Head Replacement - Replace Lifters? (0331 Problems)

My personal experience says,
Head gasket -no
Valve cover -rubber no (unless needed to hold the gasket in place at the corners
Water pump -only to help hold the gasket in place
Thermostat- again only to hold it for install (careful not to use to much and stick the thermostat or clog the piddle valve) small hole in thermostat
Throttle body -no
Exhaust -no
Their called gaskets for a reason. I know lots of folks will disagree with me but if you needed gasket sealant why would you need a gasket? Imo its way over used and is usually the cause of leaks because too much is gobbed on and it causes the gasket to slip, not seal. Just clean your mating surfaces really good and only use the RTV to help hold the seal. FYI RTV stands for room temp volcanizing. ?sp? Lol. Good luck and I hope this helps.
 
I would go with the thin Mopar head gasket. It will give you a touch higher compression and a bit more power. I spray my head gaskets with copperkote before assy.

If you swap out the lifters, add a bottle of ZDDP to the oil before break in. In reality with the new oils, I would run it all the time.
 
Ugh. More questions. The Clearwater head didn't come with the two bolts/studs that I believe are just used for grounding, or the two pins that I believe hold the intake manifold in place. The ground bolts (again, just from memory I believe they are grounds) I was able to get out of the old head (I assume I should use thread sealant to put these back in the new one?) but the pins are definitely not coming out. Anyone know what these are actually called, where I can get new ones, and anything special besides popping these in as far as install?
 
Outside of that dilemma, I got the deck nice and clean, as well as the water pump housing. I plan on taking a vacuum to each cylinder to get the bits of crud off the piston heads, but any other advice for carefully cleaning them?
 
I've used a green scurf pad to clean the pistons. Its just abrasive enough to clean the carbon off without scratching the piston which could cause hotspots. ie; detonation. ?sp?
 
Those dowels can be fun to get out there is a special tool but for a single use I sure would not pop for one. Vice grips should get them. You could get some round stock and make your own. A long shank bolt would work cut head off and the threaded part leaving you the non threaded portion as your new dowel.
 
Those dowels can be fun to get out there is a special tool but for a single use I sure would not pop for one. Vice grips should get them. You could get some round stock and make your own. A long shank bolt would work cut head off and the threaded part leaving you the non threaded portion as your new dowel.

I found the part number online, but I guess they're impossible to source locally, so I ordered them. In the meantime I'm going to try and take the old ones out.

For those wondering its part number J3172318
 
I dunno what you guys are possibly doing to get these out. I can't make them budge. Looks like I'll be waiting until they come in the mail, unless I can source them locally.
 
Might try a little heat.
 
Well, I've moved past that at this point. If I can't find them locally, either at a dealer or possibly Jeeps Unlimited, I'll just wait for mine to come in the mail. Should still have them by this weekend, which is my goal deadline.

New random questions, in not particular order or priority:

1) should I do anything to oil the cylinder walls prior to closing it up?
2) want to make sure I'm thorough, and my gasket kit came with what I believe to be valve steam seals, I assume I don't need these for my purposes?
3) the tag from Clearwater had a "caution" section that included "cam seals must be installed by installer" I assume I'm ignoring this warning in my case?
4) I plan on coating the lifters in Moly paste, as well as the ends of the push rods, according to my manual. Anything I should make sure to coat in either the moly based paste or moly based oil?
 
Why are you removing the deck pins? What did you clean the deck with?

1) Just make sure they are clean
2) Nope, you should have new ones on the new head
3) Yah, generic tag for OHC head.
4) Do not put moly lube on the sides of the lifter. Only the foot. Pushrod ends are fine. Use standard assembly lube for the rest.

BTW, those 3m roloc abrasive disks have no business any where near an engine.
 
Why are you removing the deck pins? What did you clean the deck with?

1) Just make sure they are clean
2) Nope, you should have new ones on the new head
3) Yah, generic tag for OHC head.
4) Do not put moly lube on the sides of the lifter. Only the foot. Pushrod ends are fine. Use standard assembly lube for the rest.

BTW, those 3m roloc abrasive disks have no business any where near an engine.

Thanks for the response talyn. I didn't remove the deck pins, the side of the head also has alignment pins for the intake manifold. Those did not come in the replacement head from Clearwater.

I used wd40 to clean the gasket residue from the deck. I stayed away from the cylinders for fear of getting something down there that shouldn't be. I did however use a vacuum to clear out bits of junk that may have fallen in while I was pulling the head. I can't imagine sticking an abrasive down the cylinder, so I won't be doing that, no worries.
 
FYI, my local dealership was able to get the dowel pins from the warehouse for tomorrow morning. Sounds much better than trying to cobble together my own. I should have waited to check the dealer before I ordered them online and paid like 10 bucks shipping. Dumb. Looks like I'll be dropping in the lifters this evening, then going over the head one last time before I drop it on tomorrow. Going to make sure I put thread sealant on the ground bolts/studs on the side of the head, it doesn't say it anywhere, but I'd imagine this is a good idea regardless.

It's been mentioned to follow the cam break in procedure with the new lifters, but of course it's the internet, so no one can agree on the correct cam break in procedure. All I've been able to gather is to use the moly paste on the cam side of the lifter, then once everything is back and buttoned up, to run the engine for some indeterminate amount of time, at some indeterminate RPM.
 
Going to make sure I put thread sealant on the ground bolts/studs on the side of the head, it doesn't say it anywhere, but I'd imagine this is a good idea regardless.
I wouldn't. It will act as an insulator and its not going into water or oil.

to run the engine for some indeterminate amount of time, at some indeterminate RPM.
Run the engine around 2000 RPM, fluctuating RPMs a bit for around 20 minutes.

BTW, don't forget the thread sealant on the #11 head bolt. Do you have the torque specs and order?
 
I wouldn't. It will act as an insulator and its not going into water or oil.

Run the engine around 2000 RPM, fluctuating RPMs a bit for around 20 minutes.

BTW, don't forget the thread sealant on the #11 head bolt. Do you have the torque specs and order?

K, makes sense. And yessir, got the torque specs ready and waiting. One thing I could use though would be the order of the bolts on the interior of the head. I'm not looking at the set of head bolts right now, but I know there's two different sizes and I want to make sure I get the order correct.

Edit: I suppose it's probably simpler than I'm making it, but I'm talking about the two bolts on the right side of this picture in the summit listing: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/fel-es71102/overview/
 
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