I blew my head gasket on my 12V'er over a month ago, and have been shaving away at the head since.  I'm not going to pretend like I know what I'm doing, I just want to document what I've done.  Some of these pictures arn't up to date, I'll update them as I get new ones.  Taking pictures of this stuff have proved to be challenging.

 

First things first.

 

Now, here's a look at the factories handy work.  Notice the difference between these two cylinders.  I can't do any worse than that!  Also note the horrendous lip around the inside of the valve seat blocking much needed air flow.  Plus there is an excess of material around the valve guide.

 

 

And a stock exhaust port.  In stock form they really arn't that bad, a slight lip around the inside of the valve seat, and the large area around the valve guide.

 

Here you can see the floor of the stock intake runner.

 

And then after some massaging.

 

And then for the actual port work, of which I'm not completely done..

Intake:

Exhaust:

I also did a number on the valves, including giving them some shine and grinding the seat width back to spec (1.5-2mm) mine were 2.5-3mm.

 

 

Edited December 3, 20159 yr by Cowboy

40 minutes ago, Cowboy said:

A lot, the "standard design" is basically junk.  The improved design is right up there with the cummins one.

Have a picture?  I've been told by several builders to only use Cummins or Victor Reinz gaskets.

Post #1 is fel-pro vs cummins original.  Post #7 is standard design vs improved.

http://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/94-98-performance-parts-discussion/393280-head-gaskets.html

Edited December 5, 20159 yr by Cowboy

I gave it a paint job yesterday,  but more importantly to this thread I painted the inside of the intake white to help reflect heat in the head keeping the intake charge cooler, small gains if any but figured it was worth it.

 

Also painted the inside of the exhaust with 2000* paint, same theory as above, though doubt it will stay clean for long.  

 

On 12/5/2015, 9:40:27, TFaoro said:

You are lapping after the valve grind, correct?

Somehow missed this.  Absolutely!

back when I was in the research mode for head porting, each picture was worth a thousand words, SOOOOOOO.

How the head looked when it came off.

 

Stock:

 

Now:

 

 

 

Edited December 7, 20159 yr by Cowboy

So the white paint.... Personally I'd be a little scared of the paint chipping and peeling then going down and getting stuck in a valve. Are you confident it'll never peel?

I'm fairly confident, but to be on the safe side I went with two very light coats, just enough to actually be white, so if it does chip, it will just be very small flakes if not powder. 

12 hours ago, Cowboy said:

I gave it a paint job yesterday,  but more importantly to this thread I painted the inside of the intake white to help reflect heat in the head keeping the intake charge cooler, small gains if any but figured it was worth it.

 

Also painted the inside of the exhaust with 2000* paint, same theory as above, though doubt it will stay clean for long.  

 

Would paint flaking be an issue?

Possibly, but here in MO, it's that or rust.  The paint is just a thin coat, so if it does flake, it shouldn't do any harm, at least I hope.

On Monday, December 07, 2015 at 7:57 AM, Cowboy said:

Possibly, but here in MO, it's that or rust.  The paint is just a thin coat, so if it does flake, it shouldn't do any harm, at least I hope.

If the paint has a ceramic resin it should not flake or peal if the prep work was done right. Looking good bud. Hope she purrs when your done reassembling the truck. Also buy yourself some cheap dino oil of your choice, run the engine for a few to check everything out then after everything is good drain it replace your filter and add fresh oil. This will help remove any contamination that may have found its way in during the time everything has been a part.

Subd.

I'm waiting to see it start up with it fresh head and gasket...

2 hours ago, Mopar1973Man said:

I'm waiting to see it start up with it fresh head and gasket...

You missed it, that was last week haha.  Though it's down again, but should be up and running within a week.  I took it easy on the fresh head gasket, so no comparisons.  I'm waiting on some stuff in the mail, and then the time to install it.

Once it's together, I'll be able to make some runs!

 

What did you tear up now? 

On Thursday, December 17, 2015 at 6:09 PM, Cowboy said:

You missed it, that was last week haha.  Though it's down again, but should be up and running within a week.  I took it easy on the fresh head gasket, so no comparisons.  I'm waiting on some stuff in the mail, and then the time to install it.

Once it's together, I'll be able to make some runs!

 

What happened?

Well basically, there was a loose nut under the hood, which required me to bring something to a machine shop, well unbeknownst to me the guy's name was richard....  I've give you the full story once it pans out.

Come on.... What was loose under there. Can't be giving partial info like that!

The plot thickens!!!!

Loose nut behind the wheel maybe?

15 hours ago, Buzzinhalfdozen said:

Loose nut behind the wheel maybe?

Close, but this time he was under the hood