head gaskets and aod issues

[Lincolnmania]

just one question:

has anybody the part number(s) of the tv bushing?

they come from ford in a pack of 4
F3SZ-7H303-B

[gadget73]

Thats the brass bushing. DOn't be surprised if you get looked at like you are from another planet. The part does exist, though for some reason many dealers will insist that it does not.

[havoc_qs]

Well, after having to take a few days off over an abcessed tooth (yay!) I'm back @ work here.

I pulled the distributor to swap out the ignition parts and noticed I have a lot end play in the shaft. 1/16" + with a good 1/32" worth of wear from the gear rubbing on the bottom of the dist body. This is a replace, no? Also, lookin around I see ones w/ steel or iron gears. Which one should I be looking for?

[gadget73]

steel gear for a roller cam motor.

all the Ford distributors I've seen have that slop, even the reman ones. It might not be a bad idea to replace it with a reman though if yours has wear on the distributor body from rubbing. The heat won't have done the pickup any favors anyway, and to swap that you have to press the gear off and tear the distributor apart anyway. For the bother of all that you can get a reman distributor with a new pickup and call it a day.

[havoc_qs]

Or an MSD pro billet for that matter.

*looks innocent*

Have the full intake side stripped now. The deeper I get, the more I think "sludge motor." Don't know if this is giving me experience in mechanics or archeology...

Exhaust up next. Looks to be an easy part. Nothing siezed yet, which suprises me. Just noticed where the exhaust side head bolts are. Likelihood of those being stubborn/breaking?

[Lincolnmania]

you gotta take the exhaust manifolds off

[gadget73]

I haven't had the bolts that hold the manifold to the head break on me, but I won't swear you wont have issues. Spray it with PB Blaster just to be safe. The nuts on the bottom that hold the downpipes on probably need the hotwrench, they're a real bastard to get apart.


Did this motor have a working thermostat? THey sludge real bad without one if the engine doesn't warm up. Irregular oil changes do this too, but if it got really good and hot, it could have baked some goo on there too. If the motor was relatively clean before it got hot tho, it wouldn't be much sludge. If the stuff inside the motor is more like a rock than slime, then you know it got way way too hot.

[havoc_qs]

It's slime. And the t-stat sounds right. The old one is what put me here in the first place. It had failed bigtime, and just been driven that way for god knows how long before I got her. If I could host pics, I'd put some up of the old t-stat. It had failed, broken in half, and corroded into almost nothing. One half had migrated up into the coolant passages in the intake, the other was so solidly oxidized to the t-stat housing it took a smal prybar to get it out... o_O

[Lincolnmania]

use the attachment feature mang

[86VickyLX]

Click post reply, go to the bottom where it says manage attachments, click that, then click browse, then choose where the pictures are, and you should have no problem mang.

[havoc_qs]

I wasn't sure that'd work on my pda, but it does. I'll remember that in case I need it later. However, I have found out a few more things as I tear into the beast.

I have no exhaust manifold gaskets. Why? That's really a rhetorical question, but still, wtf?

It was still overheating even after a new t-stat, radiator, and hoses. The failsafe t-stat had failed safe. Low coolant level from the head gasket, or should I be looking @ something else after I get this done? I've noticed significant differnces between new and old head gaskets, particularly in the coolant passages. The old had tiny pinholes for all, except the ones that were completely blocked off. On the new, much larger holes, and all but the front 2 are open. And even those have some kinda hole for water passage. The engineers put the cooling passages there for a reason. Why are we now covering them up?

[86VickyLX]

I wasn't sure that'd work on my pda, but it does. I'll remember that in case I need it later. However, I have found out a few more things as I tear into the beast.

I have no exhaust manifold gaskets. Why? That's really a rhetorical question, but still, wtf?

From the factory, they don't come with them. You only need them now cause you took them off.

[gadget73]

Some seemed to come with, some without. I've removed old exhaust gaskets when doing header swaps before. If it sealed without gaskets, don't put them in, or it might cause leaks.


The block usually has more passages than the heads have. I'm not sure why this is, but sometimes the gaskets are simply covering up dead-headed passages. Just be sure to install the gaskets the right way, there is marking on the gasket that says Front. If you switch the gaskets around, it will have overheating problems once its together.