shaved heads - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

YES302 · 09-26-2004, 00:10

does anyone know what the max safe deck i can cut my heads b4 i have to shave my intake to suit the new angle? what is the std head height and where should i measure it from?i think i may have hydralic locked my motor the other night when i blew the intake gasket between the water gallery and #1 cylinder and the only explaination i can think is my new heads arent lining up with the intake properly and the gasket failed as a result of this?i used expencive felpro int gaskets so i doubt its a quality issue...do ya think i have bent a rod also? ive done a comp test today and they all have 160-170 psi but im still worried about the rod is there a way i can cheak it without pulling the motor from the car and taking off the sump?any ideas are appreciated.

ebxr8240 · 09-26-2004, 02:59

You can remove heaps...Use silicon on lower block to inlet manifold so it closses up properly..

302xm · 09-26-2004, 04:16

Ive gone through a few sets of intake gaskets due to sealing issues including a couple of felpro1250 sets and discovered that the intake bolts were coming loose after only a week even though they were being torqued down correctly , something to do with the hot/cold cycles the engine goes through i guess. Retorquing after a week of driving seems to have solved the problem.
the silicon on the end rails instead of the cork gaskets works well too.
The rod would have to be very bent to notice it without removing it.But they can take a good hammering
good compression tho.

YES302 · 09-27-2004, 03:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by 302xm

Ive gone through a few sets of intake gaskets due to sealing issues including a couple of felpro1250 sets and discovered that the intake bolts were coming loose after only a week even though they were being torqued down correctly , something to do with the hot/cold cycles the engine goes through i guess. Retorquing after a week of driving seems to have solved the problem.
the silicon on the end rails instead of the cork gaskets works well too.
The rod would have to be very bent to notice it without removing it.But they can take a good hammering
good compression tho.

thanks for the info...yeah the gaskets i used were felpro 1250s.its the first time ive used m i normaly use the cheap ones and havnt had probs with them...now that you mention it i hadnt re torqued the felpros : as they were installed 3 days prior but i have had to re torque the cheapies after a week

when ya gaskets let go what were the consequences?i had an allmighty amount of steam billowing from my exhaust(it was night time and i actualy thought it was oil smoke)did ya break anything?do ya still have to constantly re torque the gaskets? did that fix the prob?i pulled the heads off today and measured the piston to deck height and itis the same for all cylinders so im hoping the rods are ok,what do ya think??

302xm · 09-27-2004, 19:08

When i first started messing around with windsors it happened as i was going down the Freeway and the gasket failed between pots 6,7 and the engine valley causing it to suck oil straight into the cylinders creating a huge smoke screen for me to make my get away. Another time it was the water passage and no 1 port causing it to drop that cylinder, when i got home as i wasnt going to stop i removed the sparkplugs and cranked the engine over water was pumped out of no.1 plug hole. I discovered that some of the intake bolts were only finger tight .Now due to paranoia i check them every know and again but have not had any issues since retorquing them the second time .I the only damage was the gaskets and my brain.Ive read that some people torque the manifold bolts then twelve hours later redo them.
I reckon you would need a lot of water very fast to hydro lock your engine which would seize it dead in its tracks causing things like bent rods valves....
If the bore looks the same as the others i would seal it all back up and take it for a spin and keep a eye on the intake bolts.
but thats just me.

If more than.020 in. is milled from the heads the inlet has to be machined to fit

xpc66 · 09-27-2004, 23:22

I have a chart that shows the amount removed from the manifold bottom and side against that removd from the head. If you post the amount you have removed form the head I can give an indication of the other milling requirements.

Used to be gaskets were bedded with high temperature aluminium paint, but I have had a lot of success with Hylomar.

YES302 · 09-28-2004, 03:03

as ive just bought the heads 2nd hand i dont know how much they have been decked, where should i measure from to know?what is the stock head thickness?

xpc66 · 09-28-2004, 05:05

When you say deck the head I guess you mean shave the head? The block is where the deck is.

ebxr8240 · 09-28-2004, 06:45

Bolt heads down on old gasgets with one or two bolts and check inlet for straightness clearances etc.. The heads may have been angle machined and may not be 90* to inlet ??? There should be an 8mm or so gap at the bottom of inlet to block..