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Block goes to the machine shop next week and I'm waiting to see the bore size before buying a kit.
I see kits all over claiming to be Ford OEM but not sure if that's really true, maybe licensed by Ford, dunno
Don't mind paying extra since it's so important and would rather have genuine ford parts for gaskets and seals. That being said, it' 30+ year old technology and there might be better options out there for bearings, pistons and head gaskets.
Just looking to build it as robust as possible and don't want to build a 1000,000 mile motor when the factory builds can last 5--k miles
Any recommendations on what to get, what to watch out for and where to buy?
Well, this is a loaded question. Mahle is the main place for Diesel slugs, you decide what you want for rings. Same goes for bearings.
Most gaskets are repacked from Mahle, Reinz, or Elring for these.
Spend the cash on studs for the thing, at least the bottom . All measurements are taken off the crank center. Heads need effort also, they are basically destroyed per other builds here.
Also, it has been shown these bottom ends are way out of balance stock...
Last edited by Hit Man X; Mar 2, 2026 at 12:43 PM.
I was leaning that way but just not sure if everything is genuine Ford or made from Ford approved vendors like Mahle for pistons and gaskets. Also see they have .020" oversize piston kit and the smaller pic of the pistons show coated tops and skrts.. not sure if that's the case.
Speed of Air pistons are well beyond my budget and thought the delipped tops smoke a lot more than OEM and not sure of the advantages. I'll give them a call Once I get the block back and know more
Well, this is a loaded question. Mahle is the main place for Diesel slugs, you decide what you want for rings. Same goes for bearings.
Most gaskets are repacked from Mahle, Reinz, or Elring for these.
Spend the cash on studs for the thing, at least the bottom . All measurements are taken off the crank center. Heads need effort also, they are basically destroyed per other builds here.
Also, it has been shown these bottom ends are way out of balance stock...
I'll do ARP studs on the mains and didn't even think about the heads yet. but was hoping to just relap them, check the guides, new seals comp 910s and pushrods. Also from what I understand I have to be careful to deck as little off the block and heads as possible, there's very little clearance between ther top of the piston and head already and I don't thing going with a thicker head gasket is right
Didn't realize the balancing was critical since it redlines @ 4000 but that's a lot of rotating mass
Unless you have a surprisingly good set of heads they should have everything, valves included. This all depends how much you want to spend, how much hp you want, how bulletproof you want to make it. We can spend a lot of your money. My block and heads were decked. I ended up shaving the tops of the pistons, coated and delipped, custom length pushrods to get geometry correct. There are 7.3 specialty engine places, but not cheap. Ask me how I know. Stock camshaft? Cam gear needs to be welded on if not. Not a bad idea to do it anyway. I've seen a couple stockers walk off.
Yours is one of the builds that is very in depth showing all the quirks with these mills. I swear yours had the cam gear walk off, perhaps I am mistaken. When I did my springs around 250k, the heads took a bunch of shimming to have the desired seat pressure with the 910s. I posted all my data and I hope others have seen it to show how bad these heads take a beating, it may be why my No 8 has low comp as I have never run a leakdown. All the power is in the heads.
As I recall from my 6.4 days, the delipping removes the hot spot on the bowl of the piston. One guy did them here recently and he stated it smoked a hair more until the rings finally started to seat, worth reading about it.
Hope it all helps, search here for the engine build threads. Quite a bit of great data available to read.
I'm surprised to see such rough surfaces and tooling marks on the deck and head surfaces from the factory. Is this typical of Ford's machining back in the 90s?
Now wondering if i should get .010" taken off the piston tops after resurfacing the deck and heads.
Really don't understand the clearances on the 7.3 yet. The piston top is over the deck by about .020" (didn't measure it before tearing it down), the head is flat so no room for the piston, the OEM gaskets are .028" I believe. So there is a .008" piston top to head clearance. WTF, sounds tight to me.
Any recommendations for best method to get the proper clearance after loosing .010" - .020" from the deck and heads, and which gaskets to use, or machine the tops?
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