[cobra232]

ORIGINAL: shawnb

ok, well it must be a head gasket. called up the ford dealer, first thing he said was its a head gasket. $1200-$1500 job.

so i'm going to do it myself. just want to make sure what gaskets should i get, and bolts? use all ford parts?

this will be my first head job. how long should it take me?! anything i should look out for? i am going to buy a ford service manual, the haynes i have sucks!

don't get felpro. they are not as good as ford MLS gaskets.

97 or 98 ford gaskets are fine 99+ ford gaskets are a tad better.

get premium headbolts for the 96. do not use 99 bolts or 98 bolts only use 96 bolts. i reccomend ARP bolts. alittle pricey but the last set i did with felpro were a distaster.

ARP bolts
mls ford gaskets. spray the gaskets with a coating of copper gasket spray and let them get tacky before putting them on. the copper gasket spray really helps seal every little imperfection in the block back up.
you must clean the surface of the block very well and degrease it with starting fluid or brake cleaner
torque to 65ftlbs and you will not have any more problems. you must have the heads resurfaced and tanked with a valvejob and pressure checkedotherwise your just throwing money away as the heads will lift if they are not resurfaced. typically $120-$150 to have the heads redone.

the front accessory drive bracketrs are a pain. there is a stud in the lower front part of each head that will make you find new swear words. there is also a tough bolt behind the powersteering pulley that without pulling the pulley requires you to use a universal joint on an extension. the fuel pressure regulator bolt is a pain. it's on the drivers side head in the back close to the firewall. a 10MM ratchet wrench make the job alittle easier. the dipstick bracket that mounts to the header is soft steel and will tear out easy so soak that header bolt which is double nutted with penetrating oil

get a 15MM 1/2" drive deep well socket for the headbolts and a 4" extension and a 1/2" torquewrench.

soak the header flange bolts that bolt to the Y-pipe real good with PB blaster penetrating spray and go easy on the header bolts as they are screwed into aluminum.

re-assembly. DO NOT TRY TO OVERTORQUE THE INTAKE BOLTS. they are thin and can snap off easily even using a 1/4" ratchet