Replacing the Head Gasket! What els should I replace at the same time?

Well my first guess would have to be "WTF are we working on?".

Wouldn't hurt to use proper punctuation and grammar, too... show us those education bucks are going to a good cause.

Sorry.

Damn, Jim, that was one of the more readable query's I've seen on usenet, lately.;) H

The OHV is actually quite quiet in my experience.... I've heard a couple with a tap (telegraphing all over the place, I might add) that builds and then disappears, builds and then disappears, ad infinitum..... One that I did get time to work with (a friends) was a curse. He'd pull up in front of the house with the noise happening and by the time I got the sehoscope out, it would vanish until the next time. He had another recurring problem at one point.... one I just didn't have too much time to work with but at one point he borrowed the PCM out of mine for a couple of days whilst he performed his own diagnostics (this man is dangerous but I can usually keep him in rein).

While I was driving my car with his PCM installed, after a couple of days mine started with the tap-tap-tap.... Of course the brain gear started grinding. After reinstalling my original PCM, the noise persisted..... Whoa, What's this?? A few months later, the bull gear jumped the heifer shaft and the noise vanished, never to grace my driveway again. The only thing that I can come up with is that I did change oil brands a couple of times..

Sorry for the digression.... the headbolts are a wise choice. At the same time, I would consider a spark plug change, possibly wires. This is an ideal time to check vacuum hoses to be sure they are still supple. Don't forget the engine oil and filter..... any time I remove any part that could allow antifreeze into the crankcase, I wont even turn the motor over until the sump is drained. Thermostats seem to be a problem with these motors... it isn't going to get any easier than this. Oh.. PCV valve.....

Ford has some pretty skookum valve cover gaskets.... spendy, but I don't think you'll ever see another drip on an exhaust manifold.

Yo will find one or more ground straps attached to various engine parts. These should be clean and tight... all of them. Some *may* be intended to counteract the effects of electrolysis.

Well.. I have to admit you're right. Problem is that, at any given time, I'm not sure what Mrs. mechanic is talking about let alone someone far away with bad spelling, grammar and a *.edu address. . With automotive technology advancing at a break-neck pace, year/make/model/engine size (and now with OASIS and such, VIN) are ever so important ..... the complexity of todays is astounding - and you can take that to the bank..... I can still remember seeing my first alternator (after learning about generators) and scratching my head over these new, fandangled diode thingies..... After that we saw electronic ignition and the world has never been the same.

A lot of good mechanics were lost in the switch to the crude emissions controls of the 70s and many more with the advent of serious electronics. A lot of these old dinosaurs were some of the best out there in their attention to detail and drive for excellence. Sadly, these guys just couldn't keep up with technology.

This trade is hungry for new blood.... just as sadly, the young bring a less than ideal work ethic through the door. Without opening a pandoras box of the real mechanical world , let's just leave it at "knowledge"..... Just last week, I was stripped of 2 hours of diagnostic time when a service adviser and customer came to me with "additional information that they thought was trivial and unrelated". Try and explain that to your mortgage company.