a mild port job?

 

Welcome to thirdgen.org.

IMO, by the time you pay to have yours rebuilt, do some upgrades like springs and rocker..then pay for porting, you're well on the way (if not exceeding) aftermarket heads that are at least as good out of the box.

Figure about 250-300 worth of machine work with new guides or inserts and new seats, add cost for new springs.

Then call around for porting prices..pretty soon you'll see you have 600-1000 depending on how much port work is done and what other mods to the heads you may want (larger valves, etc.)

 

Its gonna eb expensive depending on how much stuff they need, but I'd bet by time you're done you could have some new heads...

 

Thanks for the tip

 

Yeah, paying someone to port stock heads went way out of fashion over the years. It's just not cost effective. For a few dollars more you could have a new aftermarket casting that flows better than a ported stocker out of the box and with more room to grow.

 

I've never seen anyone talk about this topic, now I see why.

 

Actually, any machine work on stock heads is almost pointless. Besides some other set-backs, i'm still mulling over this dillemma myself. You see, i have a cam ready to stab in my car, but i don't feel like chancing the new lift on the stock pull-out studs. But by the time i pull my heads and get them machined for screw in studs and maybe some other work like letting them set up the springs, guides, etc, i could just buy a set of barely used AL L98 heads ready to go for seriously not much more, maybe $100 extra total. And i'm not even talking about getting them ported.

But then again, i really don't think i want aluminum heads. At least not on this engine which i never intend on making go fast enough to want the extra hassles/worry.

 

You can get a set of fully assembled, ready to bolt on Pro Topline iron heads for ~$700 brand new, which claim to be the best flowing iron heads on the market. You can also match your intake runner, combustion chamber size, valve springs and intake valve diameter to the motor you're building when ordering these heads. I ported, polished and did the bowls & short side radius myself on my L98 iron heads when doing the (first!) build and I wound up spending more than half the cost of Pro Topline heads on new valve guides, 3-angle valve job, setting up spring height, etc. and was never satisfied with the results I got. I also did a lot of porting to the base intake, SLP runners, plenum, added 52mm TB, headers, etc. at the same time. Did the car run better? Hell yes. Did it run as good as I expected? Definitely not. I would NOT go this route again. Especially if I was not willing to do the porting work myself. I had a top notch engine builder tell me the Topline heads would outperform my fully ported Sportsman II heads right out of the box, which I thought was very impressive. He recommends these heads almost exclusively and says there is not a better value for dollars/performance. Heads and cam is where all the performance potential lies in a motor, you just have to feed enough air to get there (induction) then proper tuning. Good luck.

 

not to turn it into a classisied ad, but I have a pair of L98 heads that were ported and re-cut less than 500 miles ago I am looking to dump. I have about 650 in them, which is what 8mike9 was guessing at. They have all the LT4 hardware too, cuz I was using the hot cam, so they are good to 550 lift. PM message me if you are interested, I am looking for 400, they're brand new.