do's and donts heads and studs

[still runs]

hey every one im looking for what ever any one can throw my way as far as experiance and advice in doing the heads thier self what i should look for and dont want to forget to do, unhook or the little extras that i might as well do while im in there .... and if any one wants to drink free beer for a few days and eat greasy food your more than welcome to come help hell i'll even throw you some cash

[windrunner408]

This is a very doable job, just time consuming. As long as you can afford for your truck to be down for a couple of weeks then this is the way to go. If you take it in you will pay ~$2000 in just labor. This job can be completed with nothing more than simple hand tools ie ratchets, sockets, wrenches, etc. You will need something to stand on so you can reach over the hood, unless you are lifting the cab. You will need a torque wrench that goes to 250ftlbs and I recommend a smaller torque wrench for torquing down the smaller bolts. I also recommend an engine puller (cherry picker) to lift the heads out as they can by kind of heavy (80lbs a piece) and it takes two people even with a cherry picker to get them out and back in.

The biggest do, is go slow and make sure when you pull out the rockers, pushrods, and fuel injectors you know which cylinder they go back in on.

Only use oem gaskets and replace all orings and seals that you break loose. There are gasket kits out there that have all this stuff.

Take your heads to a reputable machine shop to be thoroughly checked for cracks, machined for flatness, and valves reconditioned. Alot of folks remove the heater box to get the passenger side head out but it can be done with it in and at most you only have to remove the heater box cover.

That is about it. While you are torn that far down, this is a good time to do whatever you want to with that oil cooler. Delete it or replace it and add a coolant filter and switch to ELC coolant. Hope this helps.

[Fred@PMM]

Originally Posted by windrunner408

This is a very doable job, just time consuming. As long as you can afford for your truck to be down for a couple of weeks then this is the way to go. If you take it in you will pay ~$2000 in just labor. This job can be completed with nothing more than simple hand tools ie ratchets, sockets, wrenches, etc. You will need something to stand on so you can reach over the hood, unless you are lifting the cab. You will need a torque wrench that goes to 250ftlbs and I recommend a smaller torque wrench for torquing down the smaller bolts. I also recommend an engine puller (cherry picker) to lift the heads out as they can by kind of heavy (80lbs a piece) and it takes two people even with a cherry picker to get them out and back in.

The biggest do, is go slow and make sure when you pull out the rockers, pushrods, and fuel injectors you know which cylinder they go back in on.

Only use oem gaskets and replace all orings and seals that you break loose. There are gasket kits out there that have all this stuff.

Take your heads to a reputable machine shop to be thoroughly checked for cracks, machined for flatness, and valves reconditioned. Alot of folks remove the heater box to get the passenger side head out but it can be done with it in and at most you only have to remove the heater box cover.

That is about it. While you are torn that far down, this is a good time to do whatever you want to with that oil cooler. Delete it or replace it and add a coolant filter and switch to ELC coolant. Hope this helps.

What he said, no matter what type of Gaskets you use, OEM or Aftermarket as long as you properly clean the block and head surface and follow torque procedures the less likely you are of EVER having another issue.

[CatterlinRanch]

Agreed with Windrunner. I'd do the HPOP updated fitting kit, updated stand pipes and plugs, and new oil cooler while you're in that far. If you're doing it cab on, I'd recommend a top side creeper and cherry picker/hoist to remove and replace the heads. They are heavy. Also, keep meticulous order of all your parts as you remove them. When I did my studs, I lined my ping pong table with cardboard and all the part took up the whole table. I also labelled stuff with a pen and masking tape. Organization goes a long way for us weekend warrior mechanics.

[still runs]

i was told by the tech at antrium deisle that to do it with the cab on id have to buy this tourq wrench from snap on but im gonna lift the cab i wanna take and clean all the grime off and degrease that thing

[windrunner408]

If you can do it, taking the cab off is probably the way to go. Yes it will be a pain to get the cab lifted off but once that is done the engine is WAY more accessible and everything can be reached very easily and working on it will be more enjoyable.

Not sure what equipment you will have available but since you will have the cab off, I would recommend cutting out bellows in the y-pipe and welding in some heavy duty flex joints in its place. Everything can be mocked up and welded right there on the engine and this way you can get rid of those weak and prone to blow out bellows. JMO.

[smokersteve]

It is time consuming as previously stated. Because of this, many people take short cuts here and there, creating issues. So just remember to keep up the effort to do a quality job.

[MarkBart]

Originally Posted by CatterlinRanch

Agreed with Windrunner. I'd do the HPOP updated fitting kit, updated stand pipes and plugs, and new oil cooler while you're in that far. If you're doing it cab on, I'd recommend a top side creeper and cherry picker/hoist to remove and replace the heads. They are heavy. Also, keep meticulous order of all your parts as you remove them. When I did my studs, I lined my ping pong table with cardboard and all the part took up the whole table. I also labelled stuff with a pen and masking tape. Organization goes a long way for us weekend warrior mechanics.

stand pipes and plugs?

[kdogg85]

The stand pipes I believe were prone to leaking and would make the engine hard to start, if it started at all. I replaced mine when I put in new sticks. Not very expensive and fairly straight forward to do. If the cab is coming off, do everything you can because it's a heck of a lot easier.

Like windrunner said, cut those %$&# bellows out and replace with braided flex joints, got mine from summit and were around $50 for the pair. that absoluely sucks royally to do with the cab on.

[CatterlinRanch]

Gotta do it while you're there:
Tousley Ford Parts Depot