when rebuilding an engine:

ok, so this head gasket set i got came with all the necessary gaskets to take everything off the head, and put it back on.

it also came with valve seals. can the valve seals be replaced without doing any other work to the valve train?

You have to pull all of the valvetrain out but you can put it back without any modifications to it.

yeah, unless the engine is really trashed, usually the valve guides are fine on hondas

Depending on how long you intend to keep the car you may consider taking the head to a machine shop. They'll check the guides and mating surface, replace the valve stem seals, get the valves to seal better, and clean everything for around $150. My Prelude ran noticeably better after the work. All of the valve guides were fine.

If you want to replace the seals yourself you'll need a valve spring compressor.

It is a good investment in having the head re-built when pouring a lot of money in rebuilding an engine. Don't screw around with just re-placing the valve stem seals. Do it right the first time & your engine will last longer & perform better.

hmmm.... well this is for a B20A head, and supposedly it only has 60K miles on it (although I doubt that...)

I talked to my machinist and he said it would be about 200-250 to disassemble, clean, test for cracks and leaks, do the full valve job, mill the head, and reassemble.

Good? Bad?

That price sounds reasonable for a twin cam head

yeah. Depending on how bad the valves and valve seats look i might spring for a valve grind if your gonna do seals

that price is about normal. yeah, i noticed that on most honda's, the valve guides dont get too bad. wonder why though. like on mitsubishi/chrysler, fords they like to go out. i know after my friend's cylider head was taken off of his '91 accord, the valve guides went bad. i'm guessing they disassembled the valves and stuff replacing the guides with original ones. that'll do it. its gotten better though, his car smoked a lot at first, but not too much now. his car has over 220000 miles though.

yeah most honduh valve guides last longer than the rest of the head haha... yeah ive seen alot of bad bad valve guides on those dodge/mitsu engines and fords ugh... they smoke like nobodys business.

At the price of $200 - $250, they will pressue test it, mill, replace worn valves & guides if needed. They will grind seats, & the new valves if used. They will also measure the springs & replace if needed. Prices vary on supply & demand though.
Edit- they also put new valve stem seals on too, so save yours for the future!

well, he said that was not including buying any parts he needed to replace...
this guy does NHRA and LeMans engines. He supplies engine work for the whole JEG's Team, so he's a little pricey... hopefully he's as good as his reputation...

Who knows what his prices are for new valves & so forth. If you need new parts, go to O'Riellys & order shit. They get it by the next day. I could see him bending you over on parts if you know what I mean.