TTD's 1985 6.9 build thread

[towtruckdave]

Hi fellas, I am new to this forum. I am from Cleveland, Oh. I am a towtruck owner/operator and neighborhood renowned engine builder.

After much searching, I found my kind of truck:

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With a "good running" 7.3 IDI (yea my *#^).

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The guy insisted the engine was "great" but I could tell it was whooped. I could hear the chuffing of a wasted exhaust valve. I saw the clouds of death puking out the pipe and I felt the IP hit a brick wall at 1800 rpm. What did I find in the radiator? Oil, that's what.

But in spite of the bad motor, this truck was fresh from NC and had zero rust and working a/c. I towed it out for $2500.

..............................................................................................

So it is now 420. Cubic inch time-that is.

The 6.9 build has officially begun.

This motor has 53k miles on it and it shows. The cylinders look good, as do the bearings and heads. So I grabbed some ARP head studs, a fel pro gasket kit & valley pan. But here is the thing: the head gaskets that were in my 6.9 (running fine), are black w/red silicone and are better quality than my new fel pros. I reckon these to be the Victor Reinz.

I was warned by some you on this forum that felpro is not the hot setup, and now I have to agree.

These things scream cheap!

fel pro# 8891

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I have have to reject these head gaskets. This motor will be turbocharged. So now it is time to order the Victors.

Hey, does anyone know what the large "85" casting on my heads near the exhaust port means?

 

[Silver Burner]

Built in 85?

 

[Diesel JD]

The 85 means it's the updated casting that eliminated the casting defect near the block heater freeze plug. It means you can run the block heater without fear of cracking the block which is always nice. I agree use the Victor head gaskets if you can get them, Fel Pro has a good reputation but I've heard rumbles that some folks have had issues and they may now be cutting corners. Maybe, maybe not but why take a chance? CHanging head gaskets once it's in the truck is much harder. Are you going to stud the heads as well? It might be money well spent so the bolts won't be the "limit" to your power quest. Stock bolts are really only good to around 12 psi unless you like to live dangerous.

 

[towtruckdave]

Thank You for the info.

I am using the ARP stud w/hex nuts from Summit. I am lucky Summit is right down I77. For the head gaskets, there is a CarQuest a couple of cities over. I am also thinking about hitting up the local Ford Truck dealer.

Does Ford sell the Victor Reinz at the parts counter?

 

[Diesel JD]

Dave,
I have no idea what the OEM gaskets are at the Ford or IH counter or if they even still have them. Maybe someone here does. I know Calvin (towcat) doesn't like the idea of using IH or Ford gaskets because in his view they caused or exacerbated the head gasket issue by a poor design initially so why trust them to get it right in their updates? On the other hand they probably have it figured out by now, but there is the possibility you could get an older head gasket design I guess. A friend of mine had IH gaskets for his truck that he got on ebay and I would have been nervous about putting those in for him or on my truck since they were probably NOS. Now, with the ARP studs I'm sure you know you MUST follow their torquing instructions which to most people seem a little strange and excessive. Also their stud lube is better than motor oil for lubing their fasteners. Lastly I suppose being a gearhead and knowing your stuff you have atorque wrench you trust but the calibration and torque values here are very critical with not a lot of tolerance for error.

 

[towtruckdave]

I have three torque wrenches and they all are within 6 lbs, so I will use the middle one.

 

[FordGuy100]

I used those Fel Pro gaskets and they are doing fine for me...

 

[towtruckdave]

I am sure they would be fine but I like the quality of these old VRs. If I had to, I would run the felpros and not worry, but since I have a choice, I am going with the ones that may be a little better. Even if it is all in my mind, it will make me happy.

 

[Agnem]

I did a bit of an analysis of the headgasket situation in my headgasket changing article over on TDS. I trust the Ford/IH gaskets. Personally, I would think Victor Reinz and the rest have basically taken what Ford/IH learned the hard way and just integrated their knowledge into their product, possibly without the pain and suffering of the OEM. Some will argue that all they make is gaskets so theirs are the best, but I submit to you that whoever makes the gaskets for Ford/IH are one of those companies. I know Armstrong made gaskets for Cummins, and they worked really hard to make a good product. I was in their testing lab often back in the 90's. The OEM gaskets have a vested interest in being a good product.

 

[Joejohn]

I have been a Fel-pro guy with every build (gas or diesel) I have done and each time they have never failed me.

 

[icanfixall]

The Fel pro head gaskets are fine... The Victor Reinz head gaskets a fine too... I use fel pro in my rebuilds without and failures as do many others. My feelings are the victor reinz are just about as great a gasket as fel pro or what you get at the dealer. I wouldn't buy one before the other because "they are a better gasket".... Some have had more depth with the use of this or that.. I understand that and value that experiance too. These gaskets are top notch. I can tel you th felpro head gaskets are working great in my motor and they are around 72 thousands compressed thickness... An uncompressed thickness is around 75 thousands... they are supposedly 10 thous thicker than stock but I have never been able to prove or disprove that.... Still trying too.....

 

[Rot Box]

Looks like a fun build

 

[towtruckdave]

Broken & Stuck Exhaust Fastener

OK, I got all my gaskets, studs, cleaners and paint. I spent about 6 hours de-funking my motor prior to dissassembly. It turns out the motor is grey.

I cleaned all the gasket surfaces until they were perfect and shiny, especially the heads and decks.

Then I figured, " I might as well extract this broken exhaust bolt out of the head........... About five hours later, I concluded, with absolute certainty, that this bolt was made of some hard steel! I bought 10 of the best drill bits available here in town, but they did nothing to this bolt. The center punch just went blunt without making a dent. This was probably a hardened stud.

As a last resort, I broke out the smokewrench. When I hit the trigger on the O2, that pesky bolt came blasting out at about 4000* F.

There were even still threads in the hole, so I did ok, but I wasted the torch tip. Which is, IMO, an acceptable price to pay to move the job along.

I will post some pics soon.........

 

[icanfixall]

Glad you got the broken bolt out of the head... Not many know how to use a cutting torch like that... Now make sure you use a bottoming tap and clean the head bolt threads in the block.... If you can't find a bottoming tap just cut off a starting tap but keep it cool. If it turns blue its shot.... Use brake clean on the heads and block. It wont leave a film....

 

[towtruckdave]

I got some time to work on my 6.9 today. PICS

I degreased the heads and block, being careful not to get any debris inside the engine. I checked the rod bearings-no play. I checked my bores-no taper, within tolerance. The valve guides felt good. I found no cracks in the heads. I bought all my gaskets and stuff.

So here we go with my junkyard idi build.

The bottom end of these motors are built like a brick *********.

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I am really digging the gear drive, beafy 4 bolt mains and roller lifters.

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I installed my ARP head studs and torqued down my heads in sequence and in increments (30,50,70,90 ft.lbs). I was happy they supplied plenty of moly lube, which I used to torque the nuts.

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Next I will finish prepping the valve covers, water pump, balancer and pulleys for paint............