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Apr 4, 2011 | 05:29 PM

regidog

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Senior User

Joined: Feb 2010

Posts: 161

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Recommendations Please!

Had a minor coolant leak from the rear portion of the passenger side head on my 1992 F350 7.3 IDI. Pulled the head, could tell it was leaking at the rear coolant passage. Brought the head to a recommended machine shop to have it pressure tested and magnafluxed etc.. No cracks, valve seats are good but the shop recommended resurfacing as the corner with the collant passage was 3 thousandths off.

Can these heads be resurfaced? and is 3 thousandths too much for the head gasket to seal. I will be installing a Victor Reinz head gasket.

I have read resurfacing can change the engine timing and that the clearance on the valves is not enough to consider resurfacing. Shop calls tomorrow and I need to say yeah or nah.

Thanks

Apr 4, 2011 | 05:38 PM

38Chevy454

More Turbo

Joined: Nov 2010

Posts: 521

Likes: 6

From: Cincinnati, OH

0.003 inch is about the thickness of a piece of paper. Should not affect anything with valve clearance. I believe the valvetrain has automatic hydraulic adjustment anyway?

Timing is not controlled by the head location on the block. Timing is controlled by the timing gears which are locked in the location by the block and timing cover.

You would get a very small increase in compression ratio due to very small decrease in chamber volume of the head, but that is in theoretical noise, I doubt you could tell such a small amount on any gages.

Your head gasket compressed thickness could vary by 0.003 inch

Apr 4, 2011 | 05:41 PM

oreocreaming

Postmaster

Joined: Jan 2010

Posts: 4,319

Likes: 4

From: Elk City, OK

you will be alright, decking the head that little isnt going to even be able to be noticed. 3 thousandths is .003 when you think about it, a single sheet of copy machine paper is .0038