you could have issues. you should have used a wire wheel on a grinder as it don't remove cast, just cleans it.

 

whats the best method to check for flatness?

 

Even though I have posted prior that i HAVE indeed used cookie grinders, I found a by far better method...

To justify, WIRE WHEELING is WORSE than using cookies.... BOTH will take off metal if you dont know what your doing... I know I have recommended the cookies prior, but I no longer since I cannot trust your ability to do so...

I forgot who it was, but they turned me on to the ROLOCs from 3m. The green wheels with fingers. Alot of people think they are a rubber, and yes they are, but they can and will take off metal, but these are alot more forgiving for people not used to prepping surfaces.

Anyway, blow the bolt holes out good and dry. Apply a tiny bit of oil to the bottom threads, screw them in, hand tight. I always use a allen bit on a 1/4 ratcht, then back off 1/4 turn..... Use the lube they give you on the washers and threads. The torque spec is 70, 140, 210.... the pattern you'll have to look up, its hard to describe.

 

well i appreciate the post CTC, already cookied her down, dont think cookies would significantly affect the surface of cast iron to run into complications, but we are all entitled to our opinion, the green fingered rolocs are nice, another tech at my shop used one today on some aluminum subaru heads. as far as my cast iron tho i think i should be fine, may not be the PROPER way to do it but people have been doing it for years, before rolocs even existed. i bought an extra 10oz bottle of the ARP torque lube stuff to make sure i had more than enough when it came around, i know for a fact the heads are precisely perfect with even tighter specs than factory so she should be just fine going back together.

 

since you have an extra thing of lube.. dont be shy on using it. cant use too much.. just follow the directions on torque values and youll be fine.

 

a guy in another forum with a dodge said the guy who did his headgasket last used a cookie on his cast iron head and he ended up with leaking gaskets not long after it went back together. said he pulled it back apart and hit the block with a sanding block with 80 grit on it then finished it with 160 grit or sumthin, what are your opinions on this? and do you think i should do some blocking with sandpaper on both sides just to make sure its as close to true as its going to get? i just dont wanna hafta pull the cab again shortly after i re assemble, some people are telling me i screwed myself and the block is going to be way off and some people said theyve been doing it for years and have never had any problems, since im gettin such a mixed bag of responses im not sure what i should do. at this point i just want piece of mind that i didnt kill the trueness of my block.

 

pull the block and have it machined....

honestly.

especially if you removed the stains in the surface...

 

i dont have the means of pullin the block out, im limited to at home decking of the block, i know it wont be super presicion but as long as i can get it relatively close then im happy with that, otherwise ill just hafta put the heads on how its currently sitting if nobody has a clever way to deck it down at home

 

If you use a good quality head gasket, it should seal, I have had some pitted blocks seal just fine using the 3m pads with the die grinder, then using brake clean ( napa mac's 4800) spray and wipe until the rag is clean then use the permatex coper seal head gasket spray, it fills in small pits, it works very well, but surface must be clean!!

 

i have heard of people using a 8" da or orbatal sander to help true the surface since it is a bigger surface area if you dont have the means of pulling the block. now dont get me wrong its not ideal but have heard of sucess. best thing to use is a bar of tool steel and gasket cleaner solvent taking time and scrape it down this will take off no material from the block.

 

Cooper seal spray?

On MLS gaskets............

 

May want to go to 280lbs tq. May puke again. East coast diesel snapped one going to 310lbs.

 

I wouldn't go over he specs... 6.4 bolts are specked to 275.. so I wouldn't succeed that on 6.0 bolts for sure


Eric@HolderdownPerformance

 

Exactly... clamping force really isn't going to help here. Your going to be forcing a MLS gasket to try to fill a gap or a groove... not going to happen

 

If you wanna check your block surface here's an easy on way. Go get you a nice NEW fine grit sharpening stone, hose it down with w-d 40, run it up and down your deck surface in a circular motion, and then clean like crazy with a good brake cleaner. Look for shiney grey, and a dull grey. Shiney spots will be low spots on the surface.

