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New Cylinder Heads not Aligned?


adventurousprime

Member
GMRS Radio License
Joined
Sep 21, 2024
Messages
9
City
California
Vehicle Year
1988
Engine
2.9 V6
Transmission
Automatic
So I neglected my valve clearances too long and threw a couple pushrods a while back. Luckily there wasn't piston damage, but I replaced the heads with new ones as a precaution.

I'm currently reassembling the engine but I noticed the intake manifold and the heads don't seem to be lining up correctly. I don't remember it being this bad when I took it apart. Do I need to backtrack and what could have cause this?
signal-2025-02-13-130921.jpeg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Any idea if the engine has had prior engine work done?

Sometimes when they plane the heads they knock the intake down too.
 
Any idea if the engine has had prior engine work done?

Sometimes when they plane the heads they knock the intake down too.

This engine is a reman that was put in about 5k miles ago. Previous owner didn't adjust valve thrash properly and I ignored it which led to my issue. I assume the remanufacturer milled parts to get them to spec, that's a possibility.

Would that mean I need to find a new intake or get the new heads milled?
 
@adventurousprime
First, that head to lower intake manifold area doesn't always line up super perfect. Does your pic have the gasket with RTV installed?

If the previous build required the heads milled 0.03"-0.035" the lower intake manifold would require some milling also, that may have happened. If it did, the simple solution is to seek a machinist to verify this; if it did occur than the machinist will mill the new heads to match the lower intake manifold.
 
How does the other side look? I have found if you don't have it pretty straight when you start torqueing it down, it gets progressively worse and ends up crooked.

If the heads haven't had much or any taken off and the intake has been machined, it would probably be easier and cheaper to find a different intake manifold that hasn't been modified rather than machine the heads to match your intake.
 
Looking at it on my laptop it isn't as clear, do you have the intake gaskets between the heads and intake?
 

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