If you were near Houston I'd do it for 2.5k. Machine shop prices have gone up around here for sure!

 

SouthWest Rovers in ABQ did my D1 heads valve guides timing chain and oil pump for about $2,100 a few years ago - I supplied the parts - they did the machine work at their shop

$7K sounds extreme IMO

 

BraziliaNut, does your truck have SAI (secondary air injection)? The job is less complicated without it.

 

I hear you but finding the time/space is better than paying out the nose or even worse letting it go with a blown head gasket for next to nothing.

Once it’s back on the road and the the repair you have done yourself is in the rear view you will have spent $1k +\-.

 

I agree with all the above, it’s not that difficult to DIY, but I also know that sometimes life is just too busy to add another job.

 

by the time you get everything in order, clean all the parts, repaint coolant tubes and valve covers, etc, you can figure on 20 hours the first time you do the job.

 

I have a good friend who is a long time Land Rover tech. He’s indicated to me that many people (including himself) are hesitant to do HG’s on a Disco because the likelihood of their being a deeper issue (cracked block/ slipped sleeve etc) can be high at this point. So if he charges $3-4k for HG’s and then the truck is back with similar issues a few weeks later you have a very upset owner and a worthless truck. And it looks like it’s the shops fault when it isn’t.

So, IMO, the $7k price is likely to accommodate for that potential. They’d make enough at that price to handle the backlash of a bigger issue potentially. Just one possibility.

But, on the flip side of the coin, he could do Disco HG’s in probably 5 hours total labor time. He’s told me going rate at his shop is 10 hours at $155/hr. He said the quickest he’s gotten them off is under an hour - back in the day he used to do HG’s at the dealer so often they’d bill the customer 10 labor hours and he could do it in half that and make a bunch of money just churning through Disco HG’s.

 

I just did another set and it still took me 3.5 to get them off. I think he might be exaggerating a little.

 

For my own Rover(s) I don't mind going deep into projects.

If I were doing it for a customer and had to stand behind it, completely different story.

I took out 24x,xxx mile 4.0 out of the 1999. Had a slipped sleeve. Zero issues other than the sleeve taps at about 160/170 degrees.

Ran flawlessly. Over the past year I had to replace the heater core twice. The second one was new, the first one was out of my sub 85,xxx mile 2003 parts rover. Both weeping out end tanks. Also had to replace the coolant tank due to the lower nipple breaking off.

Fast-forward a year or so of daily driving with no more noticable leaks and the slipped liner block gets pinned and installed with low mile 4.6 rotating assembly and cam. All new bearings, rings, lifters, oil pump, the works. The little lady loves it. She is smooth, quiet like a sewing machine and much more powerful. Apparently will hit 90 on 285/70/16 tires...she's insane. It was lucky to hit 80 with a tail wind before the swap...still insane.

Ran great about 6 weeks when I noticed a drip from the plastic adapter below the alternator while swapping a wheel bearing.

Install a metal one and back on the road.

Got a phone call about an over heat. After exam I found the slipped liner had developed a crack in the block behind said liner. After a few minutes of running she's pressurize the system and push past the cap.

Despite not seeing any signs of coolant in that cylinder during the 4.0/4.6 rebuild I suspect my issues of blown heater cores and old brittle plastics were an indication of a slight crack or porous block that was beginning to cause an issue. She was was essentially a ticking time bomb.

If this were a customer's rig they wouldn't understand this was something no one could predict without proper equipment to both pressure test and heat the block. Something only a hand full of shops have. The customer would bad mouth me to everyone on social media and a 1 star google review. They would want a refund or demand I replace the motor out of my pocket. Even if the customer is understanding this is part of disco ownership they'd still demand some sort of compensation. So I understand why they priced it at an I don't wanna touch it price.

If they were Rover specialists and had a yard of junkers, the price would likely be much more friendly, they have good used parts for when something goes wrong they won't break the bank.

Leaks behind the liners on pre 03 bocks are rare but they do show up often enough to always be concerned.

 

hah, I am sure it's exaggerated...