Sliding the cab back to do headstuds?

[05 Stroker]

Heard of a few people doing this, I know this method probably actually takes more time, but Ill be taking my time. The main reason I want to pull the cab is because I want to coat every single part under the truck, especially after the money I'm about to spend

I usually work on cars and I've never had an issue pulling a front end apart, for some reason I've heard people say it's hard to get everything to line back up is this true?

I can get access to a hoist, but it would mean I'd probably have to take time off work and rush the process, something I would really rather not do.

Heads will be sent out.. But how do people deck the block properly? Really don't plan on stripping the motor down more then taking the heads off.. Wouldn't I have to pull the motor and send it to a machine shop?

Any opinions?

 

[rray37375]

My diesel tech says four bolts and a few electrical connectors and the cab pops right off. It's much easier to work on that way.

I wondered about the block myself, I'll ask him when I see him next. My understanding is that there's enough slop in the head gaskets to allow for variances in the block.

 

[Wayne]

I've done it when a lift wasn't available. It's not as bad as people make it out to be, but I'd still strongly prefer to do it cab-up. If you remove the transmission to cross member nuts, and raise the transmission until it touches the floor pan, the studs are very easy to do cab-on. You DO NOT need to slide the cab back, or even loosen cab mount bolts. I hate working in extremely tight spaces, so I take a few extra minutes to completely remove the heater core box (5 nuts in the cab, 2 bolts on the firewall) so there's ample room for the R side. The time it takes to remove the whole box is made up for me being able to tear-down & re-assemble the R side. The A/C does need to be evac'd though.

 

[Wayne]

to prep the block, use a scraper, not one of those grinding discs like you see in the mags. If you're removing non-rusted metal, you're doing it wrong, and the surface won't seal as well. I follow up the scraper with red scotch brite (hand pad) to remove anything the scraper missed. Remember any debris that drops in your coolant jackets will likely end up in the oil cooler, so do it cleanly. Check the block deck, and it should be within .004. I've never seen one out of spec FWIW, unless somebody screwed it up.

 

[G Racing]

It's a lot more than just 4 bolts and some connections. There are 8 bolts that hold the cab on and quite a few connections to undo. I would much rather pull the cab to pull the heads. Find a good machine shop that can magnaflux for cracks and pressure check for leaks. You can only machine so much off the head before they become to thin. Good luck.

 

[05 Stroker]

Right, like I said, I know I don't have to, but I like having space. Also it would make coating the underside of the truck much easier, the bed is coming off no matter what to get under coated.

The truck is a regular cab by the way. I was hoping with the help of a few people I could get the cab slid back without too much trouble. Do I have to remove the fenders? That's about the only thing I would rather not remove.

 

[G Racing]

You do not have to remove the fenders

 

[05 Stroker]

I've heard bar stock to scrape the block. On typical head gasket jobs I use the least abrasive 3M bristle wheel, it's made specifically for cleaning sensitive surfaces

 

[Wayne]

.008" is the most that can be removed from the head surface before the valves must be recessed to match among other things.

 

[Mdub707]

3.74" minimum head thickness, which roughly equates to you being able to remove about .008" of material like Wayne said.

As for the block... I was told a honing bar with some oil, but you don't really want to remove any material if at all, but it makes it nice to see if there are any low spots.