Redo 7.3IDIT heads or drill out 6.9 heads

tjsea

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So I've hit a dilemma tonight. I had bought a 7.3 IDIT engine that I was going to regasket and stud for in my truck. The problem is I got a chance to pull the heads finally and the guides are a little sloppy. So I'm on a bit of a budget, but I want it to be right as well. So my question is do I have the idit heads redone, or I have some 6.9 heads that were redone recently that I was considering drilling out the stud holes to fit the 7.3. I'm kinda on the fence of what I want to do.
 

Macrobb

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One option is that you can get a new set of valves with a larger(usually .010") valve stem.
The old guides can then be reamed out to fit - your shop should be able to do that easily.

If you go this route(with new valves), make ABSOLUTELY SURE of the valve recession when the shop is done with it - the dimension from the bottom face of the head to the bottom of the valve. It's got specific tolerances, and if the dimension is too small... you will be unhappy when your guides go out in short order from the piston slapping the valves.

Also... if you want the new guides to last longer, don't bother with valve seals. Unlike a gasser you don't really have any vacuum in the intake, so the amount of oil going through the guides is minimal.
I've tried it with the last motor I had the heads apart on and... no noticable oil consumption or smoke.
 

no mufflers

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What did you decide to do on the heads Alex? Is it for the engine in your truck?
 

tjsea

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Well I haven't fully decided yet. It's a 7.3idit I had bought to reseal, stud, and put in my 86. I'm really trying to figure out what I want to do since if I need to have a set of heads redone it will use up the funds i was hoping to use to buy Mel's moose boost turbo. I may be getting Corey's old motor so fingers crossed those heads are in nice shape.
 
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