too much IMO... I still suggest you buy the castings I mentioned and swap over the parts... as long as they seal they should be good.

how much are they asking for the heads?

 

Do you have a link for what you're talking about?

 

here you go... http://www.hughesengines.com/partDet...amp;eTypeID=10

the stock heads suck, if you are STUCK with them and they are not cracked, get a 180 deg t-stat and install it. I'd also recommend a set of gibson headers. It's my belief that the heads crack because of too much heat neat the 7/8 cylinders @ the exhaust manifold & the 195 deg t-stat. I have nothing to back this up, just my observations from owning my 2000 5.9 QC truck. When I 1st got it, performance was sluggish, I measured the exhaust temps @ the collectors of the stock manifolds and found 1 side to be 600+ deg and the other close to 700 deg. this indicated i had1 cat clogged & the other cat partially clogged. not too long after clearing the clogs the exhaust seat on the #8 cylinder failed. I didnt know at the time about the head cracking issue so I just fixed it and went on my way. when I upgraded to the r/t heads and yanked the stockers I looked for the cracking and sure enough several cylinders were cracked between the valve seats... (I still have them sitting in the garage). anyways, hope this helps...

 

Steve, thanks for the linkage! Those are nice heads. If I ever need to go with another set, I may give these a shot.

However, if money is tight, some folks may not have a choice in the matter. $550 + shipping, + the components needed to build those heads up will quickly outstrip magnafluxing a set of junkyard heads, 3-angle valve job and new guides. If there's no cracks in the junkyard heads, then make sure the cat(s) are clean and free flowing and maybe go to the lower temp t-stat.

I'm just saying that as long as you go about getting, inspecting and properly servicing junkyard parts, there's nothing wrong with using them and I have for years on various cars. Both my own and family/friends.

 

the only problem with using the original castings is you still run the risk of them cracking... better to do the job 1 time and have it done right. speaking of which, I highly recommend new head bolts... when I priced them out, stockers were about the same cost from the dealeras the ARP's ...

 

they are asking 245 per head..and for all services i believe 450 for all..its the just labor thats killing it..freakin 8 hours to swap heads...

 

hummm, the 8 hours sounds about right... maybe on the high side. My wife & I tore down my 360 in about 90 minutes... the only thing missing was the fan shrowd and the fan... full of fluid and all accessories in place. took about 4 hours to clean up & put back together. There's no way for you to do the work yourself? with the plenum gasket DIY writeup and a little more instruction, you should be able to do it yourself (as long as you have the right tools). I'll be they will have trouble finding a set of heads that are not cracked...

either way, insist on new head bolts! when I tore my motor down for the last time (with my wife) the head gasket failed (new one) after putting the new heads on. 1st thought it was the heads, checked them out and they were ok, then did some research and talked with a mechanical engineer and determined the head bolt stretched. $70 bux and a trip to Reno later we were back in business.

 

yea they told me there are puttin new studs and bolts on..sadly..i might be sellin the truck in the near future..i just dont have the money to keep fixing the problems..i mean after all this i still have to put new bearings in the front differential..ughhh this sucks

 

fixing it is alot cheeper than a new truck/car... unless your downsizing or taking a step back

 

thats what i said.... i dont know..im estimating the front diff rebuild will be another 1500-2 G ...hopefuly cheaper