Update on the head job.... Took me four days to get it tore down and back together. Unfortunately I only got one head on. I couldn't get my hands on a cherry picker so I knew I was going at it by hand so I decided to replace a rusty quarter panel to give me better access to that side of the engine at least. I stripped the front down to the front clip for better access. Removed the radiator and shroud, alt, fuel filter housing, A/C compressor was a thorn in my side the entire procedure even bungy corded onto the hood bracket, removed hood, tires, driver side quarter panel and wheel well panel, fluid reservoirs. I was able to stand on the tray under the radiator and work that way. I used one of my kids hair bands to hold the rear headbolt #17. I had to cut away a piece of plastic trim on the firewall to get at the rear of the head. For the most part it was not too terrible although putting the head on was not fun. The rear alignment dowel was frozen in the head and I mangled it til I got it out so I had a hell ofa time keeping the gasket in place and putting on the head. It took me a few tries and I ruined one head gasket in the process. There were a couple reasons for only doing one head: This is my daily driver and work truck so the job had to be done by Monday afternoon.... (ended up being Tuesday anyway but I pulled some strings) When I pulled the valve covers I found this...
Driver side...
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This is the passenger side....
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Once I saw the difference and gauged the time involved I knew I had to cut the job short. Not ideal, but I am glad I did it the way I did. No regrets. The other issue I had was while inspecting the rebuilt heads I found that 3 of the 4 injector holes still had the copper rings jammed down in their seats. I could not get them out so I looked at the other one and they were all out... Phew! That was it. One rebuilt head going on, the other going in storage.
A couple notes here... I bought a thread chaser from ARP for a ridiculous amount of money (came from Summit Racing) and then while walking through my local Hornungs Hardware found an Irwin thread chaser for 1/3 of the price and it was identical.... Got a refund and was able to keep the ARP. It was worth chasing threads, a couple of the studs were completely coated in a thin rust and a surprising amount of rusty dust blew out of the holes. Absolutely worth the money to replace the head bolts. Would never do this job again without new ones. Unfortunately I was solo on this project but a second set of hands would have made this job cake. I am pretty good on remembering which bolt came from where but I also screw bolts back in when I can so they are already there on reassembly. It is a good feeling to be looking around for that bolt and seeing it sticking right where it came out of for you.
Almost forgot! Here are a couple block pics... Notice the front cylinder around the fire ring... Not too bad overall though...
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First pick is cylinder #2, then #4, #6, #8. The rust in #2 was from the head bolt. I used a brush on the #2 fire ring and most of it came off. Maybe someone can elaborate on what causes the damage / uneven / buildup there.
Okay, so last but not least, the chuff. Well, after more labor hours than I care to add up.... The chuff is still there. A little bit of a kick in the balls, but I found through this work that I have a leaking IP and unmatched injectors that are not Stanadyne so I am going to replace 4 at a time if possible and go from there. The sludge buildup in the driver side tells me I made the right choice in getting the job done, but I still have some work to do. I was able to score an air cleaner assembly from the pick and pull so I got that solved too. Thanks for all the advice, guys. I appreciate it! I will have more to post eventually once I solve the chuff.
