223 Dragster Build

[DragMaster]

I'm looking to build a Ford 223 for a vintage rail dragster. I'm not new to 223's, but haven't ever built one up for performance. I don't want to build it all out nuts, but just a potent little engine without too much money invested. I don't want to do the 262 stroker deal, too much effort and time.

Here's what I've been thinking...

223, .040" over
KB Silv-O-Lite Pistons
Stock Crank & Rods, modified to increase oil flow & strength
ARP Head Bolts, ARP Rod Bolts
Custom Grind Camshaft
Adjustable Rocker Arms
Hi-Lift Tappets
Heavier Valve Springs
Larger Valves in Head, Pocket Porting, Gasket Matched, Dome Work, Milled
Custom Tubular Intake Manifold
Multiple Holley 94 Carburetors
Tubular Zoomie Header
Pertronix Ignition
Custom Cast Aluminum Timing Cover
No engine accessories, just a starter
Backed by a Fordomatic or 3spd manual

Anyone think this would be a good combination? I have a good engine machinist that will take care of the bottom end, and a good cylinder head guy to take care of the top end. I'll be speaking with different cam grinders like Isky, Herbert, Howards, etc to see if they can regrind to my specs (unsure as of yet). Since ARP doesn't list anything for the 223, I'll have to find out what will work and go with it. I am unsure about the carburetion right now, that will have to be sorted out once the long block is set up to find out what works, but since there are 4 intake ports, I'm thinking 4 carburetors. Not sure how it would like 3 carbs on a 4-port head unless the outer two carbs are smaller. I don't want to go with a 4bbl because I'm trying to keep this era-correct, but I'm still open to the option.

I'm hoping to acheive around 200hp at the flywheel. Do you think this is possible with this combination? In a 1400lb car with driver, it should scoot even if I don't reach those numbers.

What do you folks think?

Thanks.

 

[bubba22349]

Sounds like an interesting combo, on going with the old time look too. use to race a 223 long ago. There are 2 X 1V and 3 X 1V that were made by Offy you can still get new and sometimes you see a used Fenton. There were some fined alum. side covers also made for them.

Not sure how it would like 3 carbs on a 4-port head unless the outer two carbs are smaller.

Never seen a multi 2V combo so you might have to make your own or use adapters. The 2 or three carbs on a 4 port head won't be a problem with an intake that has a shared plenum. My guess is that 2 carbs would be plenty but depends on all the rest of the combo. Good luck and take lots of pictures

 

[mainline331]

Hello
I fully support your effort- sounds really cool. Is it for a HA/GR car for the jalopy journal (HAMB)? If you are not familiar, be sure to look it up....there is a whole class for this type of dragster.

 

[FalconSedanDelivery]

Buy My Tripower 250 , it makes the HP you want , and you cant build it ( or any 6 ) for 2000.00 , just saying

 

[flatford6]

Is there some weight vs cubic inches rule for where you are going to race? If so you should try to get the most cubic inches you can run for a particular weight limit. Actually, these engines were never very good at making exceptional power, the 4 (instead of 6) intake ports, the small exhaust ports, cast iron cranks, and extremely shrouded valves in the combustion chambers limited the power. Under high compression conditions, the head gaskets tend to leak under the spark plugs. In addition, the head is offset on the block so that when the air fuel mixture exits the intake valve, it hits a wall (the top deck of the block) causing a restriction. Y Block v8 engines had the same problem. Try to offset the head toward the manifolds side of the block. The all vacuum advance distributor is a disaster. The 262 is an interesting engine, It has a better head with larger ports and stronger block. It also has a forged steel crank capable of being stroked if necessary. Richard Flatford6@yahoo.com

PS I think that the 226 earlier Ford flathead 6 engine is capable of producing more power when modified than the 223 six. So there.

PSS Bubba 22349 Please read your PM from me.

 

[DragMaster]

Thanks for the words.

Originally I was going to build an HA/GR car with the 223. But being where I live, there's no point. I don't know of any other HA/GR cars around here and I don't like some of the rules they have. So I decided I'd built a short wheelbase dragster similar to the homebuilt cars in the late 1950's and just race myself.

I don't like bracket racing, index racing, or any of that stuff. I just like drag racing. For me it's the thrill of the ride, not who wins or loses. I'll just be racing at the local drag strips on Test & Tune nights and open run weekends. After the car is finished I'll be setting up a Flag-Start drag race open to 1959 and older vehicles at the local municipal airport that was a dragstrip in the 1950's. I already have approval, so it's just a matter of getting it set up.

I'll be running a stock 223 in the car when it's finished so I can work out all the bugs. If the car does well with the stock 223, I'll just toss a simple carb/intake and header on it and have some fun. If I want more out of the car I'll forge on with the full engine build. Right now I'm just planning and trying to familiarize myself more with the engine outside of just tuning up a stocker.

How can the cylinder head be offset? What does it take to do that? I'm guessing the combustion chamber isn't aligned with the cylinder, but I don't understand how you'd move the head over. Re-drill holes?

The cylinder head guy I know will install 302 valves in the head, mill it, and do porting and flowing for $250. I'm going to drop off a cracked head in a few weeks so he can start to experiment and get familiar with the wall thicknesses in the ports before he works on the head I'm using.

I'm stuck on the 223. I don't want to use any other engine. Everyone skips the 223 and goes with something bigger, but I want to see the potential in the engine. Stock parts are everywhere, they made these engines for 10 years and put them in everything. I don't understand why they are not more popular. Eh, who knows.

