Ghostrider lives again
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Junior User
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 95
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Ghostrider lives again
Greetings to all. Well after fighting so long and so hard and having to finish the job myself, I am pleased to say Ghostrider lives again.
As it ended up I had to have the guy that was supposed to replace the head gaskets on my 95 F250 w 460. What he brought to me was a basket case. Broken vacuum lines. Cut EGR tubes.
First I notced he broke 3 exhaust manifold bolts in the heads. I took them to a known good FORD mechanic to have them removed. One had to be drilled. In the mean time I ordered a complete top end gasket set from FelPro. Now comes the fun part. I drilled and tapped for the helicoil and started the process of assembly. Mind you I have never attemped to assemble a mess like this before. I am a virgin to this 460. I ordered a Haynes manual at the time I ordered the gasket set.
Finally after playing process of elemination on all the bolts and nuts I assembled the motor, hooked up all the EGR stuff and started filling the coolant, untill it all started running out the bolt hole that I helicoiled. Seems I went a tad deep when drilling it out. Ok being a handyman I try to look past the problem and search for a solution. Low and behold JBWeld came to mind. I drained the coolant, wicked the remaining fluid with towels, cleaned the hole with acitone and Qtips. Mind you this is all being done crouched between the tire and the frame. I mixed up the JB and made a 'plug' to push into the bolt hole. Smeared JB into the helicoil, then put a 'dot' of JB on the end of the studbolt, then smeared the threads of the studbolt with JB. I quickly threaded the bolt back into the head and threw the gasket and tightened the rest of the exhaust manifold bolts to spec except the offending bolt. Then I let it set up for 2 and half days.
Tonight I filled the radiator and crossed my fingers. NO LEAKS
After getting the timing right so it would fire up, I let the motor get warm enough to open the thermostat and then shut her down for the evening. Its supposed to get about 38 for the low tonight, I figure this will be a good test of my cold weld job. I guess I will find out for sure tomorrow when I give a look under the truck for any water puddles. Then comes the real test, cutting and loading up a couple of loads of firewood. I'll post back with the results later on tomorrow evening. Hopefully I will be very tired from cutting, loading, unloading, splitting, and stacking 2 big loads of firewood.
As it ended up I had to have the guy that was supposed to replace the head gaskets on my 95 F250 w 460. What he brought to me was a basket case. Broken vacuum lines. Cut EGR tubes. First I notced he broke 3 exhaust manifold bolts in the heads. I took them to a known good FORD mechanic to have them removed. One had to be drilled. In the mean time I ordered a complete top end gasket set from FelPro. Now comes the fun part. I drilled and tapped for the helicoil and started the process of assembly. Mind you I have never attemped to assemble a mess like this before. I am a virgin to this 460. I ordered a Haynes manual at the time I ordered the gasket set. Finally after playing process of elemination on all the bolts and nuts I assembled the motor, hooked up all the EGR stuff and started filling the coolant, untill it all started running out the bolt hole that I helicoiled. Seems I went a tad deep when drilling it out. Ok being a handyman I try to look past the problem and search for a solution. Low and behold JBWeld came to mind. I drained the coolant, wicked the remaining fluid with towels, cleaned the hole with acitone and Qtips. Mind you this is all being done crouched between the tire and the frame. I mixed up the JB and made a 'plug' to push into the bolt hole. Smeared JB into the helicoil, then put a 'dot' of JB on the end of the studbolt, then smeared the threads of the studbolt with JB. I quickly threaded the bolt back into the head and threw the gasket and tightened the rest of the exhaust manifold bolts to spec except the offending bolt. Then I let it set up for 2 and half days.
Tonight I filled the radiator and crossed my fingers. NO LEAKS
After getting the timing right so it would fire up, I let the motor get warm enough to open the thermostat and then shut her down for the evening. Its supposed to get about 38 for the low tonight, I figure this will be a good test of my cold weld job. I guess I will find out for sure tomorrow when I give a look under the truck for any water puddles. Then comes the real test, cutting and loading up a couple of loads of firewood. I'll post back with the results later on tomorrow evening. Hopefully I will be very tired from cutting, loading, unloading, splitting, and stacking 2 big loads of firewood.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 2,244
Likes: 2
From: Cottage Grove, WI
Good to hear you were able to get the truck back on the road, hope that plug holds. W/ all the expanding and contracting of the engine, I hate to say it but your "fix" is almost certainly temporary.
Der Postmeister
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 6,859
Likes: 560
From: Long Beach, Calimexiforia
I'm rootin for you too, but.......
Post Fiend
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 23,849
Likes: 20
From: McKenzie River
Yeah, we are in your corner, hopefully, the JB weld will hold by some miracle. With all the hot/cold duty cycles, I doubt it will for a extended time. You may end up having to pull the head again, having a machine shop fill with real weld and re-drill/tap..........Here's hopin!
