Headgaskets.

[tjsea]

rockers have to come off also. Mark which end of the push rods go up as sometimes the copper colored part is no longer visable. It is also a good idea to keep the rockers and push rods in order.

 

[Diesel JD]

Hey yeah, the rockers and push rods need to come off. The cam and lifters can stay where they are. If you can't get the truck all the way inside you need to really do a good job of covering the engine. It's just water, so probably with a good oil change it will be fine. To save money you could get a couple of clean 5 gallon buckets and save your coolant. It shouldn't be hard if your radiator has petcock drains on it. Might need a shallower container and then dump it into 5 gal clean buckets with lids. Coolant plus distilled water plus SCAs would run about 50-60 dollars. It is important to somehow preserve the order of your push rods and rocker arms and make sure the push rods re installed the correct way, if I'm not mistaken that means the copper ends contact the rocker, but check that with these other guys and your book before you take my word for it. You're making progress.

 

[Ididriver]

Hey yeah, the rockers and push rods need to come off. The cam and lifters can stay where they are. If you can't get the truck all the way inside you need to really do a good job of covering the engine. It's just water, so probably with a good oil change it will be fine. To save money you could get a couple of clean 5 gallon buckets and save your coolant. It shouldn't be hard if your radiator has petcock drains on it. Might need a shallower container and then dump it into 5 gal clean buckets with lids. Coolant plus distilled water plus SCAs would run about 50-60 dollars. It is important to somehow preserve the order of your push rods and rocker arms and make sure the push rods re installed the correct way, if I'm not mistaken that means the copper ends contact the rocker, but check that with these other guys and your book before you take my word for it. You're making progress.

I'll have my dad do that sense he's done stuff like that before I really don't want to mess anything hot is far in.
I've managed to get the truck in for a couple nights of course it's outtonight when it's freaking storming. Really pissed bout that.
Funny story I ACUALLY did use two five gallon buckets for the coolant. ( coolant looked like *** till the last gallon or two came out) but it atilll got ruined. Freaking pin holes in the bag...
Preserve the order gotcha! Thanks for all the help it's all much appreciated...

 

[Ididriver]

Rockers,push rods and all headbolts are out!
Now how the heck do I get the head off? Is there anything else holding it down besides the bolts or is it just time to man handle this thing out?

 

[itsacrazyasian]

Rockers,push rods and all headbolts are out!
Now how the heck do I get the head off? Is there anything else holding it down besides the bolts or is it just time to man handle this thing out?

Nope just bolts. Might need a prybar to break the seal against the block. then manhandle it out. Hope you had your wheaties!

 

[GOOSE]

Git R Done Chris!!! Don't forget to bolt the chain to 'em for that nice handle. The head gasket is the only thing left holding them there. There is an aligning pin that protrudes up about 3/16" you can pry a bit to loosen them and they won't fall off. It is on y 3/16-1/4" though so be careful. Good luck dude!!

 

[wmoguy]

Git R Done Chris!!! Don't forget to bolt the chain to 'em for that nice handle. The head gasket is the only thing left holding them there. There is an aligning pin that protrudes up about 3/16" you can pry a bit to loosen them and they won't fall off. It is on y 3/16-1/4" though so be careful. Good luck dude!!

and to add to that about the pins, be careful with those. Whatever ****** had the heads off my 94 before I owned it, did a crap job and those pins were smashed flatter than a pancake. I'm not really sure if I want to know how hard he dropped the heads down on the block before or after headgasket install.

 

[Cincinnati Guy]

DOnt wanna hijack this but with heads removed what are some other things head wise, that would be great time to do?

What type of machine work should be done?
Ive got a set of heads I want to build.

 

[Diesel JD]

DOnt wanna hijack this but with heads removed what are some other things head wise, that would be great time to do?

What type of machine work should be done?
Ive got a set of heads I want to build.

That is going to be a matter of opinion, time and budget. Gary and Russ have both worked on their heads a little bit if I recall but they know quite a bit about this kind of stuff and can do the work themselves. NMB2 and Racinndrummin on the other forum didn't polish and port their heads even for their builds as far as I know. Barnett High Performance offer some headwork but it isn't cheap and you ahve to ship him your heads. You should of course check to make sure the valves are not burned and nothing is loose or ready to drop in, check the springs etc, do this and have them pressure checked and magnafluxed and checked for warpage and thickness specs and you have done your due diligence as far as reliability in my opinion.

 

[wmoguy]

That is going to be a matter of opinion, time and budget. Gary and Russ have both worked on their heads a little bit if I recall but they know quite a bit about this kind of stuff and can do the work themselves. NMB2 and Racinndrummin on the other forum didn't polish and port their heads even for their builds as far as I know. Barnett High Performance offer some headwork but it isn't cheap and you ahve to ship him your heads. You should of course check to make sure the valves are not burned and nothing is loose or ready to drop in, check the springs etc, do this and have them pressure checked and magnafluxed and checked for warpage and thickness specs and you have done your due diligence as far as reliability in my opinion.

x2. If the budget allows, do a 3 way valve job w/ 2 degree interference. I'm told it helps, it was recommended to me by Ken @ DPS when I had my heads off to do all the stuff Diesel JD mentioned above. I figured why not? I don't have any real world #'s as to how much of a difference it makes but Ken sure thought it was the way to go. IIRC, NMB2 also had that done to his heads per Ken's suggestion.

 

[Diesel JD]

Rockers,push rods and all headbolts are out!
Now how the heck do I get the head off? Is there anything else holding it down besides the bolts or is it just time to man handle this thing out?

Chris you're doing well! Now, here's what you need to do...make sure to loosen those heads in the reverse order of the torquing sequence no more than 1/4 turn at a time on any bolt until they are loose enough that you can move them by hand then back them out by hand or with a ratchet. I threw them in a common bin but if you reuse them it would be better to preserve the order or where they were. Once the headbolts are loose, only the gasket is holding things together. Make sure you've drained the coolant at the block drains too or if this is impractical, Agnem used a wet/dry shop vac to suck the coolant out of the thermostat housing. I did this on my truck and it worked well, however when the head gasket seal broke loose I still had some coolant spring out. Do your best to keep that out of the cylinders because it could rust them if it gets in there with the bores being exposed to the elements. Some of these other guys might have some tips to make sure that doesn't happen to you. Strike the heads with a rubber mallet or if all you ahve is a hammer strike them with a block of wood between the hammer and the head to break the seal. Again these things are heavy! If you can fabricate a handle or something it will reduce the risk that you might hurt yourself or the heads. once they're out, sit them n a flat clean surface such as a clean piece of plywood to avoid damage. It wouldn't be a bad idea to also check the block deck for warpage if practical, though it is usually straight enough to be within limits unless the engine has been severely abused or overheated.

 

[seawalkersee]

COOLANT DOES NOT CAUSE RUST. But other than that, good ideas. At the front of the block on the drivers side, there is a lip between the block and head that I pry against to pop them loose. I THINK I stuck the prybar down the intake runner to get the pass side loose. Either way, just leave a bolt a few threads in so you don't drop them off of the engine if it pops off and takes the dowl pin with it.

SWS

 

[Ididriver]

Thanks everybody for allthe kind words and advice. The drivers side head is off!!! and I must say the inside of my engine looks really nice I was pleasantly surprised.
Now tIme forthe other side...
Pics to come soon.

 

[Ididriver]

Oh and onthe back of the head there was a wire grounded to it what exatly doese that go to?

 

[8seconds]

There should be a wire attached to the rear of each head, these are the engine to body ground straps, make sure you re-attach them, since this is how the eletrical components work in the cab and all your lighting accessories get their ground.