Hi guys!
It's been a long time - and a long and winding road. But I'll skip all that and get down to business; If I ask something that's been covered since I was here a few years ago, sorry - I have a pinched nerve and can't spend a lot of time on the computer searching the archives. Hopefully my good Ford Six karma from 4 or so years ago of helping others will come around to help me this time
In the time since I was last here, I installed a low mileage '68 200 with a '69 head in my '64 Sedan (C-4 trans, 3.0 8-inch rearend). My guess is it has about 6-8k miles on it, but mileage with my 170 carb is a dismal 14mpg. The engine had a 170 carb on it when I bought it, and I used the better one off my previous 170. Better is a relative term here! After trying several parts store rebuilt Carters that made great power but ran way too lean, I ordered and now have a new 1101 for a 250 from Pony Carbs to match my larger intake log and carb hole.
I had a shop test it last week, and here's the stats; 13%,17%,15%,4%,5%,10% on the leakdown, 155,160160,160,150,155 on the comp. test. He said even if all cyl were 17%, that would be good. In a sick way I was hoping he'd find something wrong so I could fix it - burnt valves or something.....
Anyway, I'll be pulling the head off as some manifold bolts are broken and need to be extracted. The goal is to have it back on before Aug. 30th for a car show. I want to improve mileage and torque, so here's the questions;
1) Milling:If the motor has already been rebuilt at least once, what is a "safe" amount to mill the head? Ford six guide says " Heads can be milled as much as .090;060 leaves room for error/thin casting or increased lift/dur. cam". My cam is stock for now, but am considering the 1.6 rocker assembly later when I can afford it. Is there a standard amount most heads get milled during standard re-surfacing?
2) Rocker assembly: Since I'm milling the head, I know I need to go to adjustable rockers. I have two sets - one from my old 170 ( adjuster nuts never stayed tight even after replacing), and one from my '65 200 that has a lot of miles on it. How to tell if they need rebuilding/replacement?
3) Valves: If I'm running a stock cam and an 1101 one barrel (with the big venturi), single 2 inch exhaust with stock manifold, how much am I going to gain by putting in the larger valves I've heard so much talk about in the past? This is the medium sized log intake - not the early 80's head. Trying to figure out if the cost is justifiable. I'd rather save money if it's not going to make a huge difference and put it into my suspension.
4) Porting/polishing: I have the original first edition of the FSP guide by Schjeldahls which makes several suggestions; Since I don't have a lot of time for grinding (maybe 2 weeks) and doing everything, if I did do some porting/polishing where should I focus my time; In the exhaust manifold and ports, opening up the carb hole for better flow, unshrouding valves, or polishing the combustion chambers? Unless I go with the bigger valves (only if current ones are burnt), I won't be pulling them and working in the intake ports.
Polishing the combustion chamber lowers comp. ratio, so with not knowing how many times the head has been milled this is all an inexact science. Which is more important in a mild engine, compression or polished chambers? The ford six guide does not give combustion chamber sizes for the or compression ratios with the '69 head. I'm not sure if my head is a 200 or 250 - Casting #s are 0J24 C9DE 6090 M
5) Port divider - I've seen several debates on this in the past, but it's been a few years and would like to know the latest opinions on this topic; Is the small (if any) gain in power on a very mild engine worth all the grinding that's needed? I've heard it takes hours to get them to fit. And what is the best method of holding it in place; I've heard of welding it, epoxy, or some just using the manifold to hold it in place.
6) 1.6 Ratio rockers: Is this worthwhile given the cost and mild carb/exhaust combo I'm running? Will it hurt mileage? Will it be too "radical" for a turbo later? I'm not puting a header on - car is very low, and I may eventually go to a turbo so don't want to wast my $ there.
7) Carb heat shield. It was 103 degrees here the other day (unusual for Seattle), and within ten minutes of driving the car was running rough and stalling - the temp guage was not pegged, but I could tell this was carburetor boiling. I've already re-routed the heater hoses from away under the carb, but the issue of heat from he exhaust rising to the carb concerns me here. Has anyone made any kind of heat shield that reduces manifold heat raising up under the carb?
I don't have a lot of money to spend, so my focus is on trying to improve driveability/torque, and hopefully gas mileage. Down the road if I strike it rich, then I'll go for a 2-V head and turbo I've already done the carb and ignition tuning and she's running as lean and clean as can be, but will probably have the dist. re-curved at some point.
