I am in the middle of the proverbial Headstud, BPD, overhaul on my 6.0 and I am lucky enough to have a machine shop in the plant I work at.
The machinist is capable and willing to mill and/or grind my heads if needed after checking the flatness on a FARO CMM.
He suggested we could surface grind them to get them as flat as possible, but I remember reading on the SWAMPS website that they recommend a Ra 50 Surface Finish to allow the gasket to "hold".
Can anyone confirm this or even better provide an RMS number?
I tried to convert Ra to RMS but after much reading they are measuring two different ways and although you can convert them somewhat successfully, there is about a 11%-25% margin of error!
well I looked everywhere and can't find the RA /RMS #
If nothing Else call Bulletproof they have a machine shop they use right down the street who does all their 6.0 heads they will either know or can give you the phone #
Hey ak49er my head thickness was very close to what yours are at and they were never machined or taken off the truck since new and I have had no issues at all
So I measure one head last night, confirmed the 3.74 minimum, decided to go old school on the measuring, used the granite table, made three posts out of 1-2-3 blocks, with steel balls, shimmed them all to height, and used a surface gauge to measure the head surface which was now paralleled to the granite table. Got one set of readings, then switched the three points opposite, and confirmed the repeatability.
The head shows an arc with the center two cylinders .0025" less than the outer two, so looking at the head, fire surface up, it is dipped down at the two inner cylinders.
We will use the FARO to confirm these readings at lunch time.
I haven't checked the other head yet. If it is way out, the decision is easy,replace it, if it is "flat" or at .0025" again, risk it and run it?
Interesting because varied thickness gaskets have been elusive for these forever ..are they a new product?
however there is also a reason MLS are used in this application so IDK if I would go that route ???
ford advises against milling the heads period.their flatness check procedure is a joke and would pass on all but the worst cylinder head.that being said,everyone mills them.you need to magnaflux the heads for cracks around the seats before going any further though.
I have a question..when people are replacing head gaskets and take their heads to get milled...what about the engine block itself? How are they ensuring the block deck is perfectly flat with the new gasket?
u can check it but if it's out you can't deck it in the truck and assembled
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