I wanted to post up the pictures of my injectors for those that may notice something I may not be aware of.

The second from right was passenger #6.

 

So I am looking for two things in the Sacramento or Yubba City area. A reputable place to check my heads and more than likely, who I should get new heads from.

 

post deleted (not paying attention to previous posts!)

 

With this build I'm not hinging any decision on cheap vs. expensive but what is best. I had originally jumped on the 6.4 bandwagon but continued my research and decided against them. The 6.0 and 6.4 banjos were designed for different engines with different plumbing systems. I do not need a banjo debate in this thread since it is focused on the headgaskets. I appreciate the input about the washers and they are added to my shopping list.

 

I live in Sacramento also... I got my headgaskets, oil cooler & studs from Sinister http://sinisterdiesel.com that located in Roseville. They are identical that being sold from Ford dealer. The guy who did my bulletproof said that Sinister buys them in big bulks from Ford & re-sell them.

 

Ran across this in my search for improvement of the factory flow design. Couldn't remember who asked about them until just now!

 

Yeah I've definetly heard of them but already have my gaskets, studs, cooler, etc. I just have banjo washers to get and probably new heads.

YES! Thanks for finding that.

 

Got a picture this morning of the driver head. You can see the blister that developed. It has three of them.

 

It definitely had a bad gasket,you can see it between the cylinders.Id send them to a machine shop and mill them,check the valves and your good to go. You dont need new heads, that's a waste of money.

 

I've never seen blisters like that on heads before. I'm not sure what caused the metal to blister like that and am concerned if I just deck them it will create weak spots that may cause problems again. My first goal is trying to find a reputable shop in the Sacramento and surrounding area that can check my heads. I should have been searching before so I would be ready to send them out instead of now having to wait another week or two.

 

If you get them machined, don't forget to replace/upgrade pushrods. New pushrods are shorter. Your back will thank you that you'll be taking a break while their being machined LoL

 

You don't necessarily have to. I had 5 or 7 thousandths taken off my heads and didn't change a push rod

 

This is the first I have read on all the head jobs to replace them with shorter rods according to the machining. Not saying I don't understand the physics of lowering the deck and not the rods. Just new information of all the people who have done stud jobs.

This is the unwritten belief I had been going off of.


I'm finding little things not mentioned in other builds also. Like the EGR cooler metal gaskets. Never read in a single post to replace them but from what I understand about metal gaskets and what I have read, they are not reusable. Also, I have never read about replacing banjo gaskets on any stud job but they also should be replaced. Learning as I go and hope this helps other people as I get through it.

 

The shorter pushrods are just piece of mind imo especially after machining the heads. I'll be pulling my lifters for inspection & replacing if anything looks off. Of course this adds a little to the cost but it's definitely not something you want to fail 50k miles after the job.

I agree about the egr gaskets & other misc gaskets not mentioned. I have about $200 in my budget for the oddball stuff. Always best to prepare for the worst of everything.

 

So here's where I'm at after spending all morning scouring the web and on the phone.

Shop A

• Will measure head thickness to check prior machining and run a straight edge to check warping for free.
• Has never found a head without cracks and will recondition with hardened seats as needed for $1750.
• No specified warranty.

Shop B

• No freebies.
• $225 a head to tear down and check everything.
• $250 a head to deck only.
• $1950 to recondition with hardened seats as needed.
• No specified warranty.

Shop C

• (out of area) $250 to ship.
• Wash, pressure test, peen.
• $1650 reconditioned, new guides, hardened seats, reuse valves springs unless new needed, deck.
• $600 core (Ford only)
• Lifetime warranty

Shop D

• (out of area) $250 to ship.
• Wash, pressure test, peen.
• $1950 reconditioned, new guides, hardened seats, reuse valves springs unless new needed, deck, o- ring.
• $700 core (Ford only)
• 3 month warranty

What do you think?