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Greetings, I need advice from those of you that are experienced in installing an engine. 22yo me is now fixing/finishing the project that 20yo me started in 2024. I took the engine out of my truck and replaced as many gaskets and seals as I could find, stopping at anything involving me touching the pistons or camshaft. I've got a decent bit of it rebuilt, but now I'm trying to remember what goes where, where did the bolts go, and what needs done in general. If any of you guys have any advice or even a checklist of what order to do things in, I'd be greatly appreciative. Currently I'm trying to find the original or new bolts for the exhaust headers, and I just ended my weeklong search to identified the knock sensor that broke. I have a Hayes and Clifton Manual, but they don't have a section labeled "For when you've messed everything up".
For bolt sizes, the easiest thing to do is Google "what are the exhaust manifold bolt sizes thread and pitch for my 1993 Ford f150 5.0".
Put "alternator", "water pump", or whatever you're working on, into the Google search.
Buy a set of thread gauges for when you have a bolt and you're not sure what thread it is.
Use techniques like measuring from the one inch mark when measuring bolt lengths.
Always start bolts by hand before you put a tool on them, and use a socket and ratchet instead of an impact gun.
Use a metric socket on metric bolt heads and standard on standard bolt heads. You'll avoid rounding off the bolt heads that way.
You tube search "complete engine assembly 1993 Ford f150 5.0."
May not be helpful now, but it was my habit a a professional mechanic for 40+ years to both put the fasteners for each step of the job in a separate container (topside, front of engine, R&R, Intake, sheet metal, heads, etc. and also to mark the location of special bolts. For instance, the water pump sometimes has a bolt or two with a stud sticking out of the head. I use a small chisel to make a reversed Z (for S) next to the bolt hole so I know which hole to put those bolts in. If there is one bolt longer than the others, an L mark is easy to make with a chisel point. Use your own preference of mark but be consistent. You can use a felt tip to make erasable marks but that will go away when you clean the parts. Sometimes I make notes on the back of the gasket set package, such as "Gnd wire on top bell housing bolt" or such. You mention that you took your truck apart 2 years ago. That always makes it easy to forget such details, heck I can forget during lunch break. Use common sense and logic to keep from messing up. If a bolt is too long, look at the other bolts you put in for one that is too short, etc. If a bolt only engages two or three threads, it's probably the wrong one. You'll figure all this out, so I'll stop now.
Good Luck!
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Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