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Wouldn't the shiney spots be the high spots? I would assume the stone would polish anything that was sitting higher, thus making them shiney? Or does the stone scratch the high spots and thus dull them?

 

We torque them to 285. I tired 310 once and got the 10 on one side to hold. Then on the other side the 6th one in that sequence snapped. H-11 studs will snap at a much lower torque.

I torque the headstuds of the 6.4 pulling trucks to 400. So far haven't broke a 6.4 stud yet.

 

for a happy medium could i just torque my studs to 250 since thats the max setting i have on my torque wrench? it should be able to handle 250 with no problem right?? and as far as the copper gasket spray to help fill in the small stuff, would it be okay to just spray the block and not the gasket? or just dont even experiment with that at all??? u think the extra clamping force will take care of any small variations? im sure i didnt hurt it at all and if i did it was nothing significant.

 

Copper spray gasket is what you use on your 1993 2.2l chevy that your selling for $750 because you dont want to put the money into machine work...

 

I use the copper spray stuff on many projects with great results, but this wouldn't be one of those situations. Keep it on the shelf

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so i opened my stud box a little while ago to see what they said and they say to torque them down to 210. would any of you suggest like 250? would it be safe? or just stick with what they say? do the 6.0s have any studs that go thru coolant or no? it was talking about thread sealer if it goes thru coolant jackets or sumthin.

 

Follow ARP's Instructions. Go to 210. If there is a problem with the block the extra 40 ft lbs aint going to help ya. Think about a pothole in a street....put a flat steel peice over it and bolt it down......It's only going to clamp to the level surfaces of the road, even if you tightened it more your not going to seal the pothole with the gasket unless the metal had a dip in the same spot as the pothole....Sorry if that sounds confusing..for some reason it made sense to me....

I hate to say it but IF there is a problem with the block, the only way to be worry free would be to pull it and deck it. Otherwise just put it together, tq to 210 and hope its ok. I am 99% sure your ok, but if your worried about it the only fool proof way to know it 100% straight is to have it decked.

 

yeah DEFINTELY not intrested in decking it, i think ill be just fine, you think just stick with the arp torque spec? ive always had this problem that im never satisfied with what people say to TQ things too, i feel like 225 would just be a smidgen more with the satisfaction that its tight lmao, and 06VT your post made total sense to me, sounded like a pretty realistic opinion, you know how hard it can be in the forums to get that sometimes

 

225 probably wouldnt hurt. I just think going to 280 like many say to is not that great of an idea. If ARP manufactures the studs to hold the rated strength at 210 and you take it to 280 technically your putting undue strain on the stud and possibly lessing its holding force.....imho that is.

thanks...i try to be a realist. I too will be doing mine in my driveway soon!

 

A shop near me does alot of 6.0 headgasket jobs and all they use is the 3m scotch brite pads and brake clean to clean the block. It may be wrong but they do several a week and said only 2 have came back, and those 2 he put black onyx gaskets on. I think if you keep the grinder moving all the time and dont try to make the deck look like it just came from the machine shop you should be fine, but I'm no expert.

 

Doing something with a flexible pad, abrasive, and rotary machine to clean up surface removing material will always be far more inaccurate than any machine tool setup can do correctly. Cast Iron is pretty hard, so I won't assume every swinging dick with a grinder and flex pad can remove uneven amount of material like burning through paint on a rotary. It seems good technique and getting lucky for most have been the key points of this rather harsh and abrasive blacksmith style of "decking" and "cleaning up", but remember it's the flatness spec that requires a maximum of .002" of flatness across the width. In my experience, feeler gage and a precision bar/joe block is not the correct way to measure that either, you need profilometry. It is only an "engine" and not a part for the space shuttle though.

It's a 6.0L, roll the dice.

 

im sorry to ask a question like this, but i am getting ready to pull my buddies cab and install studs on his truck. i have pulled and installed heads and stock head bolts on 6.0 and 6.4's, my question is it the actual stud that you torque down or is it referring to the nut that goes on top of the head that is torqued down? any help is appreciated

 

Elite studs says finger tighten the stud with oil on threads, but make sure they are bottomed out.