Yea I understand man. I just undid the grounding strap from the firewall and took the bolts off the head when I got them off the engine. I'm in Bham or I would offer some help

 

I also did in the same order, BUT like I said, the bolts were so damn tight that I had to bolt the head back down to break them loose. Well, I did the top 1 first, undid the head, noticed the bottom 1, had to bolt the head back down and get it busted loose. About an hour of BS.


I did bring the vacuum cleaner down at midnight like I had no regard for neighbors sleeping in the first floor apartment directly in front of my truck. But if allowed my life to revolve around everybody else, I would never get anything done, right?


can the cyl heads go on after all of the head studs are in place? or is it better to only set up a couple of the centrally-located studs, position the cyl heads, then install the remaining studs?

 

spark plug booties

essential!

 

Do the head gasket in a parking lot

300 piece Sears tool box

breaker bar

black impact 5.8" socket

and you are set!

oh yeah torque wrench


https://www.flickr.com/photos/76579732@N07/

 

And a bad set of gaskets. I thought they sold me a Reinz set but when I got home with my freshly refurbished parts, none of the O-rings fit. Then the exhaust mani gaskets didn't fit. Stopped there, made the call and was told he would have the real Reinz kit for me on Monday. Thanks a lot a$$hole. Only set me back 3-days and who cares if I have anything to drive now, right? The "real" Reinz kit. WTF...

 

yea you can put the cylinder heads on after the studs are in place. It will be a pia if you didn't remove the heater hose on the passenger side though. Personally I could say put the small on closest to the exhaust manifold side and put the upper ones on after you get the heads on. That way you know your gasket stays on the dowel pins and you have 2-3 studs that will help correctly orient it. I would read up on the copper gasket spray though. I have read where some guys could hardly get their heads off when it needed another gasket job. Just FYI on that. I would say to get your exhaust manifolds ceramic coated though if you got the money to spare. If you do black, it will help keep a lot of heat out of your engine bay. They black helps retain the heat better than the silver. Go figure

 

I have been debating on those spark plug booties. I was looking at the slick speed ones off of eBay. And that's a clean engine bay you got there man. Nice!

 

Honestly I know victor reinz are better but I went with the lucky 8 kit and can't be disappointed. Everything I have had from them has been top quality and when the ole girl needs new gaskets again, she will be getting a complete rebuild. I did use "interchange" sealants which I'll post a screen shot picture of. That was compliments of this forum!!! Great looking out guys
And I would go with the arp instruction from d&d on the torquing specs from d&d. Follow the anti seize under the washers to help torque properly. I can't remember who posted this one but another wonder forum member

 

Keep us posted on the ordeal man. I know it's a pia. Luckily this is my back up vehicle/fun vehicle and I should be through with it mid January. I'm planning on getting all the gunk off the engine my next set of off days. And as for the oil, I would just get some good ole' rotella t4 or good 15w-40 BC all you are doing is running it through the heads and oil valley to get it to the sump. That's my outlook on it since you aren't turning the engine over or anything.

 

You can see them both hanging down off the harness close to the firewall
On a side note, the 2 green wires that look like grounds that are part of the fuel injector harness at the rear, where the hell do they go? I've been searching and searching and had a major brain fart