Rebuild or no

[seawalkersee]

Yeah, I'm rollin the FSB with 33s. I have always loved this thing and am going to keep it. I wish I would have rebuilt the diesel before putting it in, but I though it had less than 100k on it (as the odometer read 9X,*** miles showing) it wold be okay.

I pulled the oil cooler today and it was full of RTV. At first I though "AH HA"...but then I saw that it was the coolant passages and not the good old oil passages that would have saved me the trouble of doing what I do not want to do.

I am going to rebuild the cooler and get some 00 or 0000 steelwool and polish up the parts. The spring DOES have wear on the side of it, but it is not bad. I will shim it and see if I can pull the pan with it still in the car. If not, it is going to come out and I will throw the cooler on a different engine and put it in...so I cha have this one to rebuild.

SWS

 

[seawalkersee]

Icanfixer, why did you choose .07 to make the shim? I mean was that a calculated guess or wat? I am having a time triying to find a replacement for cheap so I think I am going to shim it, put it back together, and run it till I can find something to fix it.

SWS

 

[gonecrazyi]

I think I still have the oil cooler out of my 89 7.3. It had idles at 20 psi and cruise down the road between 40 and 45.
Pm me if your interested.

 

[seawalkersee]

Honestly I don't think the cooler is the problem. I hope to bandaid it till I can find a replacement or have it redone.

I took 1000 grit to the valve tonight to **** off the scratches. Did an excellent job and works well dry. I imagine it will work well with oil in it too.

SWS

 

[icanfixall]

The 70 thous thickness shims was the total thickness of the stainless steel washers I ground down to fit. I don't recall if I used 2 or 3 washers but I think it was 2. I didn't have anything sintific in mind. It just was a lucky guess. Russ (Typ4) did this before I did so I gave it a try... Seems to have been a lucky guess. I don't usually work that way but .....

 

[david85]

Its just as posted above... That spring wears thin because of the drag it sees in the regulater. There isn't any replacements either... Ford sells the rear header for around $300.00... When I rebuilt my motor I shimmed the spring 70 thousands. I idle warm at 25 to 30 and see 75 to 80 on a cold motor... Then I see around 55 on a warm motor at 2000 rpm....

I like it! Especially on an engine that is putting out more power than stock (and more pressure on the bearings)

You've probably been asked this way too many times, but how hard is it to perform this mod on an engine in the truck?

 

[seawalkersee]

The hardest part is getting the cooler in and out. Pulling the valve is cake (I say that but I actually hide the fact that I have the mechanical capacity that puts most to shame...and the test results to prove it). I polished mine with:
1)1000grit going perpendicular to the movement using water AND polishing compound to keep the paper clean
2)00 steel wool and polishing compound

That makes it looke really good.

SWS

 

[seawalkersee]

The 70 thous thickness shims was the total thickness of the stainless steel washers I ground down to fit. I don't recall if I used 2 or 3 washers but I think it was 2. I didn't have anything sintific in mind. It just was a lucky guess. Russ (Typ4) did this before I did so I gave it a try... Seems to have been a lucky guess. I don't usually work that way but .....

Okay, I ground down two pennies to about .072 and then looked into the spot I was going to put them. There is a drop off in there for the spring to sit. Did you put yours in the top part of the piston or did you put the full washer under the spring or did you make it fit inside of the spring cup?

I ask because IF I calculate this correctly, it will actually be about .1 of a shim if I just put the shim under the spring.

SWS

 

[icanfixall]

The shims are in the top part of the plunger...

 

[seawalkersee]

Okay, thank you. To all who are keeping up with this, there will be pix on the 'oil cooler part number' thread showing what we are talking about.

SWS

 

[seawalkersee]

Sooooo, I learned a few things today.
1) The heads on the IDI are H E A V Y. Espically when you remove them with the exhaust manifold. Unless you are a fairly big guy, get someone to help you out or you may hurt yourself.

2) Though you can take them off of the engine, you really need to rock them towards the center, and pull the rear-most bolts out of the heads. You do not want them to get hung up in the cyls.

3) Unlike showering, it is better to start from the bottom and work your way oto the top. Exhaust should come off, and the hard to reach bolts on the back should also be removed before popping the heads. I was smart enough to do this...this time anyway. I have tasted antifreeze wayyyyyyyyy too many times.

Looks like there may be an injector leaking, but it has been sitting so long that there is no way to really tell.

SWS

 

[RLDSL]

Sooooo, I learned a few things today.
1) The heads on the IDI are H E A V Y. Espically when you remove them with the exhaust manifold. Unless you are a fairly big guy, get someone to help you out or you may hurt yourself.

2) Though you can take them off of the engine, you really need to rock them towards the center, and pull the rear-most bolts out of the heads. You do not want them to get hung up in the cyls.

3) Unlike showering, it is better to start from the bottom and work your way oto the top. Exhaust should come off, and the hard to reach bolts on the back should also be removed before popping the heads. I was smart enough to do this...this time anyway. I have tasted antifreeze wayyyyyyyyy too many times.

Looks like there may be an injector leaking, but it has been sitting so long that there is no way to really tell.

SWS

A cherry picker is a real good idea when handling those things
If you are using felpro head gaskets, you will most likely destroy them attempting to install the heads without a cherry picker and will most likely wind up with leaks, they do not take kindly to any movement, there is a soft flaky coating that fluffs easily off.( of course, if you're thinking this out, you're not using felpro

 

[seawalkersee]

I am just disasembling it in the vehicle. It will be assembled and put back as a unit. Too much can go wrong (as you say about Fel-pros) with ANY HG if you tried to put it back together in the rig.

I also learned that the intake side of the head is already essentually matched to the gasket. The valley pan is held down by four three screws at the front, one 3/8" drive head from a rachet, and of course the intake its self.

The intake has a bit on the runners that can be removed and I have not checked the exhaust yet...no time, no time, no time.

SWS

 

[seawalkersee]

I pulled the heads off of the floor and pulled the manifold off of the exhaust. So, I took a look inside the runners and it looks like there is not a ton of improvement. It looks like there is going to be any vast improvement from the runner. The runners are really big as cast. I have not taken the valves out and looked at the pocket as ICANFIXALL says to do for the most improvement.

Since I am not going to make tons of power out of this. I am looking for some good mods that will power it with just above stock power levels and get about 20mpg from the WMO.

There are other places for upgrades that will yeild better gains. The exhaust manifold for one is EXTREMELY restrictive at the bend on the driver's side. I wish I had enough time and money to make a set of log headers for it but I do not. Regardless of that, the SC with a cam and the IP turned up a flat should put me right about the sweet spot. Now if there is work to be done int eh pocket, than it will just be an added bonus.

SWS

 

[seawalkersee]

Well, I pulled the cam and the bearings are shot. There is pitting on some of the lobes so I think I will probably also need new lifters when I get my new cam. I was going to pull the pan and check some of the other bearings but there is no need at this point. I will try to get the wife to swap my pix over soon as I still have some of the cooler pix on the camera that are a week or two old.

Anyone have a step by step on removing the cam retainer and fuel pump eccentric?

SWS