If you'd rather not turn it into a big deal....
and just get that stud problem..
and access is an issue , you could just lower the engine down a good
ways.....
it'll drop 10 inches at the rear easily  - then you could get a good
straight shot at the broken stud.
Perhaps that is one option you didn't consider.

the $ numbers sound highish to me..
what's their labor rate ?
R & R heads...what would book time on that be ? ,
let's see......up to 8 I suppose.
let's say it's 7.6 hours.
I can imagine a labor guide saying that, plus 'add .6 hours for AC"

so 8 for an easy number to work with.  At 80 per hour that's only 640.
so ....yeah, I'd say 750 was on the high side.
and I would BE DARN GLAD to get 640 for R & R ing heads !  I'd be rich if I
got paid that much every time.
and I do find I spend maybe 9 hours doing two heads,
and I'm restoring things and fixing all the little 'not rights' as I go.

$ 300 at the machine shop does not sound so bad. My machine shop does grinds
or replaces the valves , might ream the guides some ....
for well under that, but that's kinda a wholesale price, and it's 'well
freshened up' and perhaps not 'totally rebuilt'.
If they are figuring new guides , possibly new exh. valves ...I like their
number better.

Slightly leaking valves don't seem to hurt much....like that 118 compression
reading might indicate.  I commonly find one valve of 8 on waterboxer
engines leaking a little.
But they are giving you a choice of spending a grand, or doing nothing.

since things are not actuall broken yet, as you feel, ...
consider just lowering the engine for straight access to stud drilling.
I call drilling those out doing 'dental work.'
It not hard or bad if you are patient, have several good sharp drill bits
( I avoid cobalt drill bits ...they bite well, but they are more brittle and
can break off ....you sure don't want a broken off drill bit piece stuck in
there ! ) .....
but it's fun and rewarding to do really right. I manage to drill them pretty
much right on center ...which  traditionally was 'the hard part' once upon a
time.

Oh shoot........so IF doing off the engine head work ,......how about just
doing the one head with the broken stud.
I will take one head off with engine in the van anytime that's the
keep-it-simple thing to do.
It doesn't have to be a $ 1,000 repair.

Scott
www.turbovans.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "Aaron" <a.robinson.lists@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 9:23 PM
Subject: Check my head?

I just wanted to check in and see what people here would recommend. Last
week I wrote about some rusty exhaust issues and was going to replace the
exhaust while replacing a waterpump. Well, that all went fairly well. I
ended up getting all exhaust studs out - except for one. I don't think it's
drillable in the engine and would require the head to be removed (according
to the local shop). The engine has the exhaust removed, the cooling system
drained, a new waterpump on, new thermostat, etc.

So, with a head that has to come off, and an engine that has lower
compression (between 118 and 130) I wonder if this wouldn't be a great time
to just have the heads rebuilt. I'd be having a shop do it as I'm sure that
I would end up with a mess and don't have the time or experience to do it.
The quote to do both heads is $750 + labor drilling out the stud + ~$300 for
the machining of the heads + misc. parts. Is the $750 in labor an
appropriate # for just removing and replacing the heads?

I'm not really excited about spending a lot of money when the headgaskets
aren't leaking, the engine runs well - just a little tired. So, If anyone
has any opinions, ideas, or alternatives, I would love to hear what you
think.

Thanks!
Aaron