My straight 6 has been burning coolant for awhile now, so I plan on tearing the head off and replacing the gasket. I figure that while the heads off, I might as well do new rings because oil consumption is rather high. I will probably buy a remanufactured head so I don’t risk putting the old one back on and down the road finding out there’s a tiny crack I didn’t see. Anything else I should replace while I’m in there?

I’ve never done a head gasket before, but I’ve got a Chilton’s and I’ll set aside a weekend for it. Is this something an average driveway mechanic like myself can tackle?

 

You should just do a long block. That is replacing the engine but you use all the old covers, intake, injectors, etc. I just had a friend do his heads due to a blown head gasket. He found the head cracked also and put over 1000 into it. Thats about the price of a long block and they come with a warrenty from the auto parts store or you could go cheaper and find a low milage engine from a junk yard for less. Good Luck

 

You might find more help on FTE web site [www.ford-trucks.com] . We deal with 4.2,4.6, and 5.4 97' up engines here.