Got those dang studs in
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Joined: Jan 2005
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From: Klamath Falls, OR
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Probably one of the best shop tools you can ever buy is a "Topside Creeper". worth any penny for anyone who does much engine work. Do a search alot of places sell them at a range of prices. Way better of sitting on your battery.
They only thing it needs is a drool cup for when you fall asleep hanging over your engine.
They only thing it needs is a drool cup for when you fall asleep hanging over your engine.
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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 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.
I am too big to sit in there like you did. I worked with my knees on the front bumper. The couple of times my knees slid off the bumper, that hood latch in the gut feels so fine.
Congrats!
Jim
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From: Type, Tx, POP: 40
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.
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.
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Joined: Nov 2005
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From: Boston, mASS
You guys calibrate the wrench before you do a job like this?
Ive got a couple wrenches Im almost afraid to use since it feels like im about to twist a fastener clean off and I still havent had a click.
Maybe Ill get a craftsman one so I can keep swapping it ;p
If I had the bucks Id get a snap-on, they probably offer lifetime calibration
Ive got a couple wrenches Im almost afraid to use since it feels like im about to twist a fastener clean off and I still havent had a click.
Maybe Ill get a craftsman one so I can keep swapping it ;p
If I had the bucks Id get a snap-on, they probably offer lifetime calibration
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all my wrenches are calibrated, but I calibrate them for a living, so... 
Snap-On torque wrenches have a 1yr warranty.
if you need a cheapy to get you by, Craftsman and Husky wrenches are actually pretty dang accurate out of the box. They're not something you're going to hand down to your grandkids or anything, but a decent inexpensive wrench.
if you have ANY questions about a wrench, I wouldn't use it!!!! I'd say ship the wrench to me and I'll calibrate it for you, but if it's a cheapy, I'd just replace it.
Snap-On torque wrenches have a 1yr warranty.
if you need a cheapy to get you by, Craftsman and Husky wrenches are actually pretty dang accurate out of the box. They're not something you're going to hand down to your grandkids or anything, but a decent inexpensive wrench.
if you have ANY questions about a wrench, I wouldn't use it!!!! I'd say ship the wrench to me and I'll calibrate it for you, but if it's a cheapy, I'd just replace it.
The Guru
Joined: Jan 2004
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From: Airdrie Canada
Thanks guys, my entire trip to northern Ontario (about 3500mile trip) I worried about my camshaft gear flying off. Heck out where I was working, your cell phone doesn't even work. My ECM just took a dump in middle of city traffic, one cold winter morning on my way to work. Thank godness it re-started. My local Cumming shop took two week to fix everything. They where pretty impressed with the twins. They just hooked up my comp box backwards and shorted out my VP pump. Those things are so tuff, so I'm not worried at all.
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