Headgaskets

[9365turbo]

My 07 3500hd. Is all apart. Presently doing a frame swap. With the engine out what are somethings I should replace? The truck has 217k on it. Parts of the exhaust have been removed by the previous owner. Other then that I don't really know what else has been done to it. I thought it would be a good idea to replace the head gaskets and other hard to reach parts. Any ideas would be helpful. Thanks

[Kennedy]

That's a tough one. Borders between if it aint broke don't fix it and better to be safe than sorry. Head gasket issues are not exceptionally common, but they do happen and the labor "from scratch" is pretty rough...

[rapidoxidationman]

Clean the intake manifolds of all the soot that inevitably built up over the past 200K+ miles
Clean the heads and redo the valve guides and seals (gotta pull the heads to do that, IIRC). Shave a bit off the heads to flatten them back out after having the valve seats reground.

Do it and be done. It won't be any easier than now. Do the water pump too.

[JohnC]

If it ain't broke, fix it `till it is.

[9365turbo]

That's a tough one. Borders between if it aint broke don't fix it and better to be safe than sorry. Head gasket issues are not exceptionally common, but they do happen and the labor "from scratch" is pretty rough... That is true John. I did the gaskets on a lb7 in the truck and it was a pain. If I do decide to pull it apart. Should I go with head studs? I have no plans to sell the truck. I wanted to put a 3" down pipe while the cabs off at least.

[9365turbo]

Do it and be done. It won't be any easier than now. Do the water pump too. You have a good point.

[Kennedy]

Studs are mandatory in my well founded opinion.

[9365turbo]

I agree. No point and using oem bolts. After watching a youtube video on replacing the gaskets in the truck. I think I will just bite the bullet and do them before I put the cab back on. That was not a fun job years ago on my old Lb7.