alright...im attempting to remove the heads off my 351...to do so i must---
1)remove valve covers
2)disconnect exhaust manifold
3)disconnect intake manifold

am i right??

 

PS, AC, Alt, anything in the way. Washer tanks, other junk in the way? Pull it. When you get to pushrods, keep everything in order. Label wires and vacuum lines.

You new at this? Got any help, books, shop, whatever? Taking it apart is one thing. Putting it back together after getting it all clean, the gaskets installed correctly, torque sequences followed, etc, is another.

Good luck, lots of free advice here...

 

1. Disconnect all linkage, wires, and vac hoses. Label all.
2. Remove carb, coil, and vc
3. can be done first, drain all coolant, remove upper rad hose
4. remove alt, and pwr steering or any other acc. that bolt to the head.
5. un bolt exh. manifolds
6. Remove intake
7. if stud mount rockers loosen until the push rods can be removed. Take them out in order, they have to go back in the same place so stay orginaized. if pedastal mount remove rockers and push rods. Same goes here with order. Another tip is bag all bolts and label.
8. Now just un bolt the heads and lift off. easier said than done. Might want to have a crow bar handy to break it lose from the head gasket. Cast iron heads are roughly 50lbs and can be a pita to lift out.

Just from you asking this question I assume you not the most expeirenced. Grab one of your friends to help that know what he is doing. Maybe even brib with beer

 

Why take the carb off the manifold? Leave it if you can. Saves gaskets, loss of part risk, etc. JMO, neither right or wrong to remove or keep it on. Be sure to go buy air tools, this is your chance to justify owning them....

 

I concur with air tools
They are a god send when trying to deal with a stubborn bolt and avoids busting your knuckles.

 

I do just so I can put my carb in something so it not sitting on the workbench where it can be damaged. The gasket is on like 1.99, plus sometimes you can reuse them.

 

wow thanks guys. didnt think id get all these responses. yea, ill give you the story and maybe you can help me pinpoint some of my problem. went mudding, came back and a mile from my house i noticed white smoke out the tail pipe when accelerating, right then i thought my head gasket. i looked at my dash and my oil light came on..decided to push my luck and go home. shut it down for the night. next night i started it(after checking oil and coolant) and warmed it up and no oil light, but still blowing out white. compression test wasnt good for one cylinder on each side. oil pressures only at about 10-20, it ranges (once warmed up)
SO, ANY IDEAS?
and heres the next big ?, my oil pressure plug isnt by the oil filter, its up on top, behind the carb, about where the transmission hooks up..from my understanding 351s are by the oil filter and 7.5L(?) are where the tranny hooks up to the engine(like mine) --so is that telling me it doesnt have a 351 but a 460?
and about the shop and stuff, yes my dads got a pretty good size shop, and does this stuff -overhauls, body work-restored his 78f150 a few years back--for hobby. but hes out of town at the moment

 

351M has an oil gallery where yours is and that is where the stock gauge hooks up. If it is a 73-79 and a 4x4 it didn't come with a 460 the biggest you could get was a 400 that is externally the same as a 351M, the crank and rods are the only difference. 10-20 is fine at idle but if this is where its at when you are rolling down the high way you have a problem.
-Johnboy

 

White smoke = coolant
Blue/gray smoke = oil.

Sounds like you might have blown a head gasket or maybe an intake gasket.

Pull your plugs and read them looking for either lots of oil or deposits from coolant/water mix. That will be a good first step.

 

oh ok. well, the guy said that it wasnt the original motor...so i didnt know what he couldve actually put in it. he wasnt too sure of it either, bought to fix up but didnt have time, so he sold it to me haha, obviously. right, its blowing white, and when i drained the oil a little bit of water came out first...so head gaskets looking like a problem. 10-20 for oil pressure is normal?? my buddy was telling me thats bad...so now im debating on whether or not to pull the motor, tear it apart and check out the cam and bearings and the cylinder walls and the rings/pistons all that crap

 

10-20 is normal for idle, rule of thumb is you want 10psi for every 1000rpms.
-Johnboy

 

Lets get this moved down into the engine forums where you can get even more good responses.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by johnboy427

10-20 is normal for idle

I wouldn't say it's normal (implying strong & healthy) rather it's the minimum you should
have (barring any other indications of problems) before tearing it apart. White smoke out the
exhaust and low compression indicates problems, low oil pressure is merely another
symptom. My 400 idles at 50 and runs at 75.

The 351W (amd 302) has the oil pressure sending unit in front near the oil filter, the M-block
(351M/400) has it on the upper rear as stated.