I wish it did!! Let me know if you are headed to central Illinois anytime soon.

Some times you can find retired techs or guys doing it on the side on Craigslist. But six hours at 70 is pretty reasonable for a shop.

This IS a guy doing it on the side, and something tells me since he mentioned 6-7 hours that he would probably charge 7 hours x $70 = $490 or so for the labor (which he tried to sell to me as a "deal" compared to $100/hour shop rates). He also wanted to buy the parts from "his guy" which were going to cost more than double than if I bought them myself. Pretty much exactly what WilliamE mentioned in regards to parts warranty, but it can be frustrating and I'll do everything I can to avoid overpaying.

if he works for the dealer those are probably good deals. there is a local shop around here that charges 50 or 60 and is honest and does good work, so i go there when i have to and recommend others. its worth calling around i imagine 70 isnt that great

I am betting he is from Illinois, because of the states slogan, which comes from the state being the state Lincoln lived in when he became president, Springfield IL...

Everything Ive heard thus far points to lower intake. thanks for the feedback, I always thought the upper was the primary issue. Ill redo the whole thing. Also @WilliamE I did upgrade to the aluminum elbows

Any thoughts on how long it takes for the mixing of fluids to cause serious damage? They dont appear to be mixing very heavily but Im worried that its been going on for a while

I am not sure how long it takes to do damage, I am sure it varies, if you can do a compression test on all cylinders while the motor is slightly warn, I recommend doing a dry, and then wet compression test on each cylinder, and compare the numbers, if you need it I can get you some info on doing the compression test.

If you do not have a tester I got a Actron CP7828 Professional Compression Tester back in 2011, it was like 38.00, I think you can get one a bit cheaper though, you here is one for 25.00, not sure how well it works as I have not used this one though.

Id be more worried about wiping out a rod or main bearing. Just watch your oil and coolant levels. The more coolant your having to add, watch for your oil level to rise. If the engine oil looks like a chocolate milkshake, then you really run the chance to wiping out a bearing.

The intake job itself isn't that hard of a job.

Thanks everyone Im gonna knock out the lower intake asap. It amazes me how resiliant this car has been. It starts and runs every day even after years of neglect. Im gonna try to keep it going as long as possible.