No offense meant dude. Just found it strange, regardless of prior knowledge of the bill, that you were willing to fork out the money and then waiver on spending $70ish for a new fan clutch regardless of wanting to see the inside. And waiting a week? I got mine from Amazon Prime in two days.
I guess another curious question that people are wondering, and I will take the shot on asking, is what all did they do for $1500 to your head? I had mine redone in January of this year, decked both surfaces, cleaned up valves, replaced one valve seat, replaced all valve guides with OEM that I provided, replaced studs with OEM that I provided and even had my manifolds surface done, and that was less than $200 after it being hot tanked and magnafluxed to ensure it was still good.
Well, stop beating me up for not buying a new fan clutch... Based on my judgement, I have my overheating problem solved in less than 24 hours...
What is the typical shop rate in your area ?
I usually make sound decisions when it comes to buying new or rebuilding, as well as choosing machining /rebuilding shops. Mostly, its driven by the need to retain originality, since I restore cars as a hobby...
I purchase most of my after market stuff at Rock or on Amazon, unless they have to be OEM parts. Sometimes I go OEM NOS (New old stock), in which case, time is not the driver. (I do not have Amazon Prime)
In the case of the fan clutch, it was originality first, time 2nd and cost 3rd.
My other cars ('72 Datsun 240 Z, '82 Mercedes 300CD , '76 Toyota Celica Liftback and '67 Porsche 912-all mint, low mileage cars).
The Land Cruiser is the first and last high mileage, non-running car I will buy...) I also get parts from other sources, too (Pelican Parts, Stoddard, Sierra Madre for Porsche and Mercedes)
Most of the orders from Rock take at least 1 week to get to Santa Rosa, Ca. Amazon w/o Prime shipping is not much better.
The fastest shipping I get regularly from Pelican or Sierra Madre for my Porsche or Mercedes parts. The Japanese car parts are generally from Rock, Partsgeek. Or OEM parts, when available.
Rock some times ships from 2 or more different warehouses. If I need the parts fast, I pay for 2nd day delivery, mostly an additional $25 or so, depending on weight.
As to the extreme head rebuild cost, I admit I screwed-up. Did not do my Due Diligence. I do not know too many local machine shops, since I am fairly new in the area, having moved here from Michigan 5 years ago. I knew every good, specialty shop there... The shops I do know had a long leed time of 2 months or more...
I chose the shop to rebuild my head, because it was recommended to me by the previous owner, who was the original owner. And also, because this shop does NOTHING but Land cruisers, and for more than 30 years.. Who better knows Land Cruiser heads, I thought.
Sure, I was shocked when I got the bill. He said the head needed a lot of work, new seats, re-machining and bushing of Valve stem bores and of course, new valves.
All other parts were re-used (springs etc) He invoiced me for 10 hours labor at 140/hour plus parts.
$140/hour labor rate is not un common in my area. Less than 100/hour is unheard of. Dealers charge 160 to 180/hour.
In the future I will get an estimate, as I did from the machine shop, that did the engine block work, as well as the cam shaft, crank shaft machine shops. I guess i was too trusting with the head shop... Lesson learned...
