High boost or excessive back pressure could cause the valve/piston contact, but thats a lot of pressure.

If it were GP parts, they would probably be gone by now. I doubt they'd rattle around in there for very long.

 

if you weren't 6.5 hours away i would come out just to watch

 

Your right it does look like what a glow plug tip would cause. These glow plugs came out easy and look somewhat new.. but i guess i dont have old glow plugs to compare to. That would explain why its only in 5 cylinders. No debris was in any cylinder... making me think its been running that way for a while. The guy dumped this truck on me for what he owed on it... so it made me think something was strange.. but it ran great... maybe he replaced glow plugs and knew.


Forgot to grab pics of the head today.. have one i didnt post from yesterday. Got the valves out of drivers side head. Most look great, one has to be re-cut because of some dishing and one has a small divit on the edge of the valve... could run it if you had to... but i'll replace it. These were on #4 and #2... both exhaust valves.

For those with high milage trucks let me tell you its amazing at how good these valves look!

 

be sure to check the valve about 1/8 of a inch from the tip for a hairline crack that is where they crack at most of the time its a 3 piece valve and there fusion welded right there. were rebuilding one in my class and every single valve was cracked there! truck only has 175,000 miles but you could tell someone had been idling the truck alot the cylinders were washed out piston and cylinder wall had a mirror like finish.

 

Good to know Eric!



I ordered the rebuild kit today. Powerstroke shop said Ford was out of rebuild kits for the last 3 months and its going to be a while. Called Clay yesterday and today a few times each with no luck of getting through. Looked up the kits i'd seen previously on ebay and gave titan engines a call. Frank there sounded like he had done more than a few 7.3's and told me to take the cam out of the kit and do the valves(which was my plan before calling). So with everything and a little more than the factory kit, valves, springs, lifters, and seals for under $1,300.

Deciding to bore it out also.. they only had .030 oversize pistons so im going that way. Boring - $180

Valve job isnt completely necessary but I dont want to see the inside of this motor for another 200,000+ valve job - $190


I'll need a few other things like head bolts.. then cost for porting tools, ceramic coating.. ect. Not too bad, but were not said and done yet

 

Balancing,
Did you consider balancing?
What is the fealing on this.
Is it necassary?
Cost?
I looking into this on a spare long block I have. Around $500.

 

Balancing would be nice.. I'm going to have the machining company look at the crank, maybe see how much they would charge. Running low on the funds... i want to be able to afford oil to get her going again! haha. Most likely wont do it... but i should.




Right now im taking a break from porting. Found some spots that need a work however factory porting seems decent. 2hrs in.. maybe 1hr to go on this head. I'll probly be here til midnight because im picky and always find another little spot to grind. haha.


Pics soon.

 

I'm with you on the funds issue.
Looking forward to end result.

 

Here are a couple porting pics. I found quite a large area where the exhaust ports do not match up to the manifold very well. The manifold is actually bigger. The stock exhaust outlet measures 1.505" wide by 1.545" tall. I took this out to 1.605x1.645 which will help it match up very well to the manifold. I may have to widen the manifold itself just a small amount later. Also on the valve seat there is always one spot the seat is way off the port wall. I smooth the seat and port wall together which should help a lot with flow... then clean up some of the more major casting marks.

On the intake side of things the inlets seem good from the factory so i chose to leave them alone thinking the gains & time thing just wouldnt make sense. From the head i am able to round the sharp edge off while mimicking stock porting... just bigger. There is a crease right where the sharp edge comes to an end, right there i am able to work the tool back and forth in the factory groove and take away a casting line that is about 1/16" deep. From that i am able to round and smooth out a lot of things. I try to increase volume on the backside of the intake valve which i believe is important on this port flow.






very hard to get a good picture but here is a comparison... note its not 100% finished.

 

hows this beast coming together? any updates?

 

Well its been slow for the past week. Recieved my parts 6 days after i thought i would (last thurs). So I just brought it to the machine shop today. Hope i have it back for Friday and have it running by the end of the weekend.


Kit i bought seems good, Mahle pistons, all gaskets and o-rings seem to be there, new cam bearings, main bearings... ect. I need to get it running asap... i get pissed whenever i hear a diesel go by. haha.

 

Took the housing off the turbo today and found more bad news. One broken spline and a few bent ones... something went through it. Housing has a few small dings it it right at the vane.... maybe it wasnt glow plug tips after all....

 

Damn Mike that sucks. I have a van turbo that would get you by until you get that one either repaired or replaced.

Is the block going to be ready by Friday?

 

Thanks Mike. I should be able to get another vane here in no time.... hopefully. We are a dealer for GDS so it shouldnt cost a whole lot. Block should be here friday, then the fun begins!

 

Let me know if you are working this weekend I could use a get out of the house day, LOL. I won't be much help but I can give mo0ral support at least