Cummins ISX backyard overhaul questions

I too would have my concerns with your abilities after reading your methods:
Dropping the crank with a jack. Why? I thought inflame?
Can't lift the head with a cherry picker? Huh? what kind of tool you have? A HF picker will move that head?
Motor mounts with a skid steer? Really? That sounds like a mistake waiting to happen? You know that engine weighs about as much as the tipping point of most rental skid steers.

What you want to do can be done, it appears you need to think things thought better before tackling that job.

 

You will want to have a 3/4 drive impact for the head bolts.To remove the injectors you can use a ladies foot pry bar. No big deal on those at all. You will need the (like others have said) cam timing wedge. No other way around it. I know that when we remove the engine out of a 387 we remove the heater box mounted on the cab to gain more clearance. Not sure if you have to do that when you remove the head. The only thing that I would have to read up on doing since I have never had to do it as a diesel mechanic is liner removal and replacement. Everything else if you have access to specs is not an issue. The head is heavy. You will want to remove the cooling package from the front of the truck to help you work on the front side of the engine. It is better to do this than fight the lack of room between the engine fan and the block. The complete engine weighs roughly 3,600 lbs. dry.

 

i use a bottle jack to push liners out

 

Radiator has to come out to take the head off, head bolts hide under the camshafts.

 

Negative ghost rider. If you haven't timed an ISX before or have someone that has, it's not something you wanna attempt. Even before you start ripping off parts, if you "can" even get the scissor gear off without loading it, there's a good possibility that #### thing will spin apart, possibly killing you.