7.3 idi head rebuild

Fordfan90

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Does anyone know how much it cost to have both heads rebuilt on a 7.3 idi non turbo?
 

cpdenton

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Depends on what hard parts you need.

Figure anywhere from 500 or so if all your valves and springs are good,
To maybe 800 if you need all new valves and springs.

This is just a guess though.
 

tbrumm

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I had my heads gone through this past summer. It was just a bit under $500, but I provided the new valve springs and the new valve seals to the machinist when I took the heads in. In addition to doing the inspection, cleaning and valve job, he also had to machine the surface of both heads. All of the guides on my heads were in good condition. If guides have to be replaced, that adds to the cost. And don't let them "knurl" the guides if they are sloppy. As I understand it, if a guide is bad, it must be machined "off" and a new guide press fit into the head.
 

Fordfan90

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I had my heads gone through this past summer. It was just a bit under $500, but I provided the new valve springs and the new valve seals to the machinist when I took the heads in. In addition to doing the inspection, cleaning and valve job, he also had to machine the surface of both heads. All of the guides on my heads were in good condition. If guides have to be replaced, that adds to the cost. And don't let them "knurl" the guides if they are sloppy. As I understand it, if a guide is bad, it must be machined "off" and a new guide press fit into the head.


Where do you get the valve springs and seals??
 

IDIoit

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comp cams 910 springs, anywhere from amazon to Summit

seals you can get at your local parts store.

this all depends on your budget.
I spent 500 on exhaust valves alone.
 

tbrumm

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Where do you get the valve springs and seals??

I bought a Ford valve grind gasket kit off eBay. It contained all the goodies needed when pulling the top end of the motor apart for a valve job. The kit included the head gaskets, valve cover gaskets, valley pan and a few other items like the valve stem seals. It was all in a Ford package but all the parts were IH of course. I bought new Ford valve springs off of eBay as well. Again, Ford packaging but IH parts. The valve springs I bought were stock oem springs, as I was still using the original cam and was not installing an aftermarket cam. The original valves were fine and were reused.

Make sure you take the heads to a machinist who knows how to work on IDI heads. Those pre-cups are a lot harder than the cast iron. The machinist I took my heads to does a lot of work for tractor and truck pullers, so I figured he knew his stuff, but I questioned him anyway. I asked him if he removed the precups and machined them separately from the heads. He told me he had done idi heads in the past, and said he had a cutter that worked well for machining the precups when surfacing the heads. He told me that care had to be taken when cutting the pre-cups because they are so hard and you have to go very slow. Anyway, the heads looked great when he got them done and the truck runs great.

Here is a link to my head gasket replacement thread in case you are interested.
http://www.oilburners.net/threads/7-3-head-gasket-replacement-arp-head-stud-install.76304/
 

oilburner22

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just got my 6.9 heads back today. $927 had to replace all the exhaust valves, replaced the springs, and replaced the seals. That included a $250 complete engine gasket set.
 

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