All this bs to put a set of *#@!&$ headers on!

Here's the deal! I have to pull the heads to have my local machine shop get 6 broken manifold studs out, one with a ezout stuck in it. I was told that the only way they'll do it is if I bring in the heads, they won't do em while on the truck. To tight of a space to work in with the frame, etc. in the way.

Is it easier to pull the motor then pull the heads? For the life of me I can't see where it would be an easy task taking the heads off with the motor out, let alone while the motor is still in the truck.

Seems from what I've read on pulling the motor vs pulling the heads it would be easier to get the motor out first.

Any input would be appreciated!

 

My question is why the machine shop needs to do this. I drilled out 3 manifold studs with the engine in the truck last week. Yes, it's a PITA. Yes, you run the risk of hitting a coolant passage. However Ford put a lot of meat around that area of the head, so it's not a tremendous concern, at least not to me. I could just be an idiot, and if you think so I won't be offended.

Unless you have a desire to pull the heads anyway to port them, do a 3 or 5-angle valve job, etc., I would say do this with the engine in the truck. The three I did were on the driver's side (which is a pain). If you get a 90-degree drill, this should make it easier. Start with smaller drill bits, be diligent and careful (after all, this will take way less time than pulling the heads and/or engine), and you'll get it working. I drilled the studs out and then tapped the holes for one size bigger (M10x1.5 instead of M8x1.25) and I didn't hit a passage or have a leak... at least not yet.

Now all that said, I've never pulled the heads on a Ford modular engine, however my experience is that overhead cam engines are more difficult (or at least more annoying) to pull heads off of than pushrod engines. I'm not certain if you could pull the heads off the engine in the truck, it depends on whether it's got studs or bolts, etc., all details that I don't know about the V10.

If you are going to pull the engine, I would consider just redoing the thing and having some fun with it (high compression pistons, new rings and bearings, wonder if there's any significant overbore or other displacement increase I could do...), but that's a slippery slope that leads towards lots of money spent and your truck never getting back on the road, at least not for a long time, and I suspect you want it back together sooner rather than later. However if I had the engine out anyway, I would have a hard time not doing something to it, especially since you say your truck has 142,000 on it now, and I've read a couple posts that seem to indicate to me that 200-225k its the point at which the engines may start having problems. Even at 104k on my truck, if I had to pull the engine for any reason (although I would likely dump the truck if that happened) I would end up doing some work to it. But I'm one of those people who has a hard time leaving well enough alone.

Anyways, I would suggest trying to get these out with a drill and the engien in the truck. A cobalt drill bit works wonders. I was using a 1/4" cobalt drill bit to drill the studs out, and then using the larger bit in the tap kit to drill it out the bit extra so I could tap for the bigger size. I had no intention of helicoiling it.

 

The heads will come off,and it's not really that bad to pull them.It's a helluva lot easier than pulling the engine.
JL

 

My brother has a muffler shop, and just did a set of studs for a customer. He did them on the truck, for about $1200. LS

 

I've said this in another thread of yours too, I just don't understand removing the heads.

Unbolt the motor mounts and jack up one side of the engine, you can get at the bottom studs with a regular straight drill, quite easily.

But to each his own

Like you said somewhere else, at least the top end will get all redone all at the same time. Maybe some mild porting?

 

Oh yah I forgot about your writing about doing that in your write up! Thanks for the reminder. What part of the motor did you use to jack it up? I did find someone, in fact it turned out to be a small Ford dealership/service dept, that would actually try to get them out with the motor still in the truck. They're suppose to get to it today hopefully. I flat bedded her up there yesterday.

I talked to many shops around my area and got conflicting reports on how to go about doing this, and most would only work on those studs with motor out of the truck and in some cases the heads off the motor. Had one independent shop guy, distant family member, state that he could get the heads off without pulling motor which I'm not so sure could be done.

Talked with another Ford dealership than the one who has it and was told that the motor has to come out to get the heads off and quoted me $1940.00 just in labor and that's with the exhaust manifolds I already have off. Yow! Guy was kind of short with me and tried talking down to me too which I didn't much appreciate. The Ford guys who have it now quoted me $1100.00 for pulling motor and heads and they actually look and sound like they know what they're doing, which wasn't the impression I got at the larger Ford stealership. Amazing how much difference there is in price between stealerships.

 

On the passenger side, I used one of the mount bolts for the AC compressor bracket. On the driver's side, I think I used one of the pan bolt heads.

I used a small bottle jack, that combined with a small block of wood was perfect to catch the heads of those bolts, and didn't cause any damage to anything.

The bottle jack went between the motor and the crossmember.

 

I assure you it can be done,and it's not difficult at all. I pulled my 3V down with the passenger head off in less than 5 hours-the driver's side would have added less than an hour to the job.
JL

 

Try drilling with this: http://www.dewalt.com/us/products/to...p?productID=25

It's $125 at lowes and came in handy with alot of things after use on my header install. Well worth the money.

You don't even have to remove the shock tower to use it.

 

how high were you able to jack it?

 

Yep it is handy. Already have one, and a craftsman cordless 90 deg!

 

BTW The cordless is nice but it is not as good as the Dewalt corded drill in tight spaces due to the power pack.

 

I was able to get at least 4 inches or more out of the jack. A Ryobi cordless drill did the job just fine.

I looked at 90-degree drills when I was doing the job, none of them looked small enough to fit in there, and getting a straight-on shot at the stud was very helpful.

 

I got a straight shot with the dewalt, even with the shock tower still installed. The chuck is real deep allowing the drill bit to sit farther in it.

 

Wrapped it up late last night - finally! Didn't pull motor or heads but was still a pita. Sparta Ford ez'ed out the studs, 6 total, three of which ended up having helicoils installed. Cost $650.00 which I thought was fair, but it still hurt diggin the ole wallet out!?! They used a air drive 90 deg which is much more compact than my electric.

Overall pleased with the sound and noticeable increased performance high and low, but the cost nearly $2000 (not including chiropractor) was a bit more than I hoped for so now I'll have a hard time convincing the little lady I need a winch.

Good news is the stud problem is now a thing of the past! Banks system bolted right up no problems other than getting getting a few of the bolts for the headers in and tight. At my age (49) I didn't think I still had enough flexibility in the ole bod to get those dudes in but I did.

Tuckered out now though!