Would anyone know about how much the labor and parts would run me on a 97' w/a 4.6L???

 

Between 500 and 1000 dollars.

 

That sounds pretty cheap. I just did mine and the Ford dealership quoted me like 18 hours of labor plus parts to do it. Better off doing it yourself if you got the time

 

Wow, guess I was thinking old school, I do stuff myself also to save money.

 

Was $1100.00 on my '93 Thunderbird. That was done in 2000. I imagine the price is much higher now.

 

Land Rover wanted $3500 to replace the blown gaskets in my Discovery.

So, I spent $500 for tools that I didn't have (good torque wrench, impact wrench with sockets, and various swivels and misc. sockets) and another $150 in parts. A machine shop shaved the heads for another $150.

I found a digital copy of the shop manual and, with lots of help from the online community did the job myself.

One year on it's running like a top (well, as good as a Land Rover product can run, anyway ) and I'm $2700 richer and have lots more tools than I did before.

DIY if you have a garage and can do without your truck for a few days.

It's not rocket science. Just go slow and document the process with a digital camera to help you get it back together.