1. I have a tophatted block, and the engine has never overheated, and as evidenced by the previous post the head gasket is leaking on the passenger side. Do I need to worry about a cracked block?

2. I will need to get the Cylinder head decked and am going to port and polish it. Do the shops know the specs to do that? Or what will I tell them.

3. I will want to really clean up parts for the job, what is the best product to clean the valve covers etc.?

4. Any advice on tools etc. appreciated, I think Dusty had a really good thread about it.

 

Just replace head gasket and all the parts that came with the kit. I used Victor Reinz Kit.
Machining cost a lot depending which state. There are really good machined heads on ebay. they came to me like brand new. Just return the core or not.
Just degrease it then power wash let dry grind.
Cheers

 

No idea about the specific questions. Did my HG job a little over a year ago in my garage. Take your time. Bag and label stuff and put it in order- makes putting back together pretty simple. Used a combo of the p38 blog and pages from the Rave, esp for torque values. Snapped a head bolt and discovered the wonders of a ratcheting bolt extractor. Cleaned the injectors and did the rebuild kit. Double check everything as you're doing it, then double check before you turn the key. Best to ya.

 

Can you point me towards the injector rebuild kit?

 

I have always used the purple power or something like that for cleaning greasy stuff, works really well. Its like a stronger simple green so it isn't totally gnar to use. For multiple and larger pieces, I probably would try some of that foaming cleaner and then take the parts to a DIY car wash and power wash the sh-t out of it all without worrying about making a mess.

 

Unless you're putting in a performance camshaft, I'd skip the porting.

Technically with a top hatted block, the water jacket can crack and you'll still be fine (as long as you had the top hats w/ o-rings at the bottom. I wouldn't worry about it

The head tolerances are in the overhaul manual, it specifies a minimum height for the heads. After decking, checking the lifter preload is very important, and shimming may be required (Turner sells a kit). Basically the machinist takes off an absolute minimum amount (a couple thou) to make them perfectly straight

For cleaning, engine degreaser aerosol, brake cleaner, lots of rags, hot water. You can unscrew the plate inside the valve cover to clean the whole thing, but those little screws can be a pain in the *** and break.

 

I have a performance camshaft, but the porting is $600 for the pair and that is on top of the cleaning and checking of the heads. I found a place that will vacuum pressure check and resurface for $220 which sounds good. I found a place that would just clean/deck them for $109, but I kind of want the piece of mind.

The porting polishing is just too expensive to justify. it would be fun, but when I do a complete rebuild or something maybe I will source some from Turner that are gasflowed. For that money I would rather have my ECU chipped by Tornado Systems.

 

Don't pay that kind of money. If you REALLY want to pay that kind of money, then just buy new gasflowed heads from Turner, that'll include a proper valve job ($450 value).

 

That is my thought process as well. It the heads end up bad I will do that.

 

Search ebay for injectors. There is a seller who refurbishes several brands.
I got a set of refurbished 4.6 stock Bosch injectors, with a core exchange, $89, and a year warranty.
Top rated seller of many years.