head removal
 

'65 F100. i know nothing about the motor's history, other than that the block is a '72.

i've got the intake & exhaust manifolds off, because i'm switching to EFI manifolds, and getting rid of the load-o-matic carb/distributor.

now i'm staring at the bare head, and realizing that if i was ever going to pull it, now is the time.

my question is- what do you recommend? i can see that the backsides of the valves are completely gunked up.

Hi Rusty,
What are you asking recommendations for? Recommendations on how to remove it? What to do with it when it's off?

i guess i'm looking for recommendations as to what sorts of things i should be looking for/checking/having done by a machine shop, once i get it off.

the engine actually runs pretty well, but i have no idea how many miles are on it.

let me rephrase-

if you bought a running truck, but didn't know the history of the engine...and then pulled the intake/exhaust off, and could see that the backsides of the valves are all gummed up:

1. would you go ahead and pull the head?
2. if you did pull the head, what would you do at that point? (milling/new guides, etc)


thanks-

Have you done a compression test on the engine? If your compression's good, it's possible things are just dirty.

But, if you do pull the head, your best bet is to take it to a competent shop that works on heads and have them go over it. They have the specialty tools to measure everything to be sure its all in spec and can give you a much more detailed list of what needs to be worked on.

Although, like F-250 said, if you put a freshly rebuilt head onto a tired engine, the extra compression can cause aging rings to go out.

thanks guys- i'll shoot for the compression test this weekend.

I was in the same boat w\ my 66 240 . I was burning alittle oil , and found all my valve guide seals lying in the head gullies. I did my own valve job with a drill like my daddy showed me, replaced the valve guide seals, and the truck runs better than it ever did. I put a new oil and fuel pump on it also those 240 lower ends will run forever.