Cylinder head locating dowels--3 missing?

[DirtyWood]

So when I pulled the heads I found only 1 locating dowel. W T F? I looked all around where i was working and nothing had fallen on the ground. This is a bit perplexing. Aside from helping to align the gasket and hold the head in place during assembly, do the dowels perform a critical function? I've read on some other forums for other vehicles and there is the typical range of opinions from "only a total moron would reassemble without the dowels" to "they're not necessary and if you're careful with alignment during assembly then you're good to go". The heads were pulled due to valve guide wear and not a head gasket failure. AFAIK the head gaskets were original--no receipts for head work in the folder that came with the truck. There was orange gasket residue around some of the bolt holes and ports--not like RTV but like material from the head gasket had transferred to the block.

Are the dowels super-critical for the 7.3 IDI?

 

[IDIBRONCO]

There was orange gasket residue around some of the bolt holes and ports--not like RTV but like material from the head gasket had transferred to the block.

That definitely sounds like original or at least OEM gaskets. I think that it's obvious that the dowels aren't absolutely, 100% critical. Is it better to have them installed? I have no idea.
By the way, your thread title reads like there's 3 missing dowels instead of one.

 

[DirtyWood]

That definitely sounds like original or at least OEM gaskets. I think that it's obvious that the dowels aren't absolutely, 100% critical. Is it better to have them installed? I have no idea.
By the way, your thread title reads like there's 3 missing dowels instead of one.

Good catch. I edited my first post. Three dowels were missing.

 

[Nero]

They are so thin that they don't offer any structural support for head location when running, it is solely for assembly. I vote they aren't needed, but are nice to have. They aren't made anymore. Justin makes custom ones for a good price if you wish to replace them.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Three dowels were missing.

One could be an accident, but three? Someone's been in there before and used OEM head gaskets. I have no guesses as to why they were there. Even if all four weren't there, I could see a slight chance that someone on the assembly line was at the "F it!" point. One being there says otherwise to me.

 

[DirtyWood]

One could be an accident, but three?

My thoughts exactly. I looked closely to make sure the dowels hadn't split in half and were lodged in the block and head. It seems so random to have only one dowel. And it sure seems like there was an "eff it" moment for someone.

I've read about using hair spray to glue the head gasket in place--does this really work/worth it?

 

[IDIBRONCO]

I've never heard of the hair spray trick, but, remembering how my sister used to use it back in the 80's, I sure can see how that might work. If you have head studs, I don't see why you'd need to use it. Once the studs are in and the head gasket is slipped into place, I doubt that it could move very much. If you're not using studs, assuming that your engine is on a stand, you could put two the three bolts into place and lower the head slowly, using the bolts as alignment tools.
That said, I did see one 6.9 that had actual orange RTV on both sides of both head gaskets. That was a disaster of an engine. Unfortunately, that's also happened to be the only one that I've run across that was built at our shop and I can remember installing it in the truck. NO! we did not use RTV on the head gaskets! The guy who did that must have been recreationally using chemicals or was just extremely stupid, in my opinion.

 

[DirtyWood]

No studs, engine in frame, lots of fun so far. I understand why people say they would rather pull the engine if doing both heads. A lot of time is spent just dealing with the space restrictions and obstacles under the hood. Although I did learn a nifty method for holding up a few of the rearmost head bolts while finagling the head back in to place--just cut short sections of 3/8 fuel hose, cut a slit lengthwise, and then just slip them on and off the bolts real easily.
Everyone seems to say the driver side head is easy but with A/C it sure is a PITA navigating the head around the A/C lines.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Everyone seems to say the driver side head is easy but with A/C it sure is a PITA navigating the head around the A/C lines.

Neither one is exactly easy. Some or maybe all of the trucks with a C6 have clearance issues with the shifting linkage on the steering column too. When I worked on these for a living, I did quite a few R&R jobs on heads. Our method was this: if it only got one head, it was done in frame. If it got both heads it came out and went onto an engine stand. It wasn't any faster to leave the engine in the truck and it gave less chances of mistakes working on the engine outside of the truck. When you're working in a shop doing this for customers, you generally don't want to remove any more things than you absolutely have to, such as the HVAC box. If something goes wrong with a part of the HVAC box, for example, then the shop is now liable for that too since they can't prove that they didn't do any harm.
I do like your idea of using fuel line to hold the bolts up.

