My '91 is virtually rust-free so my exhaust nuts came right off with no problems.

The head bolts, on the other hand, broke a Snap-on socket and a breaker bar. I ended up with a new 6-point deep well half inch impact socket and a new half-inch breaker bar with a three-foot cheater pipe on it to loosen those head bolts.

Other than that, it was mostly a matter of cleaning everything that I took off. I spent an entire Saturday (and into the evening) doing it and I would say that half of the time was spent cleaning carbon and sludge out of ports. I fear that if you pay the shops to do it, they will not spend the time to do that.

I had the usual water leak between cyl 3 and 4, so I had no reason to suspect the head was not flat. I checked the valve clearances (all OK at 240k miles) and left the cam in place. I put a new timing belt and tensioner on it, but the seals were all bone dry so I left them alone. I have had seals leak immediately after installation so I take an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach to replacing those oil seals.

I also replaced the rear water temperature sensor, which I think was what really helped with warm restart stalling.