Hello to all! I am in the process of restoring a 77 Ford Ranger with a 351m/400 not sure which one it is. long story short the truck has been sitting for quite some time. the engine would smoke pretty bad the first couple times I started it up. since then I have replaced the head gaskets on both/ changed the oil and now it doesn't smoke anymore. The oil is milky again but I believe that is because the pan is really dirty and still has coolant left over in the pan. My coolant level seems fine! I had a mechanic look at it the other day he told me I shouldn't have replaced the head gaskets without resurfacing the heads because it will just blow again. Should I resurface the heads? how much would that run me? Its already bad enough the c6 transmission in the truck wont go into reverse. I have to pick up a used c6 trans from a 460 for 400 bucks. Right now I am not looking for any performance gains. I just want the truck on the road.

 

Did you check the heads for cracks? Those heads are notorious for cracking.

 

 

Good luck finding a set of useable heads in a junkyard today. You're better off buying a fresh set that's been reworked.

 

It's a good practice to check the heads for flatness and cracks whenever they're off the engine.
That said if it's running ok and not losing coolant, drive it, no since taking it back apart for a possible problem that hasn't happened yet.