 

[Black dawg]

I have put a couple together without the dowels and it really sucks. Head bolts dont fit tight enough in the heads to reasonably locat the head to make sure the intake mates up correctly. And if you leave the headbolts loose and install intake to pull heads to where they need to be, sliding the head on the gasket is way less than ideal.

I would do whatever it takes to come up with some or build some.

As far as in the truck vs pulling engine, I used to do them in the truck (unless there was other things needed as well) but after getting used to pulling superduty cabs for basically anything, I started pulling cabs on these. Will always do it that way from now on as long as I have the resources to do so.

 

[DirtyWood]

I have put a couple together without the dowels and it really sucks. Head bolts dont fit tight enough in the heads to reasonably locat the head to make sure the intake mates up correctly. And if you leave the headbolts loose and install intake to pull heads to where they need to be, sliding the head on the gasket is way less than ideal.

I would do whatever it takes to come up with some or build some.

As far as in the truck vs pulling engine, I used to do them in the truck (unless there was other things needed as well) but after getting used to pulling superduty cabs for basically anything, I started pulling cabs on these. Will always do it that way from now on as long as I have the resources to do so.

Any ideas on making something with off-the-shelf components? Copper pipe with a slit cut lengthwise so the diameter can be adjusted? I have a client who's a machinist that might be able to help me if I had some accurate specs for diameter and height.

I already installed the head on the side that had 1 dowel. I did have some difficulty getting the alignment just right but at least the one dowel let me know where I needed to be. Basically I used the cherry picker to lower the head so that the one dowel went into place and then with the head still about 3/16th inch away from the block/gasket I got a bunch of head bolts started and was able to lower and shift the head so that the front and rear appeared to be aligned properly for where the intake mates up. I suppose a test fit would be a good idea before torquing down the other head.

Just a side thought here--I've worked on a couple of 7.3 IDI engines and this one is just a bit different. One head has two studs installed in place of valve cover bolts and I don't mean the two that hold on the oil dipstick. When replacing the water pump I found a stud in place of a bolt. And when replacing the thermostat I found a stud in the outlet neck. I can only wonder if the engine was torn down before, but what's odd is that it must've been done by a Ford dealer or someone dedicated to OEM parts since everything that I've removed appeared to have the OEM gaskets and/or orange residue that I've seen on other 7.3 IDI. Weird.

 

[IDIBRONCO]

One head has two studs installed in place of valve cover bolts and I don't mean the two that hold on the oil dipstick.

From what I remember, most, if not all, 7.3s had two studs on each valve cover. The passenger's side had the ones used for the dipstick tube bracket. The driver's side had studs for the two that are on the front and back, not the top or bottom, of the valve covers. What will REALLY blow your mind is when/if you ever come across one that has three studs on the passenger's side. Those third studs were where the transmission dipstick tube bracket attached on Factory Turbo engines.

And when replacing the thermostat I found a stud in the outlet neck.

IIRC, that would have been on the longer of the two bolts. That's where the strange, not even acknowledged by Ford back in the late 90's extra coolant hose attached by a bracket. Those came out only on E4OD trucks and just for a few years. Those hoses were mostly a steel line and had rubber on both ends. The lower part attached to the lower radiator tank by way of a extra nipple there. The top end attached to a special, also not acknowledged by Ford in the late 90's heater hose that had a T close to the thermostat housing for that coolant line to attach to.

 

[ihc1470]

Should not be that hard to turn out some on a lathe.

 

[FrozenMerc]

You can get replacements dowels through Summit, Jegs, or any other engine parts shop etc. Just measure them, and search by the dimensions, not engine type. They are a fairly generic size.

 

[DirtyWood]

FYI the locating dowels are easy to find. Fordpartsgiant.com had 'em and it appears that the 7.3 powerstroke used the same locating dowels through 2003. Very overpriced for what they are but still cheaper than a lathe and delivered in a few days.