A little background info on the situation. I have the dreaded Castech 706 heads on my truck and they've began to leak. So here is my question: For those of you who have done both, do you find it's easier to swap the heads with the engine in the truck or is it worth it to actually pull the engine out of the truck. I have pulled the engine in/out of my 02 a few different times, and have quite a few other LS swaps under my belt, so pulling the engine isn't an issue. I'm curious about having enough room to successfully torque the head bolts down with a torque wrench once it is in the truck. Any of your input/suggestions are welcome.

 

Are you wanting to do any other mods? How many miles are on the truck?

If you need more room for the last bolt, jsut unbolt the trans from the crossmember and jacl the trans up. Itll give you a bit more clearance.

 

I did mine with the engine still in. The last two bolts on the drivers side didnt have enough room. I used a rubber band around them to hold them up as I removed the head.

 

I also did mine while in the truck. The only bolt I remember having trouble with was driver's side bottom rear. Just don't lose the locating stud like I did... I had to put the driver's side head on with only one stud... Made me nervous as hell.

 

I didn't even think about loosening the trans and jacking it up. The truck has 136k on it now. I've had it since 114k when I realized that I was slowly losing coolant. I have no intentions of any other mods. I've tossed around the idea of swapping a 6L in but I know if I do that, I'll be putting a trans in it next and then I'll want to upgrade the rear axle as well. I start medical school in the fall and know that I'm not going to have the luxury of having free time on my hands or being able to go without a reliable vehicle. I just want to do a head swap and drive on.

Ouch, I would be pretty nervous without the mounting stud myself.

 

If using tty bolts, remove engine, if using studs leave engine in truck.

 

If using tty bolts, remove engine, if using studs leave engine in truck.

 

I've had mine off twice with the engine in the truck. I had no problems getting a torque wrench on all of the bolts. Cleaning everything up after pulling the old heads is the worst part.

 

this im interested in, thought i could easily find the hdblt torquing thread, but have since lost it, i just got the passenger side head off last nite (engine still connected to trans) anyone have the link to that thread?

 

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