That's about what I put in on my pass side, too, although more than that on my driver's side, which was poorly machined. It took me maybe 12 hours. I did it over several days, using many curse words for the people who caused it.

I also had to fish a few out. Guided by one of my borescopes, I used two wire clothes hangers to make a piercing and hook tool. Most came out with the piercing tool.

I don't see any reason why you can't reuse that gasket.

Anytime I remove the degas bottle, if I'm working where my head is getting close to it, I take off that bracket. I've come close to hitting it.

 

I made a piercing tool out of bailing wire too, but a small tube taped into the vacuum crevice tool was easier on a couple of them. Good argument for using pieces of rags in those racetrack shaped holes.

After having dinged the middle of my forehead a few days ago on that corner, I swore I was going to knock that corner off before I pulled the driver side head. Guess that one slipped through the cracks of my now perforated brain pan. It's getting addressed before the head comes back off.

 

Heads are done.




Moving on to the front cover. The coolant ports at the top of the block have some pitting. What's the best course of action? Clean as best I can and add a thin layer of silicone in those areas?

 

Those two top coolant-out ports seem to have corrosion issues compared to the coolant-in ports below. My gut says it is part of an electrolysis issue when the heads are compromised despite the gasket between the iron block and the aluminum cover. The corrosion is a match for the gasket seal. You also mentioned the level of corrosion in the head-to-heater metal tube.

Someone else here had a major issue with corrosion when he was dealing with failed head gaskets. His name escapes me at the moment, but he wrote an entire thread on the engine build and bought a lift plate from me. But other engines have shown that, too.

I did not have leaking head gaskets on my reman block; 75k while I had that block, unknown prior, and did not have that degree of corrosion.





I'd use a light coating of RTV to fill in the pits despite the gasket having sealant in that location. It could be the TA-31 if you are using that.

Anyway, my 2¢.

 

To put into one picture what Chris achieved with all the hours he put in, the other choice would be to remove and disassemble the engine, take it to a machine shop, and wait days, if not a week, hoping for the best finish. Then, reassemble the engine and put it back in.

He did a really good job, especially considering the heat.

 

This thread caused me to go out on Youtube and see what some of the so called "good" engine builders do and it is so, so way less than what you and Chris did! One guy gets a new knife sharpening block for each job, no check for trueness of the stone and then he only runs it across the head front to back, he then says to ignore the machining grooves still left and never checks the flatness of the block deck. The only thing good about it was he used new KDD o-ringed heads (but without cleaning any potential debris out) when he slapped it back together...

You guys both did a nice job and hopefully the engines never have a HG issue EVER!

 

Thanks. You've punched my button ...

I've also seen a couple of them, including the one you mentioned. They have no idea what they are doing.

Knife sharpening blocks tend to be very fine grit (220 to 8,000), and you can't do the job correctly like that. I know I will cross some people, but Youngblood also fits into this category. In one of his latter videos, he uses 36 grit, which is ridiculous, and he uses an air-body sander with a flexible backing under it. If you look closely at the image of the block, from the reflection, you can see the edge of the block falling off, which is abraded too much. It won't only be at the edges of the block, but the same happens at the cylinders due to the flexible backing, precisely the most critical point where you do not want fall-off.

One issue with using too-coarse grit is that the scratches will be too deep; you must abrade all above to bring the top surface down to achieve a low Ra. Maybe touch with 120 grit to clean off the top surface, then quickly go to 150 grit.

Sanding or lapping blocks and heads was taboo; few ever told anyone they did it. It seems that since I did my video, it's come out more, but they don't understand the process. Bodymen and woodworkers understand the grit issue better than these engine builders, as do machinists who do precision grinding.

 

Chris-Great job on flattening the block, especially with this still in the truck. I hope that once this is complete you have many trouble free miles.

Jack-It seems far too often people post videos of which they have very little knowledge on. Solid/basic machining principles of flatness/parallelism/polishing still stand true and I have to explain the differences constantly. You also need quality straightedges that are proven flat.

When we polish in the shop our rule is that before we progress to the next finer grit all of the marks of the current grit are gone. We also start the next grit 90 degrees to the last one to help see the last grit/marks disappear.

Rob

 

I always do 6 directions, except woodworking, then with the grain. But that's me.

I agree, and I guess I have a problem understanding why it's so hard for people to understand those principles. (I'll concede its a fault of me). I tried to go to great lengths to get those points across, using multiple videos, including showing the final contact.

Chris deserves great credit for taking that task on in frame. It is a lot of work.

 

We are still battling people that don't understand the issues w/ Ford Gold coolant...... easy to see people not following what you are saying on surface prep (unfortunately).

 

As much effort as it takes to do it right, and as much other things you decide to do, or not to do with a replacement set of heads - is it the price of the KDD Icon aluminum heads that keep folks from going that extra bit? Their design, copying (mostly) the 6.4 head reinforcements, would sway me if I ever got to this point... Then again I have the "secret" stuff they included on the Commonization heads going for me... There's one video I watched (besides yours again Jack) where the builder was pointing out something on new heads from various places - these were 6.4 heads, but what I found interesting was they measured the thickness of the material from the water jacket to the deck of the head, and said it was just as if not more important than the overall head height (they rejected the one that was too thin). He's someone I would consider for a build... You guys probably know him - but I'll go see if I can find that YT vid... Never mind it's Dave's Auto Center...

 

I agree. Its why i think they were so hyper about not ever machining the heads. I never cut 6.0 heads apart, although I was offered a set so I could, but the change in the casting core holes to my understanding, is to keep the cooling passage core more in place - variations in the head deck thickness.

Its also may be why there are five different casting head numbers.

But thin decks could also explain why its been so easy to have gasket issues, other than the bolt spacing.

 

Having watched Jack's video on block prep several times, I wasn't looking for how-to videos on the subject because I knew I was using his method. But it is interesting that the few videos I watched for HG replacement didn't show or even discuss block prep. Were they afraid of loosing business over their poor work? Do they not see it as being very important? Who knows, but I know I'll sleep better knowing I did mine the best I could. And I couldn't have done it without Jack's knowledge, advice, and painstaking attention to detail. There should be a stickied thread just below the tech folder with all of Jack's videos IMHO. Talk about a treasure trove of knowledge.

 

Thank you, and god willing! Because god knows I don't want to go through this again!

 

And now for a brief tangent with the air box mod how-to:

Remove ribbing with sharp wood chisel


Wet sand using small plastic block and 220 grit


Drill plates with tap drill, clean, and double stick tape to inside to use for drilling template


Holes drilled


Double stick tape semi-flexible straight edge (because box is not flat) and cut long and narrow sides using scoring tool


Cut corner and ends with small hand saw


Tap holes in plates and mount to one side












Enjoy!