Thanks!
It's been a long time - and a long and winding road. But I'll skip all that and get down to business; If I ask something that's been covered since I was here a few years ago, sorry - I have a pinched nerve and can't spend a lot of time on the computer searching the archives. Hopefully my good Ford Six karma from 4 or so years ago of helping others will come around to help me this time
In the time since I was last here, I installed a low mileage '68 200 with a '69 head in my '64 Sedan (C-4 trans, 3.0 8-inch rearend). My guess is it has about 6-8k miles on it, but mileage with my 170 carb is a dismal 14mpg. The engine had a 170 carb on it when I bought it, and I used the better one off my previous 170. Better is a relative term here! After trying several parts store rebuilt Carters that made great power but ran way too lean, I ordered and now have a new 1101 for a 250 from Pony Carbs to match my larger intake log and carb hole.
I had a shop test it last week, and here's the stats; 13%,17%,15%,4%,5%,10% on the leakdown, 155,160160,160,150,155 on the comp. test. He said even if all cyl were 17%, that would be good. In a sick way I was hoping he'd find something wrong so I could fix it - burnt valves or something.....
Anyway, I'll be pulling the head off as some manifold bolts are broken and need to be extracted. The goal is to have it back on before Aug. 30th for a car show. I want to improve mileage and torque, so here's the questions;
1) Milling:If the motor has already been rebuilt at least once, what is a "safe" amount to mill the head? Ford six guide says " Heads can be milled as much as .090;060 leaves room for error/thin casting or increased lift/dur. cam". My cam is stock for now, but am considering the 1.6 rocker assembly later when I can afford it. Is there a standard amount most heads get milled during standard re-surfacing?
2) Rocker assembly: Since I'm milling the head, I know I need to go to adjustable rockers. I have two sets - one from my old 170 ( adjuster nuts never stayed tight even after replacing), and one from my '65 200 that has a lot of miles on it. How to tell if they need rebuilding/replacement?
3) Valves: If I'm running a stock cam and an 1101 one barrel (with the big venturi), single 2 inch exhaust with stock manifold, how much am I going to gain by putting in the larger valves I've heard so much talk about in the past? This is the medium sized log intake - not the early 80's head. Trying to figure out if the cost is justifiable. I'd rather save money if it's not going to make a huge difference and put it into my suspension.
4) Porting/polishing: I have the original first edition of the FSP guide by Schjeldahls which makes several suggestions; Since I don't have a lot of time for grinding (maybe 2 weeks) and doing everything, if I did do some porting/polishing where should I focus my time; In the exhaust manifold and ports, opening up the carb hole for better flow, unshrouding valves, or polishing the combustion chambers? Unless I go with the bigger valves (only if current ones are burnt), I won't be pulling them and working in the intake ports.
Polishing the combustion chamber lowers comp. ratio, so with not knowing how many times the head has been milled this is all an inexact science. Which is more important in a mild engine, compression or polished chambers? The ford six guide does not give combustion chamber sizes for the or compression ratios with the '69 head. I'm not sure if my head is a 200 or 250 - Casting #s are 0J24 C9DE 6090 M
5) Port divider - I've seen several debates on this in the past, but it's been a few years and would like to know the latest opinions on this topic; Is the small (if any) gain in power on a very mild engine worth all the grinding that's needed? I've heard it takes hours to get them to fit. And what is the best method of holding it in place; I've heard of welding it, epoxy, or some just using the manifold to hold it in place.
6) 1.6 Ratio rockers: Is this worthwhile given the cost and mild carb/exhaust combo I'm running? Will it hurt mileage? Will it be too "radical" for a turbo later? I'm not puting a header on - car is very low, and I may eventually go to a turbo so don't want to wast my $ there.
7) Carb heat shield. It was 103 degrees here the other day (unusual for Seattle), and within ten minutes of driving the car was running rough and stalling - the temp guage was not pegged, but I could tell this was carburetor boiling. I've already re-routed the heater hoses from away under the carb, but the issue of heat from he exhaust rising to the carb concerns me here. Has anyone made any kind of heat shield that reduces manifold heat raising up under the carb?
I don't have a lot of money to spend, so my focus is on trying to improve driveability/torque, and hopefully gas mileage. Down the road if I strike it rich, then I'll go for a 2-V head and turbo I've already done the carb and ignition tuning and she's running as lean and clean as can be, but will probably have the dist. re-curved at some point.
Thanks!