kcookvt,

I've personally replaced three heads, two on a 1998 V70, and one on a 2007 XC70.

I used:
https://www.cylinder-heads.com/

The above guys for the V70 and the price was about $500 to $600 each time.

For the XC70, I attempted to pull two valves and install two new ones that I successfully relapped, however someone convinced me to pull the rest to see if they were bent, thus other valves started leaking. I quickly abandoned this and found a wrecked 2006 S60 in the salvage yard and pulled it.

Once pulled, I checked, to the best of my ability, to see if the head was warped. It was not and it came home with me.

The casting number was not the same, but the engine was the same as mine, DOHC, DCVVT, etc.

I did an over night water leak test on the five combustion chambers, followed by a simple green bath to remove all oil, followed by one more water leak test on each combustion chamber. The head was marked usable and is now sitting on my car running very nicely.

So there you have it. I've spent between $700 to $1000 on each one of these procedures, and all have been successful.

It is not an easy job, but if you take your time, and I do mean take your time, you wind up saving a ton of money and you get your car back on the road as well. It takes me about 2 to 3 days working after work to finish one of these.

Any other question, please do not hesitate to ask.

Matt