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