Head Gasket Upgrade

[Toyotacelicagt4]

Local toyota dealer said if I want to upgrade my head gasket to steel ( st 185 ) I will need to buy a head gasket kit ( forget the actuall name) as most of these will be worn and should be replaced and some will likely break on dis-assembly. The price they quoted was $300 which seems like alot but then again I dont know exactly what gaskets he is reffering to. Can anybody help me out what I reeally need is the specifics gaskets he is reffering to so i can look elsewhere and hopefully find a better price.

[led-gt4]

i think the st205 steel 1 fits but a hole needs to be drilled or something. I got mine for 35 quid i think. that was from toyota. if they are talkin about a gasket kit they are prob talkin about all gaskets and not just the head.

fensport do head gaskets as do tcb parts

[Jones~32]

you can get either a full engine gasket kit and a gasket kit for the head only. that price sounds like it is for the full engine gasket kit. cometic do an aftermarket metal headgasket for the 185 ;)

[4afte]

apparently you can use the ST205 (metal head gasket as standard) straight into a ST185.

I'm doing an engine rebuild at present (on a budget) and i'm throwing in some Wossner pistons but most importantly i'm upgrading the REV 2 block (st185) head gasket to a REV3 (ST205) head gasket

[Toyotacelicagt4]

Ya It's not the head gasket itself Im talking about already got a 1.1mm cometic with arp studs lined up. But what im saying is at toyota they told me in order to upgrade the head gasket they are ripping apart most of the head of the car and most likely alot if not all gaskets will need to be replaced(they called it a valvegrind). They wanted like $300CAD which seems insane for a gasket kit. anyone know where i can find a cheaper kit?

[4afte]

i'd try eBay, but a valve grind? that will require a full head gasket set; valve seals, head gasket inlet mani and exhaust header gaskets, etc.

300.00 CAD = 153.614 GBP

so it's about right a HG set over here (for a REV 2) is about £120 from toyota

[dawesy]

it may be that they are overhauling the head whilst its off, re seating the valves and cleaning the ports etc (wise move) the price sounds right although if you are supplying the gasket and studs may be a little expensive

[Toyotacelicagt4]

Ya its gonna be about $500 just for parts and then labour because the gasket and studs will be $200 and the valve grind kit is another $300 does that seem right? and at least i know what itll cost now something to save up for... plus they are saying "if you pull the head apart you disturb something else and cause more problems" ill just leave it for now dont like the sounds of that

[GTForbes]

it just sounds like they have never done one before to me, probably scarred as they'll read the tech book saying it's an engine out job. it's not really, just a pain to do with the engine in

[GT4-D]

Just re-building mine mate. got a head gasket kit from the Gasket Shop on e-bay £40, most of the gaskets in it for the top of the engine including valve stem seals. then i got a MLS metal head gasket (Cometic) from GTSchris who specializes in mr2's.He sells them on e-bay or visit his web site, that was £100. Then i bought some better quality stem seals form somewhere else £25 as i was'nt 100% satisfied with the others, after all i dont want to be doing that job again in 6 months time, or toyota sell them for £5 EACH!!!!! Thats it job done.

Hope that helps B)