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6.5 engine build

59DieselDude

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New to the forum here, have a 95 1500 escb pulled engine to repair a blown head gasket, discovered that it had been leaking a while, deck on number 7 was pitted, pulled engine down, had block magnafluxed and decked both sides .011 in to clean up. Reassembled short block with new bearings,rings and timing chain. My question is all pistons except number 4 are .016 in above the deck, number 4 is .0175 above the deck. I have purchased the felpro .010 thicker head gaskets, what is there compressed thickness? if it is .050 in and i have .0325 on number 4 is that enough piston to head clearance?
 
The only thing I can add is that my 6.5 506 block had .010 removed from the decks a few years ago when I did a complete rebuild on it.I used victor .010 thicker than stock head gaskets along with new cylinder heads.I did install new std sized mahle pistons/rings and I didn't have any issues with clearance.It performs perfect to this day.I can't remember what the piston protrusion was but everything turned out well.
 
Saturday evening I'll have my manual in hand and look up spec. - yeah I know old dude, old school paper manual...and slow to boot.
Some of the folks here remember all that stuff- I ain't the one.

Welcome to the forum btw.
 
Did not find specs in military pdf, anyone know of a gm manual that can be purchased that has these specs?
 
I apologize for the delay. Went through the book a few times.

NOTHING. I can't believe it's not in there. That's the 12/1995 AM General manual. Sorry for the fruitless delay.
 
Thanks Will L for the look, I have looked at everywhere i know to look and i have found no information on this, there has to be a published number somewhere. I will have the new heads this friday, guess i will bolt em up and hope for the best.
 
Nothing in either my 96 or 98 FSM. Googled it and came up with .004-.007" from another forum. Take it at your own risk.
 
I would recommend rotating the completed engine while still on the stand to make sure there is no interference.

A .010" thicker gasket may be a good idea.
 
dug a little deeper into the google search and numbers are all over the place. one site has .0035-.0122 another has 0-.007
 
I highly suggest you do a putty test under 2 valves and measure the clearance then maybe the right answer will be more than a "swag"... you only need to use a used gasket, small amount of clay under each valve, turn the motor a few revs and check thickness of the clay.. then the guessing is gone...
 
sctrailrider, i have done this test on a sbc with solid lifters before will this work with the hydraulic lifters on the 6.5 or do you need to be rotating the oil pump also while doing this so the lifters dont collapse?
 
If you remove the valve springs on one cylinder you could use small springs just to hold the valve up, a light spring will work for this test...
 
Thanks for all of the replys, heads have arrived will be doing the clay test as they get installed today or tommorrow.
 
Need opinions before i go any further with this, after chasing threads on the block with thread chaser, cleaned with brake cleaner and compressed air then cleaned up studs with brake cleaner and then with soap and water. Installed the arp head studs with blue loctite thread locker i ran the studs all the way to the shoulders and snugged them down. Let it set 24 hrs. Today i installed the head gaskets and heads and marked the head studs after going through the torque sequence 2 studs on drivers side have turned and 3 on the passenger side, will this be ok or can i take these studs out 1 at a time and re seal them and retorque?
 
When I built the Chinese block I had several studs turn when I torqued them down. I installed the heads right after installing the studs. I guess the extra torque turns some studs. I used a coolant sealer right from the start JIC, seems to have worked.
 
Yes they all came up to torque, but had 5 turn a little. I backed one of the bolts off and removed a stud, the loctite had not fully set. put more on and retorqued. i appreciate everybodys help here as this thing is a love hate relationship.
 
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