Wow, long time no post. Sorry guys. Been very busy and not with the truck. Been fortunate enough to be driving a family car back and forth to the station (1989 Merc Grand Marquis with over 200K on the clock. It isn't pretty but sure is dependable).
Spent the end of July on a family vacation in FL. Took the kids to Disney, went to a wedding, did some relaxing in FL, got back in NY about 2 weeks ago. Finally temps here in NY have cooled down to a manageable level where we even felt like working on the truck.
To get everyone up to speed...
Pulled the heads off, had them checked for trueness, all checked out ok. Valves were not closing fully though, lots of carbon buildup, and we tore the heads completely down and did a rebuild on them. My father does all this himself, so total cost to me was slim as I only had to pay for parts that were needed. All valves and seats were cut... all other hardware was checked and reused as it was all low miles. Now we could have maybe gotten away with simply regasketing the heads, but given they were off, might as well do whatever we can. Given the complexity of the job, no sense in not.
Here are pics from the head rebuild. By the way, if anyone needs any tips on setting cams, or anything else, feel free to PM me. Notice the cam positioning tool sits at the BACK of the head. Given there are no instructions we found anywhere outlining its use, it wasn't clear to us, until I am staring at the back of the head and I saw the "key" in the recess.
Btw, for anyone ever doing a valve stem seal job either in the vehicle or out, the OTC Ford Valve spring compressor is not that easy to use and can ultimately resulting in a damaged valve. It doesn't allow for even pressure to be put down on the valve spring. The KD tool worked better in that respect and getting the keepers in place was a bit easier.
Here are some images from the head work. I will post more progress pics later this evening. Thanks.