Hello Experts!

I am planning on installing the TFS-51400002 Twisted Wedge Cylinder Heads w/cam and intake. I have a Haynes Manual and have been reading a lot online...

I was wondering if anyone has any tips that they don't mention in the books?? There is always some trick of the trade that you don't learn until you get in there, break it, and learn for yourself...I would like to avoid that.

Any install tips??

 

take your time once you start to put it back together. get the tq and sequence right as well as make sure you clean all surfaces very well. take this time to paint any brackets or fix the little stuff while it's apart. good luck

 

use new head bolts!! do not reuse the old ones

 

use head STUDS. they are better then bolts. arp is the brand to use.
one of the had gaskets will go on "upside down". some people get that confused and put the gasket on backwards which causes over heating. the gasket will have an arrow that says which way is the front.

 

My gaskets didnt have arrows[>:]. Use threadsealer on the head bolts that go into the waterjacket. Take pictures of everything. If our putting in new rockers after 2 weeks go back and retorque them.

 

Buy all new bolt including the water pump bolt, mine broke and that is a pain. Some people don't use the front and rear gasket for the intake manifold. I used a nice bead of silicone. One last thing make sure you scrape all the old head gasket off the block and have a torque wrench.

 

take your time, when in doubt ask/read , don't guess on any thing. good luck.

 

Dont drop the heads on your foot.....it hurts.

 

I say it like Ive said it many times before. If you plan on using aftermarket head bolts or studs (most likely ARP) be sure to follow the manufactures installation instructions and torque specs, do not just torque them to the stock ford specs. ARP and most other companies include instructions with thier fasteners in addition I recommend you read this section on thier website http://www.arp-bolts.com/Tech/TechInstall.html itcovers how to properly install thier fasteners when thier brand new. Most people dont take the time to do this step properly, and end up blowing head gaskets down the road and wondering why.

 

That article is good, but remember that some of the stuff in it is only for rod bolts. It tells you to loosen and retorque the new bolts 5 times, but doesn't say anything about it in the directions ARP gave me. I called em, they said just torque them once for head bolts. I'm too lazy to type a lot and the search feature is being itself (busted), but I've written a lot about the h/c/i swap, so if you can find it there's a great writeup in some of the posts as well