Alright I've shopped around and found a passenger side head for my F-150.. The junkyard is reputable and guaranteed the part(Bring it back if there's any probs or not right one).

I understand that I need to get the head polished or something, and checked for cracks?

Can someone tell me where I need to go for this and what I should get done to insure this is a good head and I'm going to be working with somethign as close to new as possible?

I also purchased a head gasket from Kragen for $55 because the same one from ford was $130(No, it wasn't a kit).

Thanks much!

 

Take it to an established machine shop. Ask them to inspect for cracks prior to resurfacing the mating area. If it's good, have them resurface it. It shouldn’t cost much. Be sure to tell them you are installing a standard thickness head gasket.

 

May also want to have it non-destructive tested (NDT) - something like a dye-penetrant or ultrasound test. That may you make sure you're not buying something with cracks in it that you just can't see yet. A good machine shop may have an outfit that will do that for them.

Mike

 

I found a shop that will resurface and "mag" (Magnaflux?) the head for $75.00.


From what I hear the mag thing is what checks for cracks.


I've only replaced brakes on my truck before... would it be a bad idea for me to take on this head replacement project on my own with some patience and a chilton's manual?

Thanks!

 

The hardest part will be timing the head. If you have performed any push-rod rebuild this will be a little more complex because of the overhead cam.

Take your time and tripple check everything. You may want to get a good manual or two to reference by (especially for the tourque values and timing settings).

You may want to have some quick-certs or other good quality insets intalled at the machine shop. I would also recomend that you get both heads rebuilt at the same time for consistancy.

good luck,

T

 

Did the yard ask you if you wanted a Romeo or a Windsor head? If you have a 5.4 than by default it should be a Windsor.
A Windsor Head doesn't use the same cam cover that the Romeo head does.
Count the bolt holes for the cam cover on both heads.

Regards

Jean Marc Chartier

 

The yard asked for the 8th letter on my VIN (which is W) and they said that meant Windsor.

The head came with the cam and other stuff on it.. the machine shop at a quick glance said it looked in good condition.. but they're testing it now.

When I look inside my engine.. it looks like everything will need to come off!

The head gasket I bought is by Fel-Pro 9790 right side.. any known probs with this brand? There was one brand the machine shop guy said not too buy because the material was too hard and bulged into the cylinder or interfered with the valves or something.. I didn't understand.

THanks

 

OOPS! I Hate to tell you this but W is a Romeo engine. So your engine is a 4.6 Romeo engine. Go back and get a Romeo Head.

JMC

 

Wow, yer right.. W is Romeo.

Just called the junkyard to clarify.. they had given me the correct one, the Romeo, it was only my assumption that it was Windsor due to the W.

Thanks for that alert.

 

so why are you replacing the head?

 

I'm replacing the head because it blew a plug, then a heli-coil.. and to big-sert it all the mechanics wanted more than $175 I bought the head for and were going to have to remove the head anyways.

 

The machine shop just got back to me regarding my head... they said passed presssure check no cracks and that it was only "5000 warped" or somethign like that.. which sounded bad to me but they said its good.

They didn't really speak english so well, so I didn't get more info.. does anyone know what this 5000 is? Is it 5000th of an inch.. and if so is this ok?