Ok, starting with a stock 6.0, and doing the work yourself, can anyone give an approximate time and cost to bulletproof?

Studs
Egr replacement (or delete)
Cooler filter
Does the oil cooler need to be replaced or just flushed?
Blue spring
I've heard stock head gaskets are the way to go
Do the heads need to be checked if it never had issues?
Programmer is req'd if doing egr delete, correct? Plus being recommended
Egt, oil temp gauges at a minimum
Would imagine having heads pulled, go ahead and clean injectors?
Change to elc coolant

Anything else?

I can buy a truck with or without the work done, costs an extra 4k for him to do it, and he does an egr delete as well. I'm not sure if he does the cooler filter.

I do most of my own work on my toys, don't usually touch my dd's.
If it can be done in a weekend, I've got a shop I can pull the cab off in if that would make it easier. While I can't weld, a friend can, he has also done a stud job on a 6.0 before...once....which is one more time than I have.

 

I did not due the work myself, but it cost me 6k to have the following done
ARP Head Studs and gaskets
EGR delete
New Oil Cooler
New HPOP
New IPR Valve
Blue Spring Regulator upgrade
4" Cat free exhaust
I had all of this done when my 04 F-250 floted a head with only 32,000 miles
I figured the labor cost was about 2k

 

I did the egr delete on my 2003............took me 13 hrs..........never and i mean never did i work on a diesel........but took my time .......turbo bolts were a pain in the a$$...........small head big bolt......MBRP 4" turbo back cat-delete exhaust .....bought ARP studs and was going to do my self..........but at the time ford was offering 12months same as cash on all work over 500.00.........so i took it to my local dealer(whom ive done business with for years) labor was 1800.00...so with that i had the mechanic Glenn do ALL the work to it.......studs, gaskets, banjo bolts for the injectors, spring kit, turbo service, tuners(SCT with custom tunes) and a CTS to monitor the engine......oya and a trans service..........4500.00 all while i was in FL on vacation..................runs like a raped ape....bad a$$

 

Studs Yes ARP studs.

Egr replacement (or delete) Delete if you will NEVER register it in a jurisdiction that has emissions testing. I replaced mine with a Sinister Diesel EGR cooler, as the next county over from me has mandatory testing and I figure it is only a matter of time before it works its way west.

Cooler filter Yes. You will not believe the crap that will come out of that filter on the first change. When you have the engine apart, you'll have to replace the coolant when you put it back together.

Does the oil cooler need to be replaced or just flushed? Since you will have the engine apart anyway, replace it. In the total cost of the bulletproofing, it's cheap insurance.

Blue spring Cheap and Ford put them on later models. Do it.

I've heard stock head gaskets are the way to go You heard correctly.

Do the heads need to be checked if it never had issues? Since you are planning to replace the head gaskets and TTY head bolts, send the heads to the machine shop for inspection and planing.

Programmer is req'd if doing egr delete, correct? Plus being recommended
Egt, oil temp gauges at a minimum Or you can do the delete and leave the EGR valve connected, secured to the engine with a zip tie. I use a Scangauge II with a BlendMount to hold it. The Scangauge II can monitor four parameters on its screen at one time, and you can change the parameter on the fly to monitor additional sensors. I can't lose the grab handle on the driver side pillar. I would NOT put a tuner on that truck, the engine comes tweaked from the Ford factory.

Would imagine having heads pulled, go ahead and clean injectors? Do a contribution test on all eight injectors, if any are off specification, replace with remanufactured units.

Change to elc co Some say yes, some say no. I changed mine.

Doing all the work and putting a 4 inch MBRP turbo back exhaust on mine cost me about $5K parts and labor. Truck runs like new.

 

Bought my Ex 3 years ago this week.

First thing would be to change fluids so you know they are all changed.
Add a coolant filter - ensure you have FORD filters and OIL cap.
Get a ODBII gauge (scangauge2, or the new apps for phones/tablets).

Learn about maintenance items: fuel, oil, if you have 4x4 the hubs, etc. etc.

After about 8 months when I found my coolant and oil temps having 15-20* deltas on the highway, I budgeted and planned for a small local shop that is run by a former Ford Diesel Mechanic (from a local dealer) install my BPD oil and egr coolers. Parts/labor $3300 +/-

Since then, I've done all the work myself gaining knowledge (and lots of tools!) and each time you pull something apart to repair/replace you get to see more things you didn't know where there and that knowledge helps in the future.

Lots of horror stories about folks with bad luck, taking it to the 'wrong' place to have it fixed and their story just gets worse and worse.

Good luck - no need to spend $$$ UNTIL you need to. You'll find something else that needs attention first (clunking, springs, 4x4, etc. etc.) but plan what you'd do IF the time comes so you can get it fixed the RIGHT way and hopefully NEVER worry about that component again.

 

Can't speak to doing the studs but I'm doing an EGR delete, oil cooler and STC fitting replacement on mine now. I've got about 5 hours into tearing it down, just waiting on my parts to arrive today and then rebuild. I imagine it'll take me longer since I'll be taking my time and double checking myself the whole way. So for I'm less than $500 into parts.

This is what I was told should be done while I'm in there, coolant filter is next but I'm going to hold off on the standpipes for now.

Stand pipes
dummy Plugs
STC fitting
HPO Reservoir screen Update
Blue Fuel spring
ELC (Extended Life Coolant)
EGR Deleate if Possible or you can just replace it
New Oil cooler
Coolant filter setup..

 

Looks like I may've lucked out.

Truck I was looking at previously is back on the market

Egr delete
Studs
New oil cooler
Coolant filter
Blue spring
Coolant
Sct tuner
New tranny and regeared axles
New 35" tires
New injectors ( being put in right now)

For the same price as a stock truck costs.

And less than 150k miles.