ARP studs. At 45 pounds boost I lifted the head and caused a minor coolant leak at number one cylinder. The new ones should be good for 55 pounds boost. I plan on masking off the deck completely prior to any machine work. Then attack it with a shop vac and air hose.

 

Shop vac and air hose is what I did too. Taped or ragged everything I could. Studs will be nice.

 

I have everything now but the front crankshaft seal. Tried several web sites but for some strange reason they would not accept my order/information.

 

I think the KDP kit from Geno's includes the seal.

 

O'rileys carries the seal kit for the timing case area. All Felpro. I've bought that kit cause I wanted the timing case cover gasket. I used the crank seal from the TST KDP kit I got from genosgarage. When I held the crankseals from both kits side by side, saw no differences in quality.

If I remember, that O'riley seal kit was like $38

 

Got the seal and some help. Should be able to tackle this next week. Cleaned the engine bay real good and found a couple more leaks to attack. Fuel heater gasket, master cylinder and power steering pump or vacuum pump seal. i need to stop looking for stuff to do.

 

I joined DTR over a decade ago. Got a lot of good ideas and help from the members. I sincerely hope I have paid some of it back over the years. After I retired from the power company I started another career as a fireworks technician. It keeps me very busy. I am almost 69 years young and still banging knuckles on my own junk. After all this is over I am going to find a Dyno somewhere and see what performance improvements I have done since the last time. I need more boost as my EGT's are through the roof. 1600* plus preturbo. Got to get that under control. Cutting back on fuel is NOT an option. Thinking HX40 cooled by a Superduty intercooler and all three inch plumbing. Twins are not out of the question but the cost is a concern. Anyway these are the thoughts of an old die hard playing with his favorite toy.
Also toying with the idea of electric fans for the radiator.

 

I am up to my elbows in grease, dirt and oil. Last night I started at 5 pm EST tearing down my old dodge. When I hit a snag with the inter cooler hoses I decided to get a fresh start this morning. After cutting the hoses I got the cooler out. Once it is exposed the timing gear cover is a piece of cake. Zipped off the bolts, cleaned the surfaces and killed the dowel pin with a home made tab. Reassembled the cover with a new seal and no gasket. I ran a 1/8" bead of oil resistant RTV around the cover and bolt holes. Installed the seal as per the FSM. Now it is time to clean up the few remaining tools and get ready for the head removal tomorrow.
The only real brain teaser so far is "How do I hold the crank while torquing the vibration dampener?" At 92 FT:Lbs the engine bars over. The timing pin just won't hold up to the abuse. LOL

 

If you had a Barring tool, you could put it in with a breaker bar to lock the flywheel/crankshaft. The barring tool is a short shaft with a gear on the end which goes in a hole on the pass side of the engine and engages the flywheel. It's used to slowly turn the engine over to #1 TDC for setting the IP timing.

 

I usually use it to spin over the engine to get the flex plate / torque converter bolts to come around so I can un bolt them..It is just the tool to hold things in place while you tighten up the harmonic balancer bolts. Good call Ed.

 

Yeah, another good call, Ed, from me! The barring tool, along with a diesel service manual, are the first two things I bought when I became an owner of a firstgen Dodge. All the other specialty tools you can acquire when the need arises.
To add on to Ed's suggestion, the breaker bar would be wedged against the frame or exhaust downpipe(whichever you can wedge against) to hold that crank solid while you torque on the harmonic balancer bolts. Make sure the belt is on all pulleys first, before you do the final torque. Then remove the belt if need be for your HG replacement fix.

Sounds like a good time to upgrade to the Fluid Damper, Boatnik!

 

Check on those 25 year old freeze plugs while you are at it, as you will have the room to replace them. 3 down the passenger side block, and one behind the fan hub assembly. There is a fourth one, at the rear of the block, but it's much easier getting to that when the transmission is off. Rear main seal replacement would be the time.
They may look "still good enough" on the outside, but you'll be surprised what they look like on the inside. Mine were badly corroded. I don't think so much because of coolant maintenance neglect, cause I replace mine every two years or 15,000 miles, but because they're just plain old and past their life span. It's no wonder Cummins carries stainless ones now if you go get replacements. They're pricey little buggers.

 

Re read Foxmxrcr's post on him using a 2x4 strapped to the head and spanned across the truck, to lift the head off. That's probably how I'll do mine one day, as I don't own a hoist.

 

Got the head off. Started replacing valve seals and springs. I don't have an over reach type spring compressor but the one I have works ok. Cylinders are still showing the hone cross hatch marks after all these years. Pistons look ok even though they have seen some pretty rough EGT,s. Head gasket failed only at the water jacket nearest the thermostat housing. Tomorrow is cleaning and machining after I finish the valve springs. The valves look great so far and show no wear in the guides.
I used a couple of ratchet straps for rigging and an engine hoist. Putting it back with the studs in place may prove to be a challenge. I don't have a great deal of clearance under the cowl. I may have to manufacture a lifting beam out of pipe to get the necessary clearance.

 

Fwiw, I installed the studs on mine after installing the head... Way easier, and I'm honestly not sure if it's possible to do the studs first...