Cylinder head resurfacing and valve jobs, done in Bowling Green.
The head is where overheats, burned valves, and blown gaskets all end up. Bowling Green Engine Machine tests, resurfaces, and rebuilds heads for daily drivers, diesels, and race engines, off a published menu, with the measurements handed back on paper.
Head work on the menu
Complete valve jobs
Seats cut, valves ground or replaced, stem heights and spring pressures set. A standard two-valve V8 head pair runs $200 to $350 in machine work; multi-valve heads price per valve. The job that fixes a one-low-cylinder compression test.
Head resurfacing
Warped heads milled flat with the surface finish the gasket calls for. MLS gaskets need a finer finish than old composite gaskets, and getting that wrong is why some head gasket jobs fail twice. $60 to $110 per head.
Pressure testing
Every overheated head gets tested before machining, because aluminum heads crack between the seats and machining a cracked head wastes the whole ticket. $80 to $110, credited toward the job when the head passes.
Guides, seats, and repairs
Worn guides replaced or lined, dropped seats replaced with installed inserts, spark plug threads repaired, rocker stud work. Found on measurement, quoted before machining, $20 to $30 per guide.
Diesel head work
Pickup and farm diesel heads resurfaced and tested, injector cup and cross-head work where the design has them. Harvest-season diesel heads jump the queue with a phone call.
Assembled or bare, your call
Bring the head assembled and we handle teardown and reassembly with new seals, or bring it bare and pay only machine time. Either way the head goes home with its measurements written down.
Why the test comes before the machining
An overheated aluminum head looks fine from the outside and cracks between the valve seats where only pressure finds it. Testing first costs $80 to $110 and gets credited toward the machining. Machining first and finding the crack later costs the whole valve job. That order is non-negotiable at this shop because it is the difference between an honest ticket and an expensive apology.
The gasket-surface detail most rework traces back to
Modern multi-layer steel gaskets seal against a much finer surface finish than the composite gaskets older engines used. A head resurfaced to the wrong finish will seep or blow again, and the gasket gets blamed. We machine the surface to the finish spec for your gasket type and write the number down, which is one reason our head work does not come back.
Price your head work
Say what engine, what happened, and whether it overheated. Photos texted to (270) 438-4749 get same-day numbers off the menu.
Head questions, answered straight
How much does a valve job cost in Bowling Green?
A complete valve job on a standard two-valve V8 head pair runs $200 to $350 in machine work at our shop, with multi-valve heads priced at $20 to $25 per valve. Resurfacing adds $60 to $110 per head. Every number comes off the published cost page, and the invoice matches the quote.
My engine overheated and blew a head gasket. What should the head get?
Three things in order: a pressure test to find cracks, a straightness check, then resurfacing to the finish your gasket type needs. Skipping the test risks machining a cracked head, and skipping the resurface risks the new gasket sealing against a warped surface. The whole package typically runs $260 to $450 when the head passes the test.
How long does cylinder head work take?
About a week from drop-off to pick-up for a test, resurface, and valve job most of the year. Genuine deadlines, a work truck down or a harvest diesel, get dated priority scheduling. Say the deadline at drop-off and you get a date, not a maybe.
Do you work on aluminum and iron heads both?
Yes. Aluminum heads warp and crack more readily and get tested accordingly; iron heads tolerate heat better but crack too. Surface finish targets differ by material and gasket type, and we machine to those numbers rather than one-size-fits-all.
Bowling Green Engine Machine handles the rest of the engine too: block boring and decking, cranks and flywheels, and performance head work. The full menu is on the cost page, and everything starts at the homepage.