Hey I'm getting a port and polished cylinder head for my 06 MCS and i was quoted about 20 hours of labor at $95 hr. Seems way overpriced. Does anyone know of a shop in SoCal, preferably San Diego, who will do a head swap for a good price? Thanks

 

I am going under the assumption that the 20hrs labor is in reference to the porting of the head AND the install ?

randy

 

No the head will already be ported and polished with the new cam already installed in it. So its just the head swap. Mechanic said he would have to remove the engine to do it.

 

I would RUN not walk from that shop . Our local shop would do it for $ 750 and no more than a day and a half . He is up here in the L.A area though. Johnnies Auto Clinic in San Pedro is the closest shop to you that I know personally but I am sure that there are others that know of a reputable shop in your area. My advice is to keep looking .

Randy

 

A+ on that info

 

Most shops that "specialize" in a certain manufacturer wii work with you because they rely on that brands owners. Here's how it works. A typical shop bills on "flat rate" basis, which is generated by a "book" or "manual" of hours to charge for a particular job. This fig multiplied by the shop's labor rate (95 in this case) gets the price to you. Shops don't usually like the big jobs because they will make more money on the shorter faster jobs. Most mechanics can beat flat rate so they can bill more flat rate hrs in a week than actual hrs they actually work. They can usually bill 50-60 hrs in a week. Now here you come with a big job and if they're a fairly busy shop they aren't going to want to tie that tech up on a job that could be a potential problematic time consuming affair that only pays 20 hrs. So, they shoot you a big price and if you bite they have enough hrs added in to cover the tech not being able to make flat rate on the job. Then there's the dilemma of what book or manual are they busing? Factory manual, Chilton manual etc etc all will give different times for the same job. So, try and find a shop that specializes in Mini Coopers and relys on Mini customers for their livelihood.

 

Great explanation For the OP why don't you check out www.scmm.org which is our So Cal mini club. There are quite a few San Diego members and you could put up a post and ask for some local knowledge.

Randy
M7 Tuning

 

When thought my 2003 MC had a head gasket leak (turns out I didn't), I asked my MINI-friendly shop how much labour
to swap to a ported and polished head and replace the cylinder head gasket, they told me about 10 hours.
This is a shop that has experience and training on repairing MINIs.

 

Just as a reference, Helix does the install for $500 (coolant and head gasket not included), Mini Corsa does it for $1,100 (coolant and gasket included). So that pretty much looks like your range. $1,900 is way too much money, shop around and let us know what you find

 

+1 to go somewhere else. You don't need to remove the engine for a head swap; it's right on top.