The special "tools" are a very skilled machine shop. Not all machine shops are able to do the job even if they have all the tools to do so. Having the tools is only half the battle. Just because someone has Illustrator doesn't make them a skilled graphic artist.

A lot of times you get what you pay for. I deal with this type of mentality as well in the design industry. Forget price and forget who is your friend and who isn't. Ask the tough questions and vet the shop based on skill. In the end, tools are only as good as the person that is using them.

 

what?!?!?!?! last time I checked that head was just a cheap piece of cast iron..... easy to do....for people that dont know its real easy to hit .001 total flatness on a cylinder head with almost any mill big enough. You my friend obviously dont know what a "real" machine shop is....last time I checked a tool room was better....

to the op nothing special just need a face mill with a wiper insert to make the .0002 cleanup pass or a single insert flycutter. Indicate the whole surface in get your averages and I just used 123 blocks and some t-slot clamps. I did all the work in a cnc mitsui seki milling center. If your friends are willing to do it...takes about 2 hours tops...and thats takin' your sweet time.
ya know they can also be blanchard ground flat too....the next time I will do that.....then you are talking .0002 total flatness.

To people that dont know that is WAY more accurate than a heat and beat automotive machine shop that just get it "good enough" so that in no shape or form is the cheap way out. my idea is that I didnt trust anyone else but myself.

 

Then I must be "special" hahahaha cause it was a piece of cake....

by all means I agree if the shop cant setup the heads right and hold the flatness callouts then I would not risk it...

 

Yea shimming is the standard way of getting them square to the world....or if you set it up right a tenths indicator is more accurate....it just takes longer. and heat and beat shops cant spend the time doing that to set up the heads (they loose money)

 

We'll I'll just ask the one that I know is a perfectionist. I know for certain he'll be straight up honest with me as to whether or not he thinks he can do it.

 

You missed the point that I was making and that is I wouldn't go by if a shop has all the tools are not, but if they have the skill and the know how to do the job right.

I have seen and heard about a lot of re-do head work especially as it's related to the 6.0 due to the tight tolerances that are involved in that job. Also, if it was that easy that any **** head could do it, why would Ford have replacement only be written in their manuals? If it's that easy and of little concern with know-how, why would they only mention replacement?

Now as to why it may have been so easy for you is that you may indeed know what your doing. Those that know exactly what to do, for some reason, always seem to think it's so easy. I can design a kickass website using notepad, which comes with all computers (even custom built ones like mine), I don't need to use Dreamweaver to do so. Dreamweaver is very efficient and sophisticated for designing websites, I can even design websites that would beat those that were done in Dreamweaver, because of what I know. A tool, no matter what it is, is only as good as the person that's using it.

Machining the heads my indeed be very easy to do on a 6.0 if you have the know-how to do it. That's the defining characteristic.

 

Its unfortunate thats how it is....some automotive machine shops are running on equipment 30 yrs old, the machines are not clean, they clamp it down wrong so you are not milling in free state form, etc. I totally agree....who knows....they just might have a guy that just got a job there and doesnt know what he's doing with the customers 1k heads.

As far as ford requesting that the heads are replaced rather than machined....well
1. ford makes more money.
2. ford can control the reman process of the heads.
3. faster turn around at the dealer.

but the process itself just getting the head surface flat is not a big issue. however it would be better to get "new" heads from ford because I'm sure it comes with new guides, seals, ground valves and or new ones.

 

^^^That was my point smart guy...
The OP had posted that his machinist was a landscaper by day but thanks for agreeing that he should use a tool room properly as you say.

 

If the dealership wanted to make more money, they would do something that was more labor intensive as that is their real bread and butter, the labor charge. I could understand just wanting to go new heads with warranty work. I would agree with all those point, however, when it's out of warranty work, why would Ford care especially about 3? Out of warranty, the monetary incentive is to keep the vehicle a reasonable time to do the repair, not for quick turnaround like an oil change.


Now that is true, but you have added difficulty of keeping less then .008, some say no more then .005. That demands precision. People do make mistakes even good ones. The heads on my truck had to be machined, but they actually had to do it twice, they didn't take off enough on the pass. side. This was also a highly regarded machine shop as well for performance engine work even, so mis haps can happen either why, statistically though they happen more with people that don't have the necessary skill set or know how.

 

Yea the max some say is .008 off of the origional height....if it takes only .003 to clean up perfect as long as its equal to the other head....

 

no prob....but then agian not my heads! muhahahahahaha

 

That's no problem, I'm not saying that it isn't. I'm talking about the precision that it takes to make sure that's it. Some, even good ones, make mistakes when it comes to precision, which machining these heads require. The process itself of just machining, I would agree with you, isn't brain surgery, but the precision and being able to accurately and quickly get there is something else.

As to your bay comment in red. If your truck is in there being worked on, they are charging you that money. Even if your part is at the machine shop, I can promise you that you are going to be paying for that machine shop's time plus a % on top of that for Ford to get.

Under warranty work, you are absolutely correct. Getting that vehicle in and out is the prime objective, when it's out of warranty it becomes less and less a big deal for a lot of repairs.

Now if it's just setting there and nothing is being done to it, that's another thing entirely and would apply more to your comment. But I can promise you that if it's being worked on by Ford in some manner, your being charged that shop's hourly rate or if it's getting outsourced to another local shop, for whatever reason, you are paying that shop's rate + % markup.

The only time they aren't making money is if that truck is truly just sitting there.

I would imagine that they would whether have a vehicle in the bay in some stage of getting worked on then an empty bay, they just want that down time waiting for a shipped part down to a min.

 

I didn't say my machinist was a landscaper by day...I said my good friend is a landscaper by day but has a machining degree. His brothers are the ones that are the machinists by profession, and one in particular is a damn good one. He's machined the heads off of his 05 Z71 Tahoe and also machined out the supercharger for it to make them both more efficient and that sucker will flat out move and he hasn't had a days trouble with it. If he tells me he can do it then I would definitely trust him. The other brother is more into building stuff like bumpers and stuff like that (non-precision work) so I doubt I'd ask him. But the landscaper...HELL NO! He hasn't seen the inside of a machine shop in 8 or more years!

 

I completely agree with having it done at a decent shop...it scares me too thinking the dip***** can set it up on a chip and have an oops at our expense....its alot to risk for sure...

when heads are done on the truck it would truly just be setting there becasue you cant start putting the truck back together. the mechanic has to either work around the truck to service other vehicles, work on the floor, or not accept work. Its alot of money when a lift is tied up. Shop turn around at fastest could be a day. at longest depends on how busy....a week.

 

You must have a smaller shop then. The one here is a pretty damn big one, especially the diesel shop area. I didn't think that their setup was actually sustainable considering the trend of people working on their own now (although for some that costs more in the long run then what it saved them), but in this area you have a lot of spoiled kids that get the latest and greatest, but have no knowledge about aftermarket parts except what they read in the ads. So they are back there pretty often for work on this that and the other.