Rastus wrote:

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Q.(a) No doubt your dealership could have provided OEM pistons at a special employees price, were the after market ones selected better design & cheaper to purchase ?...

In my job at the Ford dealer, I frequently encounter OE parts being discontinued/obsolete/unavailable on MUCH newer vehicles. The thought that Ford may still have a set of .020 oversize 460 pistons sitting in a warehouse somewhere collecting dust seemed laughable to me. I didn't even bother asking our parts department.

(b) Were you tempted to uprate the compression-ratio, & if so, what made you change your mind ?...

Stock compression ratio is just shy of 9:1. If I increased it 1 point to 10:1 and changed nothing else. The power increase would only be 3 or 4%. Which to me is not worth the cost of needing to run premium fuel, or the risk of detonation and damage to all my new parts. I also want to be able to pull a trailer without risking anything.

(c) Apart from the enhanced design of the new pistons, are they lighter in weight compared to OEM, & that's what necessitated the engine re-balancing ?...

I don't remember if they were lighter or heavier, but yes, piston weight difference, and the fact that all of the crank journals are now .010 undersize necessitated rebalancing.

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Rastus wrote:

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Q.(a) What did you end-up using & why ?

Speed Pro pistons, Melling oil pump, Camshaft, and push rods, King bi-metal main and rod bearings, Hastings moly rings, gaskets from Fel Pro and Victor Reinz, ARP head studs, rod bolts, and pump shaft, Crower (Hy-lift Johnson) lifters, Scorpion rockers, Pioneer dowels and brass core plugs, Promaxx cylinder heads, Kirban fuel pressure regulator, Medice valve cover spacers, Thorley headers. Flowkooler water pump... All because these are brands I know and trust.

(b) Was there any special new gasket sealer that you used or prefer to use, or did you simply follow OEM guidelines ?

For RTV silicone on the intake china walls and timing cover t-joints, as well as mating the 2 halves of the rear main and around the intake coolant passages - I use Motorcraft TA-31 which is by far the best RTV I have ever used, and was originally formulated for 7.3 Diesel oil pans because it never becomes hard and brittle. It will remain flexible for decades. I use that stuff at work on everything.

I used a thin bit of Loctite anaerobic flange sealer under the rear main cap to prevent leakage out the back of the engine from between the block and cap. 

ARP torque lubricant on things that are torque sensitive ie: head studs, rocker pedestal bolts, main cap bolts, rod bolts.

ARP pipe thread sealant on threaded oil gallery plugs and intake bolts.

Permatex #1 on core plugs and rear cam plug.

Loctite 262 on flex plate bolts, timing sprocket bolts, and front crank pulley bolt.

(c) Did you read through an OEM or other book for tips etc other than for data / torque settings ?

Mostly just to get needed measurements and torque specs.

(d) Did anyone offer you guidance / tips along they way from work or where-ever ?

I did a lot of internet research when determining which parts I wanted to buy.

 

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This is the process I used:

Rastus wrote:

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Q's.(a) Were your big-end bearing caps marked / numbered by yourself, or you found new ones via the machine-shop after regrinding & balancing for better matched sets ???

They are my original rods and came already stamped from the factory with their cylinder numbers. The machine shop installed the new press fit pistons on to the rods for me since they have a rod heater and I don't. They knew exactly which way they needed to go so that the index mark in the piston would point toward the front of the engine, while the large chamfer on the big end of the rods would face toward the crank counterweight. I checked to verify, but they do this all day long so they had it right. Prior to balancing the crankshaft each rod was weighed individually and matched to the lightest one by removing material as necessary. Then by also weighing rod bearings, pistons, wrist pins, and rings, they calculated bob weight which they mocked up on the crankshaft before balancing to get an accurate result. They also installed my harmonic damper, front spacer weight, and flex plate during the balance process because they are weighted on this externally balanced rotating assembly.

(b) Did you search-out task-specific piston rings, or simply follow recommended advice from Speed-Pro, eg, they came with the piston set ?

I knew I wanted Hastings moly rings so that's what I ordered.

