My '76 needs new valve seals, you know, embarrassing smoke when starting . My question is :  What should I expect to pay for this type of repair??  I live in upper Michigan and need some member input so  I don't get taken to the cleaners.  

Well...this all depends on what you do..if you replace just the valve seals with the heads still on the car it doesn't cost much at all..couple hours labor and seals are cheap...kinda band aid fix but will work for a good while if the guides are ok...if you want or the guides need done then your looking at head removal...then there's 2 ways to have it done...knurle the guides oversize or replace with bronze..also..might want to put the bigger valves in it too...this really comes down to how much you're willing to spend at the machine shop...for this price call around and find out what machine shops charge...don't rule out the little guy who builds race engines too...can find some great machinists that way...one word of cation though..if your engine has a bunch of miles on it you may want to just do the seals and be done with it...having the heads done can blow out the rings...meaning more smoke all the time...it really comes down to the condition of the motor as it sits now..or how much money you got!! I know this doesn't hit on how much..but knowing options of repair can give you the info you need to get solid quotes in your area.

I'll second what Rich says about an all new top end possibly causing more problems than it solves.  When my wife and I were dating she had a little Acura Integra that broke a timing belt.  Since it was an interference engine all the intake valves got bent and we had to have the head completely rebuilt with a valve job.  The like new top end caused blow-by past the rings and we started burning oil like crazy - had to add a quart every time we filled up.  Ended up trading that car in pretty quick after that.  I think new seals would be the way to go unless you're looking at least new rings but probably a full rebuild.  

I just had mine done,and it made a world of difference....no more smoke.The shop that did mine said what Rich about about just rebuilding the top half.Here in Maryland it cost me $200.00 for the seals to be done.

I'm trying to wrap my widdle pea-brain around something here...
How can knurling, or replacing the valve guides cause more cylinder pressure? Knurling, or replacing the guides should have no effect on the compression....or am I missing sumptin here?
True, doing a complete valve job on a worn head can cause problems for the ring sealing on a worn/"experienced" engine, but I'm not getting the deal with just replacing/knurling the guides.
Not tryin to be a jerk or anything...just trying to figure it out. I ain't done any major engine work in years so....

I'm with ya bud..what I was getting at if you deck the heads and put new valves in with new or machined seats..I'm not really a fan of knurling the guides either but thats just me..if the seals were just replaced and thats it there would be no change in compression of course...other thing too if the guides are knurled or replaced the valve seats would have to be fitted or machined to the valves to properly align the valves with the seats which would incur more cylinder pressure.

|UPDATED|6/4/2012 12:19:52 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

i just did mine on my 76 and it took a lot longer than a couple hours  about 9 hrs  doing it myself parts cost me 20.00  car only has 49000 miles but it sat for 16 yrs  and the seals tryed up hard and brittle its a lot of work

oops

|UPDATED|6/9/2012 8:17:13 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

If you do it yourself it is a lot of work.  But most shops will figure it at about 3 or 4 hours plus parts.  The parts are cheap.  Someone may have the book on the time and can give it to us.  If not let me know and I will go down to my mechanic on Monday and ask him.  I will be having him do that job for me anyway.  Finding out what the book says on the time I believe is a better measure.  My guy goes the book for time and then discounts the labor hours for me.