I would like to start my first post by thanking the f150online community. I have been a long time lurker and the forums here have saved me countless hours troubleshooting problems and hundreds of dollars in repairs.

A quick bit of background.

I consider myself a well versed mechanic who has owned everything and literally repaired everything. Russian, european, american, japanese, cars, trucks, bikes, snow machines, industrial equipment i've done it all. I've owned countless fords and never had any real complaints other than they are cheap quite dull and infamously reliable. So as far as advice is concerned, consider me well prepared and educated.

I am aware of the countless posts on this site around repairing this problem. However there was very little information about benchtop repair and specifically repair using longer length inserts.



Onto the problem

I've got a 2001 ford f150. During a road trip my poor old 4.6l toy hauler decided to puke a plug out. I tightened it up and was on my way again for about 50 miles before again it was expelled from the head. I am going to pull the heads off tomorrow and repair the heads on my bench before I slap everything back together.

I know there is over the fender repairs and kits. Please do not suggest one as I am more than well aware of what metal shavings can do to cylinder walls. I also plan on repairing all 8 holes as this is a very common problem on this motor and I not only have the time and the money to do the repair now, but cannot afford to be stranded again. Further to all of this I am one of those ocd freaks who noticed a part of the electrode missing from the plug that was expelled... and what if that piece is inside my cylinder! I need to see in person that the cylinder and cylinder walls are a-ok as that could change my outlook on this truck.



Onto the repair

Firstly, I want this repair to be through but cost efficient. Ford OEM parts are outrageously priced and as this is purely a toy hauler vehicle I do not wish to spend 800$ on a headgasket kit and bolt kit before I even get started with repairs.


As I will be doing this repair on the bench, I would hope that opens me up to a few more options however I have noticed Time-sert seems to be the only recommended way to go. It is quite costly ($400 for a kit) and I was hoping there is a knock off that sells for less. Can anyone recommend a kit that is similar but correctly priced? Perhaps an alternate way of repairing this problem? Admittedly $400 is outrageous considering I know exactly how much similar tools cost and I can buy the same tap and some inserts for 10% of the time-sert price.

Assuming time-sert is my repair of choice, I have noticed an insert on their site that allows you to go from 3/8" thread depth to 3/4" thread depth. Sure its not much but more is better in this case (something someone should have told ford). Does anyone have any sucess using this different insert? I noticed there is a price difference and the tools and inserts for the 3/4" kit appear to be about 45% of the standard kit (why .... because they can charge extra for a "ford" repair kit vs a universal 14x1.25mm thread repair kit?).

Do these kits actually grab any extra material in the head or does the insert just sit at a different elevation?

This is the headgasket kit I am looking at, it appears to have parts in it which I would assume are acceptable?
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/01-02-Ford-F1...vxp=mtr&_uhb=1


Lastly (slightly off topic), while the heads are off, is there anything I should be looking at? I am considering replacing all of the cop's, is there any cheap junkyard gains (swap exhaust or intake manifolds, cams, or such off of another engine) I can benefit from without being too labour intensive? The yards around me are pretty well stocked with modular motors.

Thanks in advance,

 

Wow...quite the post. For someone so OCD, I can't believe your searching for a cheap alternate to do this repair. I also don't know why you want to pull the head and do the repair in a bench, unless you just enjoy spending time and money. "IF" there was a piece of the electrode in the cylinder, it's gone now and any damage is already done. TimeSert repairs are accomplished every single day with the head on the motor and no metal shavings in the cylinder.

Do a search on here for TimeSert and you'll find more info than you can read as well as a VERY cost effective way to get your hands on a TimeSert kit for your repair! ;-)