(c) Piston ring manufacturers like to have their own method of where the ring gaps should be aligned, usually at either 120-degrees, or 180-degree apart with the piston-notch as a reference datum. But on a V-8, one bank is opposite the recommended settings given. Did you follow the guidelines, or use your own method, knowing that rings move in operation, & that keeping the gaps as opposite from each other is the primary goal, & that the segmented 3-piece oil-ring will have the lowest ring mounted at 12-'o-clock with respect to the valley ?... ( eg. for the oil-ring-assy, I'd space the gaps 120-degrees apart, with the lower-most segment at 12-o-clock relative to the valley ).

I followed the directions that came with the rings. They suggested the upper ring gap on the side with the intake valve which is slightly cooler in the cylinder, then the 2nd ring opposite that, then the oil ring expander back to intake valve side with its retention rings an inch on each side of the expander gap. Bear in mind, these rings will rotate as the engine runs, so this is just where they start out in life.

(d) You photographed checking the rig-gaps in the cylinder-bores, did you have to modify any, or were they all in spec. ?...

Just a couple needed to be ground a little bit.

(e) Some people like to radius the ring-ends to ensure no bore marking / scratching occurs, did you radius the rigs at all ?...

I had a stone to smooth as necessary, but it didn't take much, these were very nice rings right out of the box.

 

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Rastus wrote:

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Q.(a) Were there any other unforeseen issues that caused head-aches along the way ?...

The need to do this at all was an unforeseen issue and expensive headache. But as far as specifics go, When removing the engine, I found out the hard way when the 700lb engine was dangling by the hoist that I would either need to remove the hood or the core support to create enough room to remove it. I should have picked hood removal. Also, the headers had to come off to install it, and I didn't realize at the time, but the exhaust ports on EFI heads aren't symmetrical, they are slightly off center from the bolt holes and you CAN put the gaskets on backward and partially block the ports. Oh and another thing, If you use valve cover spacers to make room for aftermarket rockers, there is a ridge on the valve covers themselves that has to be ground off otherwise they will interfere with the spacers and prevent the gasket from sealing, causing a leak from both sides of the engine when you start it up. 

(b) Doing this by yourself can cause some interesting moments in getting the job done, did someone ever give you a hand at all with anything in the process, & where did they help ?

Aside from the machine work and having the injectors sent out to be cleaned and flow tested, I did everything else. My girlfriend did write down the measurements I was taking during the teardown and inspection phase though.

(c) Engine stands are great for rebuilds, but they're not as easy to get along with as people may think. Did you have trouble torquing down cylinder-heads with the stand wanting to move around etc etc ?...

It wasn't too bad, I think I jammed something under the wheels so it wouldn't move around too much, but it didn't really fight me anyway.

(d) What type of torque wrench do you have and use ? There are many types, & the pointer-with-scale & flex-bar type is the most accurate apparently, though it doesn't go "click"...Warren Brown Torque Wrenches however are likely the most common found in workshops here in Oz.

I have a few torque wrenches, but I brought home my Snap On 1/2 drive click type from work because it was recently calibrated.

(e) Were there any "special tools" that you had to buy that you didn't expect to, since you already have a really impressive & expanding set-up / tool-chest ?

That's just my home tool set, the one at work is huge. I did have to buy some carbide burrs to do a little mild intake manifold porting. And I built a custom lift plate that bolts to the EFI intake manifold to make installation easier, also a swivel hook for the engine hoist so I can spin it however I want during installation. Also some oil passage cleaning brushes that I didn't have.

(f) Did you bring home work-tools from your tool-chest, or simply use your home-tool-kit ?

Most of the work was done with my home tool set, with a few things brought home from work like my better torque wrench.

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Yo,

So it's been a few weeks now, & with the further revelations of a Toyota water-powered car & conversion kit, one has to ask PowerStroker these few questions...


Q1. How is the beast running, & are you enjoying yourself ?

Q2. Surely to eliminate the 10-mpg fuel figures, would you consider a Toyota conversion kit, so as to run the beast on water & no more fuel bill ??? ( I'm already on the hunt for a 6.9 lol ).

Here's the blurb for Oz from Toyota, & now with Hyundai interested too...

https://www.carsguide.com.au/car-news/the-hydrogen-economy-starts-here-hydrogen-evs-a-step-closer-for-australia-with-toyota