6.9 project

[smoky6-9]

Alright so I’m as green as they get when it comes to the idi game, I’ve done some decent research but i have some missing puzzle pieces. Im planning a basic rebuild in the coming months as i just bought the engine recently (bearings, cam, piston rings, re-grind valves and springs?) with other parts down the road like the fuel system.

I can research all day long but you guys sound very knowledgeable and full of experience towards what brands to trust and which to steer clear of, any and all help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[IDIBRONCO]

Welcome. I suggest that you read a couple of threads on the home page of this sub forum. Toward the top, left hand corner, you will see "People who provide excellent service" and "The Oilburners hall of shame". Read both of these and learn from the experiences of others, both good and bad. For the pumps and injectors, there's only 4 places that are known for quality parts: Justin at R&D IDI Performance, Wes (Thewespaul on here) at Classic Diesel designs, Russ (Typ4 on here), and Mel (Agnem on here) at Conestoga Diesel. Those were in no particular order. I would buy from any of them myself. For engine parts, just stick with name brand items like Melling, sealed Power, Clevite, and Perfect Circle. I prefer Fel-Pro gaskets. Their head gaskets are .010" thicker at both compressed and uncompressed thicknesses (it can make all the difference). DO NOT have very much material removed from the heads when surfacing. These are a VERY close tolerance engine, and the valves and pistons will hit if too much is taken off of the heads. Another thing is that the stock oil pump is a better unit than the aftermarket ones. Most of us prefer to reuse those unless there's a lot of wear inside them. I hope this helps.

 

[smoky6-9]

Thank you that helps alot! I’ve read some about the king bearings being tri-metal but I haven’t heard anyone talk about king bearings, they must not be good haha

 

[smoky6-9]

Also on the camshafts side of things, is r&d worth the money otherwise I’ve heard good things of Typ4 I believe his username is?

 

[IDIBRONCO]

It may not mean much, but I haven't heard of King bearings myself, so I wouldn't recommend that anyone I know uses them. They also could be the best thing in bearings that's ever happened and I just haven't heard about it. If you do decide to buy a cam from one of those guys, be absolutely sure to check your valve to piston clearances before you finish the engine up and try to run it. If you have clearance issues, you want to know before you do damage to your engine. i have a Typ4 cam that I was going to install in my 7.3, but the "machinist" that I took my heads to removed way too much material and I had to buy .010" decompressed pistons in order to run a stock cam.

 

[smoky6-9]

much appreciated, do you recommend resurfacing to prevent leaks or do these engines have a tendency to warp heads?

 

[IDIBRONCO]

They can warp them, but as big and heavy as they are, it takes quite a bit to actually do it. IIRC, the difference between the maximum and minimum head thicknesses is only .010". Resurfacing isn't a bad thing to do. It's totally different than milling. You can check the flatness of your heads by setting a straight edge across the head diagonally. If you see very little or no light showing underneath the straight edge, you heads aren't warped. Another advantage that these heads have is the fact that there's 17 head bolts per head.