Someone loosened up my injector lines....

[RLDSL]

It is my understanding that the passenger-side head will me a royal pain to pull with the engine still in truck, and even worse job reinstalling it if you decide to run studs instead of bolts - not much space between that and the A/C evaporator box.

Just take the engine side cover for the AC evaporator off first. Gives you all kinds of room. The bottom bolts are accessed from the passenger footwell

 

[DeepRoots]

couldn't you just shim up the cab 4-5 inches?
seems like it'd give you plenty of room... the 1hour it'd take to do it would save 5-6 down the road.

 

[Chevyboy_0]

couldn't you just shim up the cab 4-5 inches?
seems like it'd give you plenty of room... the 1hour it'd take to do it would save 5-6 down the road.

What you mean shim the cab up

 

[Truck#3]

Maybe it will be easier to remove the cab instead of the engine

 

[Chevyboy_0]

This is starting to get more and more complicated it seems....

 

[sootman73]

by shimming the cab he means unbolting it and putting blocks or something between the cab and frame to give you more room to lift the heads off. my friend did head gaskets with the engine in the truck. ill ask him how difficult it was and what he found was the best way to do it.

 

[DeepRoots]

thanks sootman.
too many hours out on the ocean kills my social skills.

 

[jtate]

i did mine with engine still in the truck and its not to bad. if you remove the radiator and shroud you can actualy stand inside the engine compartment with ease. i dont know how big you are, but im 6ft and 260lbs and i fit in there. the only two thing i can say is you need somebody that knows how to fetch tools if you need them, because climbing in and out is a real PITA and second a good back if you plan on lifting those heads off by hand like i did. just remembered while typing you have to put the back bolts in the holes before you lower the heads back on the motor because once the heads are on you cant drop the bolts down into the holes. hope this helps.

jarrett

 

[Chevyboy_0]

i did mine with engine still in the truck and its not to bad. if you remove the radiator and shroud you can actualy stand inside the engine compartment with ease. i dont know how big you are, but im 6ft and 260lbs and i fit in there. the only two thing i can say is you need somebody that knows how to fetch tools if you need them, because climbing in and out is a real PITA and second a good back if you plan on lifting those heads off by hand like i did. just remembered while typing you have to put the back bolts in the holes before you lower the heads back on the motor because once the heads are on you cant drop the bolts down into the holes. hope this helps.

jarrett

Thanks for the tip, I'm actually about the same size just a lil lighter. I just need to recruit some tool runners and remember to put the bolts in before I put the heads on

 

[jtate]

Thanks for the tip, I'm actually about the same size just a lil lighter. I just need to recruit some tool runners and remember to put the bolts in before I put the heads on

ARE YOU CALLING ME FAT? i think it would be alot easier now to do it since im 15lbs lighter. i put the bolts in and used big rubberbands to hold them in place. i also used a old pillow to drape over the ip housing and water pump, that water pump can be a pain in the gut literaly.

 

[Chevyboy_0]

Sounds good, what kind of time frame am I looking at for this job?

 

[69oiler]

i did it in a weekend.. friday night-sunday on an '86 6.9 AC equipped truck.

 

[jtate]

for me it took longer to clean the parts than it took to put it back together. at the time i didnt have a pressure washer and did everything by hand. i was working 4-10 hr days and did it all in three days. just make sure you have all the stuff you need before starting. i tried using a engine crane to lift the heads but found it easier and faster to just man handle them.