J5Murph

Unfortunately, he has tried most all of your suggestions with no success. So now we go back to the question of cylinder heads or swap.

So my question now is what engine could I drop in my truck without having to do a new transmission and transfer case and so on

jprevat

iTrader: (1)

You really cant drop in another engine other than a mod motor and have it bolt to that trans. If it were mine I would pull the engine, change the pistons to something with a little less dish, and pick up some torquer cams for the replacement heads.

A cheaper option would be grab a 97-98 engine and swap on some rebuilt pi heads and enjoy the extra power.

blupupher

iTrader: (2)

Anything with much more power than a stock 5.4 is going to need a new transmission (Supercrew = 4R70W), or at least a beefed up stock one.
I know ibd did a 4R70W to 4R100 swap on a 4x4 (it is a sticky here).

If you truly can't get the bolt out and the manifold leaks, just get a new head.

UtahGuy

School me on this. He's already got PI heads on his '03 block, why would putting PI heads on an earlier block mean extra power?

jchop30

iTrader: (5)

Why not remove the head then take it to a machine shop, have them remove the bolt and then all you will need is a head set

jprevat

iTrader: (1)

Because the older pistons have less dish to them that in turn leads to higher compression and more power.

ibd2328

iTrader: (2)

You dont even need anything protruding. The heads are aluminum, even if the stud broke of 1/4" into the head, you call fill it with a mig and then once the puddle is protruding, put a nut on it and weld away. Simple fix.

4x4dave

Show us pics. They should be able to drill out the stud. I have been there and done that. It sucks but most reputable shops should be able to drill, extract stud and helicoil. If yours cant bring the truck elsewhere. It sounds like they may just want to get labor for new cyl heads or engine swap.



Here was my situation. This bugger would not come off. Torched it, welded a nut to it. We even applied enough tourqe that it twisted the metal stud...and it sheared off flush to the head. Still my shop guys were able to get me fixed up by drilling it out.