I appreciate ya'lls advice and words.

 

[Daves55Courier]

I will sell ya my extra 223 complete engine and also have a 3 speed manual with the clutch and bellhousing that fits the 223.
I also have an early Fordomatic here that came off of a 215. It is all cast iron including the rear extension housing and requires floor hole plug for filling the transmission with fluid.
http://i934.photobucket.com/albums/ad18 ... 23eng2.jpg

 

[flatford6]

The head could be offset toward the manifold side by elongating the head bolt holes on just the spark plug side with a mill. Maybe about 1/8 or 3/16 Inch could be gained to partially unshroud the valves. Remember that the water and oil passages from the block to the head must still align well enough to seal in their respective fluids. Also, with y block Fords the top of the block was relieved at an angle from the gasket bead angling down to just above the top ring travel and this would work just as well with the 223.


Incidently there is a two carb intake available on ebay now.

Where is the air field/drag strip you will be running the car at?

 

[DragMaster]

I'll have to look at the cylinder head and block more to figure out what I can do.

I'm in the process of getting a timing cover made from CNC'd composite and will use it as a mold for a cast aluminum timing cover. If that process works out well, I'll look at making other 223 parts from cast aluminum like side covers, valve covers, and maybe even a new intake manifold.

I'm also planning to experiment with a mechanical injection setup as well as a motorcycle carburetor setup.

The air field is in central Texas. I have approval to make some shakedown passes to work out the bugs, but hope to persuade them into letting me have a vintage drag race event out there in the future.

I'm only using the 223, because of the style of the car I'm building is late 50's, and I want to use the inliner that was available at that time. Most guys used GMC 292's with much success, but the little 223 appeals to me. I think I can get 200hp at the flywheel out of a mild build, but we'll see.

Right now, the entire build is at a hiatus while I collect parts and start the chassis build. I'm low on spare change, so it may take a while before it all goes together. I won't start a project until I have all of the major parts needed, and right now I've only got about 50% of that.

 

[godheadcustoms]

I'm really interested in this build. I'm in the same boat as you with my little work/shop/get around truck. I could easily throw in a 300 six and make "easier" power, but that seems too easy. Plus, there is something pretty satisfying about squeeszing power out of a motor most everyone passes on by. I've got a spare motor mocked up on an engine stand and at first glance it appears alot of the shortcomings can be eliminated/minimized.

My rough plan is to keep it looking period correct, but infuse some modern thinking into it, while keeping a pretty tight budget. While I appreciate taking the less traveled path, I'm not so stupid that I'm going to throw buckets of money at the 223 just to make the same power as a 300 (with half the money/effort invested)

1. Angle mill the head- I'm going to go for .070"-.090". Same thought as angle milling the block, but less work. I don't know if I can get that much out of it,but I'm trying to "stand" the valves up a bit and get the valve head(s) and combustion chamber more centered over the bore.
2. Offset drill the head bolt holes in the head- Again, to try and get the head more centered over the bore. Don't think there is a whole bunch of meat here to go very far before you'll get into the water jacket, but it should help.
3. Bevel the top of the bore on the valve side- To ease the airflow transition from the intake valves. Obviously, you can't go down below where the top ring rides, but this was/is a fairly common way to deal with bore shrouding.
4. Bore the block .030"-.060"- Whatever it needs. Also thought of offset boring the block, but not sure if that will get me in a bad spot as far as rod side thrust loads,wall thickness,etc.
5. Port the head- I've already opened up the ports on a spare head just to see what I have to work with. The exhaust (which is horribly small) can be opened up quite a bit. I'm not talking about just hogging it out, but trying to maintain some velocity as well. Same thing on the intakes, with the added weirdness of the 4 port configuration.
6. Headers
7. Fabbed intake with a divided plenum. Looks period on the outside, but divided to try and keep the velocity up and equalize the flow/pulses/etc.
8. Duraspark dizzy- Eliminates the crappy load-a-matic with electronics and recurved to match the needs of the engine.
9. All the other "modern" thinking- Try to impart some swirl into the chambers, raise CR , zero deck to gain some quench, etc, etc

 

[godheadcustoms]

The focus of the build will be trying to maximize what I can, use some newer technology, and focus on the details. Most of the machine work is going to be to try and gain as much as I can out of aligning the head better to the bore centers. Right now the chambers are offset from the bores by a good 1/8"-3/16". Most of the machine work shouldn't cost much more than the "typical" work being done. I realize this isn't the magic bullet to limitless power , but it will help out in the overall scheme to try and bring HP up to a decent level. Same thing with the intake and exhaust- properly sized plenum, runners, runner taper, header length and dia., etc, etc.

Then just do all the normal stuff on an engine build.
Lighten, polish, shot-peen the rods
Clean the crank of all the casting flash and garbage
Index cam and ensure proper valvetrain geometry
Deburr block and head of all casting flash and garbage
Balance recip. assembly
Blueprint oil pump and detail oil system
Etc.

With careful attention to detail, I don't think 200 hp would be too unreasonable. Like always, it's going to come down to "the devil's in the details". Lots of people can take the same recipe for a basic small block (as someone who is really dialed in), and fall short by a healthy margin. Same parts, vastly different HP outcome. I try not to be one of those people

 

[CNC-Dude]

Make sure the guy making your timing cover and other stuff factors in the needed shrink allowance and draft angles for making the patterns to have cast for you. It would be a disappointment to get them cast and find out they are too small and dont fit.