rebuild set back or sound advice

[twin7.3s]

I have a 16 year old son who is doing a rebuild on his 7.3 idi (I am supervising but not doing a good job) he has taken pictures of everything he removed and after we pick up the redone heads he (we) looked at the pics and determined which side the heads went on. well long story we put the left side on the right and visa versa. we have not gone very far and are wondering if we can leave the heads on and move the plugs and sensors over or take the heads off and switch back the correct way. if we need to switch the heads can we reuse the head gaskets or buy new?
It is a learning experience for both of us, I am old and hopefully don't need a career change, he on the other hand wants to be a diesel mechanic and that is why I am letting him do most of the work. any help would be greatly appreciated. I have look around this site but can't find the answer to this question but have found some useful info on other question.
Thanks in advance!!

 

[freebird01]

just switch the plugs and what not...the castings are the same from side to side....no need to destroy good gaskets

 

[Michael Fowler]

Twin 7.3s
Welcome to the site. Great Father/son project you have going. good work!
The tech section contains more true/ valid/ correct information on these engines than you will find anywhere else.

I believe that the heads are interchangeable, the differences being only where the sensors are installed.
Heads are HEAVY, aren't they!

 

[FarmerFrank]

Just mocking up my turbo and intake today I accidentally set my heads in the "wrong" way. If they have been rebuilt with new parts there's no harm in it IMHO but I'm not a very picky kind if guy

 

[twin7.3s]

Thanks,we are reusing the rocker arms and pushrods new lifters, cam shaft, pistons and investment in his education opportunities.

 

[riotwarrior]

GET yer son on here, get him reading and reading and reading....but in answer to yer question.

Swap the parts from side to side.

DO NOT USE TEFLON TAPE!!!!!

Use a liquid thread sealant like Permatex Thread sealant for example. TEFLON TAPE is for plumbing toilets and should be in the toilet IMHO

Good luck with the build sounds like a fantastic F/S project!

 

[OLDBULL8]

This may help if you forget, just shift all those sensors from side to side. Don't use Teflon tape on any of them, get the Teflon Paste for natural gas line sealing. Use antisieze on the injectors and glow plugs.

Don't hesitate to ask questions. Were here to help with anything.

 

[FarmerFrank]

Agreed, throw that tape away. Hundreds of good liquid sealants out there that you don't have to worry about putting on the wrong way

 

[icanfixall]

Sounds like a great experiance you and your son are having. You are fine with the heads the way they are. We are very lucky with the idi engines. Every external part is drilled and threaded the same. Even a set of 7.3 heads will bolt on a 6.9 block. Cams, cranks, rods are also the same in both engine sizes. Your in good hands here. We make no distinction of bright or dull members. We try to help everyone equally. Those that don't want help usually leave for other rocking forums where they can beat up on newbies. We don't do that here. Many of us recall not knowing and asking questions too. Look at my post count. You would think I know it all but I'm amazed at the new stuff I learn all the time here. Hopefully you have not installed an oil pan gasket. The cork or rubber gaskets are a new thing the gasket companies are pushing for the profit in them. The factory used an RTV and it works very well. I use the Permatex Ultra copper plus. It heat resist to I think 700 degrees and oil resistance too. It never leaks. Been using it for probably 25 years now. There are other good RTV sealants available too but ask around here. Now about the head gasket installation. Sorry to ask but did you see the message on them in the lower corners telling you this side up.. If you can't recall its best to remove the heads and fix it. Reason is if they were on upside down there will be coolant passages that are not lined up and you will have leaks into the cylinders. It happened to a member here about 2 months ago and a machine shop installed those heads on his engine for him. they fixed it happy to do also. We could not figure out why he had some coolant leaks and filling the oil pan with water but when that shop removed the heads they saw it was their problem. They had fired the worker thats did the crappy work long before this member went back there to find out what was wrong. Now thats a shop I sure would deal with. A shop that stands behind the work that goes out the door is a great place to spend money.

 

[firehawk]

Most good head gaskets can be reused. The Z cars I work on specify torquing the head bolts down in stages, then undoing them, then torquing them down in stages again. On my race car, I have pulled a head to check things, head gasket looked good, so I reused it. Did this several times and never had an issue, and this is on a turbo car that does endurance racing.

 

[firehawk]

Also, use this as a learning experience. Make him swap them. He will remember to check things twice and install once rather than install twice. Kinda like the carpenter mantra of measure twice, cut once.

 

[icanfixall]

Who installed the pistons on the rods. There is a right way direction and a wrong direction. Also they fit the crank one way too. The large chamfer on the edge of the big end MUST face the edge of the crank. The small chamfer faces the other rod on that bearing.

 

[mblaney]

Also, use this as a learning experience. Make him swap them. He will remember to check things twice and install once rather than install twice. Kinda like the carpenter mantra of measure twice, cut once.

+1 Good lesson.

 

[ToughOldFord]

just switch the plugs and what not...the castings are the same from side to side....no need to destroy good gaskets

This ^^^^ the heads are identical, no need to undo work. And you can't reuse a head gasket, even if never run. They are a crush seal, thereby a one use gasket. And if you reused one and it leaks, (it will), you'll be out the the coolant, the oil, and all the work you put in it.