It's been a while since I did any work on an overhead cam engine--and your's has two.

Here's the thing, if you do a lot of machining on an overhead cam head, it changes the cam timing. What you would find is that the timing marks on the cam sprocket don't quite line up with the marks on the head--my guess would be that the timing would be advanced. So you really have to be careful. And if the engine was badly overheated with a blown head gasket, you probably have warped at least one of the heads. A machine shop is going to have to advise you on how much warpage there is, and what the service limits on machining that warp out. Bad news, eh? Worse is that I think good 4.7 heads are hard to find on the used market and are expensive.

A couple of thoughts, the cams may be degree-able--adjustable valve timing. Or the machine shop may be able to suggest some sort of thicker (maybe competition) head gasket.

Sorry.

 

Decided on replacing both head gaskets. Have a few friends coming over later to help me finish up the rest of the tear down and rebuild. Thanks for all the advise!!! I truly appreciate it!!