Just completed my stud job one at a time with cab on, Im not interested in hearing your opinions on the methods I used. This is merely to help others that are in the same position as I was. I had been experiencing puking for a few months before I got time and cash to do all of this. I did not replace the gaskets, although with the room I made it wouldnt have been that much of an issue I believe. If this in fact does not work, I am only out my time in doing so. I can easily pull heads out again now that Ive done it once, would take a fraction of the time. I used the ARP torque sequence moving center out, torquing them first to 140ft lbs, then after replacing all of the bolts with studs, I used same torque sequence but went straight to 250 ft lbs. Going past the recommended 210, Ive known of people doing 285ftlbs , If i had a bigger torque wrench, I would have probably done 265ftlbs end torque. Make sure you have a good 12pt 18mm deep socket also. And a good sized cheat bar.
This all being said here is how I tackled the drivers side. Im not going to involve all of the details, its pretty obvious what you need to remove to get to the valve covers, The denting the firewall works wonders for the far back bottom bolt. I did use the cutting method to remove the bolt head. I used a long heave steel bar to dent in the firewall after peeling back the insulation. After denting it in, pulled bolt up as far as I could, zip tied the bottom to keep it from sliding back into head, and cut off the bolt about 2" from top. Was able to slide bolt right out then, and also get stud back down. A little more denting was needed to fit the head of my torque wrench down on top of the bolt. That side wasnt to bad at all.
On the passenger side, everyone says, remove the heater box. This isnt necessary. Remove the RH side cover off of the heater box, and then you are able to remove wire connections and lay the ac cooler on top of radiator or by where battery was. I also removed the 3 nuts on bottom behind glovebox in cab, and 2 nuts on top to slide the heater box out about 3" to put in the back bottom stud. You may have to remove your vacuum pump from fender if it hits it. (2 - 12mm bolts) Here are the pictures and let me know if you have any questions.
I will post a status of how it turns out without replacing the gaskets. I'm sure I will hear plenty of "that will never work" comments, even though I asked that those comments be kept to yourself. Ive had requests from guys asking how this works for me. And I will keep updates. As for the pictures for the one at a time, I hope these help, cuz there aren't a lot of picture resources out there for this procedure.
Thanks and I'll answer any questions you have.
This all being said here is how I tackled the drivers side. Im not going to involve all of the details, its pretty obvious what you need to remove to get to the valve covers, The denting the firewall works wonders for the far back bottom bolt. I did use the cutting method to remove the bolt head. I used a long heave steel bar to dent in the firewall after peeling back the insulation. After denting it in, pulled bolt up as far as I could, zip tied the bottom to keep it from sliding back into head, and cut off the bolt about 2" from top. Was able to slide bolt right out then, and also get stud back down. A little more denting was needed to fit the head of my torque wrench down on top of the bolt. That side wasnt to bad at all.
On the passenger side, everyone says, remove the heater box. This isnt necessary. Remove the RH side cover off of the heater box, and then you are able to remove wire connections and lay the ac cooler on top of radiator or by where battery was. I also removed the 3 nuts on bottom behind glovebox in cab, and 2 nuts on top to slide the heater box out about 3" to put in the back bottom stud. You may have to remove your vacuum pump from fender if it hits it. (2 - 12mm bolts) Here are the pictures and let me know if you have any questions.
I will post a status of how it turns out without replacing the gaskets. I'm sure I will hear plenty of "that will never work" comments, even though I asked that those comments be kept to yourself. Ive had requests from guys asking how this works for me. And I will keep updates. As for the pictures for the one at a time, I hope these help, cuz there aren't a lot of picture resources out there for this procedure.
Thanks and I'll answer any questions you have.