How hard is it to change my car's headgasket?

1995 ford mustang v6 3.8lHow hard is it to change my car's headgasket?
Quite an indepth job, this is a lot harder then taking off the heads, ripping the old gaskets off and throwing the new ones on and putting it all back together. Pretty much the entire top half of the engine is going to be needing removal, and it will cost a lot more then just the head gasket. When the heads are off your are going to need a straight edge (about $150 from Snap-on and thats half assed one) to make sure the block is perfectly flat, the heads should be sent to a machine shop for it to be checked out for cracks and flatness. This job usually takes about a day or two at a garage, with about 8 hours labour (not sure on that vehicle however what the labour rate is). I would say if you have to ask, its out of your range. On a scale of 1-10 1 being easy and 10 being do not attempt, I would mark it as a 9. There are going to be specialty tools you will need too, and torques, and torque sequances, and special bolts (not included in any kit) that are ';torque to yield'; and can only be used once. I would be saying because of all the small costs that you will be unawair of, and the stress in your life that it WILL cause, taking it to a garage will be your best bet. Just because a technician can do it in 8 hours, or whatever the time is, doesn't mean you can. They have years of training.How hard is it to change my car's headgasket?
You mean head gaskets (plural), and yes, it is something you should not mess with.



Besides there is a recall on that!
First of all, your car has two headgaskets.



Second, it is no small job. Don't attempt it unless you have a moderate amount of repair knowledge and an extensive set of tools.



If you do decide to do it, and have all the tools, expect to spend about 4 hours minimum on it, assuming you know exactly what you're doing and have every tool needed. My first head gasket took me two weeks, however, due to lack of tools among other things.
It's a long, time consuming job, and requires you to pay attention to many little details to do it right...it really is best to have a shop do it, as they are geared up for it, and generally have the experience necessary.