started the head gaskets! wow what a process :/

[93fordturbo]

I definitely am slow at this, but my girlfriend and I are chugging along... So far in four hours, I have pulled the intake hat off, all wiring, pulled drivers valve cover and rods, injector lines, fuel filter mounting bracket and alternator and vacuum pump I think? Or whatever that is under the alternator. Have drained alternator as well. How am I doing? Any more advice? How I didn't bite off more than I can chew.

 

[icanfixall]

So you drained the alternater.... The intake hat.. Do you mean the intake manifold... As for the valve pushrods, those have a top and a bottom. Do not mix them up or they will wear a hole thru the rocker. Everything has a particular place it came from and its a good idea to return everything back in the original location. Or replace it. So is the engine stil in the truck... If so get ready for some really heavy heads that will test you lifting them off the block... No need to remove the exhaust manifolds. They can stay on the heads. Get a bottoming tap to clean the threads in the block.. The 6.9 head bolts are 7/16x14 and the 7.3 head bolts are 1/2x13. A razor is the best way to clean the head and block surfaces. Never use a snading disc or scotchbrite on a drill motor. They will take metal off and ruin the surface to the point it will leaks.

 

[FordGuy100]

Intake hat is the thing that goes from turbo outlet to intake manifold on the ATS kits.

I pulled the engine, don't know which was harder, doing that or doing everything in frame

 

[93fordturbo]

Sorry, drained radiator. And rods are marked. I have a banks on it. Gosh it seems like I have a lot to do. I pulled the banks box and filter and intake.not intake manifold, that's tomorrow

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

so are you going with head studs?

 

[Hydro-idi]

It is a job that is for sure. If you manage to keep everything organized and take your time in the process, things will go smooth for you. So far so good! I am sorry if you have already stated this in a previous post, but do you plan on taking heads into shop for inspection and/or rebuild and putting studs in it???

 

[remington88]

i did mine this spring. engine in frame and the truck has a lift on it. the heads are very heavy and i am not a big guy at all. but it wasnt to bad. found out i had 4 bad valve guides. had the heads rebuilt and added a turbo. wow what a wake up. if i remember correctly the back bolt on the driver side head had to come out with the head and i had to put it in the head before install. zip ties work awesome for holding the bolt in there. just take your time and it will be good to go.

 

[Hydro-idi]

^^^Good idea to get the heads inspected and have the worn parts replaced while the heads are off....if the funds are available. Remington88, did you use some sort of hoist to lift/lower the heads from the block?? I am assuming yes

 

[lilredtdi]

getting some popcorn

 

[lindstromjd]

When I did the head gaskets in my brother's 84, he had taken off the fenders and radiator and everything. Made it pretty easy to get to everything. The heads were nothing short of heavy sumb*tches to get off though. Rubber bands come in handy to keep head bolts in the heads but out of your way. We took the manifolds off of the heads; the exhaust bolts were too rusty to get the pipes off the manifolds. All in all, it took us about 6 hours to do everything. Not horrible, but definitely set aside PLENTY of extra time to deal with crap you didn't anticipate.

 

[93fordturbo]

Yeah...I have arps already. I should get the heads checked out. Any idea on price if needing rebuild? I will have extra cash in January

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

glad to hear about the studs. the piece of mind is priceless.

 

[93fordturbo]

It had studs lol

 

[Hydro-idi]

Every cylinder head shop is different. I know a reputable shop in Stockton that said he could rebuild both idi heads for about $350, give or take depending on what is needed.
Some have spent near 4-500 for just one head. Depends on what your local prices happen to be. Make sure they know what they are doing because, from what I hear, idi heads can be tricky to rebuild.

 

[Agnem]

Sad. I went over to The Diesel Stop to get the link for my old article on how to change your headgaskets, which I authored back in 2000, and it's gone. Last I saw, there were 87,000 page views on it. Guess it's time for someone to do a new one.