Well they are in and if I never have to do that again it'll be to soon. I spent 4 hours yesterday sitting on my passenger battery with my feet on the inner fender installing those suckers. I got very lucky though. I bottom tapped one and threaded it in and it sat even with the nut. For fun I decided to just thread another one in without bottom tapping to see just how much I needed to tap. The sucker threaded all the way down just like the other one and was the same height. So no bottom tapping needed. I did run the tap down the holes to clean them out and blew them out with compressed air but man it was nice not having to bottom tap every single hole.

Oh then came the valve lashing. Not bad but definately not fun. Truck does idle smoother and runs better and has more pep (it's got 123k on it and the valves have never been done). Let's not forget the blasted retorque. Spent 4 hours installing everything and torquing them down only to have to rip it all back apart and loosen the nuts (by the way 120 ft.lbs. is a lot of torque) and torque them back down and lash all the valves again. Oh yeah, and when we went to relash #6 and noticed that the little metal puck thing that sits on the nose of the rocker arm had fallen off. After frantically searching I found it sitting next to what felt like an oil galley in the head. So I dodged a major bullet there.

All in all I'm glad they are in but I will never do this again unless I absolutely have to. I am sore from head to toe and my arms and hands are cut up BAD.

 

so are you planning on paying about $900 labor to have the head o-ringed and re-installed with the proper retorques???

yea its a pain...just think, in 500-1000 miles you should prolly do it again...tho with just replacing head bolts with studs and not having to reseal the gasket you may not need another retorque

 

If I don't have to do o-rings for at least another 6-8-10 months I'll do it again. But if it blows tomorrow, yeah, I'm just about willing to pay someone to do it. I'm so sore right now that when I rolled over in bed whlie asleep it woke me up from a dead sleep from the pain in my back and shoulders.

 

yea i hear ya...i was referring to doing the o-rings when you get twins someday.

i feel about the same way after doing the tranny in my truck...on the ground was pretty bad, but i think on a lift im even more sore from reaching up and standing on my feet all day rather than lying on a creeper. and guess what...i gotta swap tranny's again real soon!

 

So I guess I'll owe you two cases of beer if I ever need you to do mine??

 

Awesome.. You'll sleep alot better knowing that head is clamped on there tho.

 

forget studs, next time im wrapping rachet straps over the head and around the block...much easier to torque than studs...

also means more time to drink beer!

 

Justin, you'll have to buy my a semi trailer full of beer before I do this again.

haloman, it is a nice feeling knowing it's on there now. It's been bugging me lately considering the power I'm at and boost I'm pushing and spraying the water. Nice to know that it's got a little extra help there.

gb, If this gasket blows before I'm ready for it to I'm gonna weld the head on the block and say to heck with it.

Pretty sure I already know the answer but just to refresh my memory, what do yall think I can hold now? I know I can hold 50psi but I don't think I can hold 50/50 water/meth. I'm guessing washer fluid and spray it sparingly.

 

you could weld it...but you have to do it from the bottom up thru the bores of the cylinders...then put your pistons and bottom end back together...

hope you never bend a valve tho, gotta pull the crank rods and pistons just to get the valves out...and you need really long arms too

 

Installing studs is a piece of cake. Buy or build a wooden box so you can stand on it. Removing the head is more fun than just putting in studs. Cam installation is also fun. I would re-torque and re-torque until those studs stop moving. I still do a good line torque everyone once and while. If you want to play, you have to pay. I did everything at once including a VP swap and tranny install. Too much fun.

 

I'll be doing mine here in the next week or two.

 

It would have to be a pretty big wooden box. The truck is lifted 4.5" on 35's. Before the dyno in a couple of weeks I'm gonna go through and check em and make sure they are all still good. I'm also gonna check the valves again just to make sure they are all still good and tight.

Mike D, have fun.

 

Forgot to add that I got on it today coming to school. Smarty 3 and tst 1, 42psi of boost. Bout normal. The scary part was when it hit OD the truck bogged and didn't sound or feel right. Pulled over and checked everything and everything was great. Rockers were good and no leaks and no blown boots. Got back on the road and hit it again. Same thing. Then it clicked. It was just the TC locking up when it hit OD like it's supposed to. Amazing how when you do something big to your truck and then while your driving something your not expecting happens and scares you half to death.

 

man, how do you think I felt driving home 4hrs in the middle of the night right after installing a new o-ringed head and studs! (after the 1st re-torque and second valve setting)

 

I've got an idea. I've got a 100 mile round trip to school down 2 lane black top in the middle of no where. It's definately gonna take some time to get reacquainted with the truck.

One thing I can't believe is how much better the engine sounds with the valves lashed. It's noticeably quieter and smoother when holding 3rd gear out to 65-70mph. It doesn't sound like it's straining or struggling anymore.