Hi, I have just been through this myself and here is some of what I learned. I tried to research all the places which rebuild short/long blocks with prices with/without shipping etc. and finally found a small shop run by a circle-track racer only six miles from my home and although I wanted a 383 I had financial limitations and ended up with a basic rebuild and a street torque cam only slightly different from stock and rebuilding the heads with a three-angle valve job, Z28 springs and smoothed out exhaust ports. If you have the 882 heads they are the "best of the worst" and I am sorry now that I did not have enough funds to buy Vortec heads initially because I ended up spending slightly more for the milled and "half-ported (exhaust ports only)" 882 heads than I would have for the Vortec heads and now that I have a Performer intake I would have to buy another intake to switch to the Vortec heads. I do not think you can easily take the heads apart in your garage without a spring compresser. You need a device which presses down on the spring enough to remove the split keepers at the top of the valve stem and this is best done in a shop. You should be able to get the heads rebuilt for about $300 or you can buy/trade-in-exchange heads from places like Advanced Auto for about $200, but you will be amazed at how rough the inside of the ports are and the sharp edges of the casting marks. I recommend you find a shop to rebuild the heads or exchange for rebuilt heads since the valve seats are hardened and the days of a driveway rebuild with hand lapping valves has been superceded by exchange programs. If you want H.P. I recommend you take a look at the Vortec heads, in retrospect I should have done that!

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder