Aluminum Crossflow head on a US 200 block

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I was thinking about building a small block for a 79 2door Fairmont Futra that I have, and I decided first to look into performance Ideas for the 200 I have in it rather then have to rebuild the front end to hold a small block v8... I came across the web site talking about using an aussie aluminum 2v head on a us 200...does this work well and where would I go about finding a head....an can readily order other hop ups for this head ( cam,roller rocker, Exc.) would really love to give this a go and build a I6 that eats Small blocks!!
The block is original and only has 40k mile on it and I'm going to tear down and rebuild buy all new rods, ceramic coat pistons,...Basically all the good stuff for a street/strip car any Ideas or help would be great!!! Thanks Aaron

Also the web site I was looking is as follows http://fordsix.com/200xflow.htm
 
ok so the only short coming to going to that style head is the Dis mounting options? Still interested in trying it though I bet it would be fun! Beside I'm sure I could come up with something for a distibuter sence I do have a machine shop :p
 
I thought that I would bump up this topic to see if there is any progress in resolving the distributor issue.

Did anyone find a distributor combination/modification that works?

Did anyone put together a distributorless ignition system (DIY, Aftermarket) at an affordable price that would work with this engine?

Does anyone have the crossflow head on 200 block running in a car, and if so, how does it run and are there any issues with it (e.g. overheating)?

I chose this post because of the links included in the responses so fellow forum members could catch up with the topic. Below is an additional topic relevant to the subject.

http://fordsix.com/forum/viewtopic.php? ... ssflow+200

Hope someone gets this problem resolved. This would be a great combination, along with the new alloy head offered by Classic Inline.
 
I have the crossflow running in the Locost and it is a screamer. I managed to stuff a DII distributor with a DI cap under the home-brewed manifold, but there is no way it will fit under a stock manifold.

So far, no issues with overheating. Engine starts immediately, idles very well, revs quickly, and pulls hard all the way to the self-imposed 6200 rpm redline. Oil pressure is a constant 40 psi and water temps are steady at 180 degrees.

The only real issue is a little oil seepage where the adapter plate meets the head. A little more JB Weld during the build would have fixed that, but I can live with it.

I think that if you were to take a stock distributor and have 1" to 1.25" taken out of the center, it "might" fit under a stock crossflow manifold.
 
quicker but more costly in the end I think.

you could prob run the TFI style dizzy like I am and put a MSD curve box on it (would be about $300 total for it all) The tfi dizzy is a little taller than a DS but the cap is just as small. if you were running a fabbed intake (thinwalled steel J bends) it will clear or might need a SMALL dimple so the cap can rotate freely.

I can get pics this weekend for you (I have a 200 crossflow motor in bits and a 200 US block sitting on a stand (no intake though)
 
Thanks all for the quick responses. Your right CoupeBoy, missed that post from MustangSix on his Crossflow 200 in the Locost Roadster.

turbo_fairlane_200, I'd be interested in seeing pix of your dizzy setup. While MustangSix's setup works for him with a homemake intake, it won't with a stock/aftermarket intake. That's one of the things I was trying to find out.

I'm getting that Ford urge again. When I had my Mustang, there were limited options for upgrading the six for performance. I did swap the 200 for a 250 out of a Maverick before selling the car to my brother in '78 (who still owns it). I wish I knew then what a PITA it would be to make the switch. Of course, my brother could tell you how expensive it is to change one to a V8.

Well, I better grab my walker and hobble down to the park so I can tell all of those young whipper-snappers with the rice burners how good they got it. "Kids, when I was your age, I had to walk to school, uphill, both ways....." ;)
 
turbo_fairlane_200":2sqnfxwi said:
quicker but more costly in the end I think.

you could prob run the TFI style dizzy like I am and put a MSD curve box on it (would be about $300 total for it all) The tfi dizzy is a little taller than a DS but the cap is just as small. if you were running a fabbed intake (thinwalled steel J bends) it will clear or might need a SMALL dimple so the cap can rotate freely.

I can get pics this weekend for you (I have a 200 crossflow motor in bits and a 200 US block sitting on a stand (no intake though)
Click to expand...

Compare the two. You'll find that the US 200 is 1.5" shorter than the Oz 200 and that translates into no dizzy room. EDIS is the proper solution.
 
mocked up I was seeing just a little overlap of the 2.3L EEC4 distributor with the #1 intake runner on its backside. it won't be ideal but still looks very doable to me. Like I said I will try and remember some pics tonight of what I have. IT WILL have to be a fabbed intake as a cast one will be too thick for the clearances needed.


Jack- this was with a OZ head on a US block with a US distributor
 
I tried to build an offset dist. I hit a small stump and before I could navigate around it, life started throwing some curveballs. I still have it in the truck. I also bought a rebuilt DSII dist to cut up.

I have also found two old six cylinder dist caps that are flat caps. 8) I haven't had time to check out the rotor to see if I can match it up. The diameter is smaller, it might go right onto a Mallory dist. :unsure:

In the end, I think the offset dist is the way to go. The stump I ran into was the possible leakage from the crankcase. Haven't found a good way to seal it. Actualy I haven't taken the time to fully reasearch the seals.

Another potential problem is the fact that some people have had problems with dist gear wear.

It appears that the dist gear sets against the block and the shaft has a little play (up and down), I have set the end play, but I haven't had a block to verify proper fitment.

When I get time, I will post some pics, that way everyone will have some ideas to add to the pot. If anyone has a Mallory dist, they can compare the length to a DSII and maybe I can ship a flat cap and we can check fitment.
 
Another option I considered would be to drive the distributor directly off the end of the cam. You'd need a dummy distributor shaft to drive the oil pump, but the sparks could come from a distributor mounted directly on the end of the timing cover.
 
Now keep in mind that I am still half asleep and only a couple sips of coffee in me this morning.. but I had a hair brained thought (one of many).

We all know how speedometers work right? Splines/gears on the output shaft and the gears on the cable mesh, spinning the cable up to the speedometer. How much precision would you lose if you had a similar (but probably stronger) setup for a distributor? Machine a stock dizzy to fill the speedo hole, and stick up just high enough to clamp it down, somehow affix a cable to the top of the dist center shaft. Then mount the top half of the same dizzy to the side of the block or intake manifold in the case of the crossflow at the other end of the cable?

I suppose a similar setup could be done with electronic speedo parts but I think it would be easier, and more straight forward to use some sort of crank trigger off a vehicle like a 4.0L Exploder then to try and engineer that mess.

as I said, half asleep and I dont know if you could ever get a cable (or u-jointed linkage) that would be precise enough at higher speeds to make it feasible.

-ron
 
The speed hole would work if you locked the transmission in one gear and drove in one gear only and never stopped the car. Speedometer / transmission is not a constant / direct relationship with engine rpm.

What happens when you stop at a traffic light or are in neutral to start the engine? And an automatic tranny would have slip introduced into the picture. Back to the drawing board.
Doug
 
CoupeBoy":nqjh66kh said:
Now keep in mind that I am still half asleep and only a couple sips of coffee in me this morning.. but I had a hair brained thought (one of many).

We all know how speedometers work right? Splines/gears on the output shaft and the gears on the cable mesh, spinning the cable up to the speedometer. How much precision would you lose if you had a similar (but probably stronger) setup for a distributor? Machine a stock dizzy to fill the speedo hole, and stick up just high enough to clamp it down, somehow affix a cable to the top of the dist center shaft. Then mount the top half of the same dizzy to the side of the block or intake manifold in the case of the crossflow at the other end of the cable?

I suppose a similar setup could be done with electronic speedo parts but I think it would be easier, and more straight forward to use some sort of crank trigger off a vehicle like a 4.0L Exploder then to try and engineer that mess.

as I said, half asleep and I dont know if you could ever get a cable (or u-jointed linkage) that would be precise enough at higher speeds to make it feasible.
Click to expand...

Perhaps a better alternative would be a right angle gear drive grafted into the distributer shaft to turn the head of the distributer on its side and keep it below the intake.

There's a member here who has such a set up to drive a magneto on a big block six onto which he has mounted one of the rare experimental cross-flow heads that Ford was evidently developing for the 300. The project was dropped and some of the remaining heads wound up in the hands of racers. Our member, the Frenchtown Flyer, was able to get his hands on one (or more?) and is (or at least was) racing with it. Here's an image to help you see how that works.

Crossflow_300_Ford_Racer_001.jpg


Another racer used a different approach which involved having an extra long staft on his magneto which comes up between two of the intake runners. This approach probably wouldn't work very well for a person who was tight on hood clearance, but here's what that looks like.

Crossflow_300_Ford_Racer_002.jpg



Another alternative for the technically inclined would be to convert to a fully electronic distributorless ignition by mounting a reluctor wheel either on the stub of a cut-down distrubutor shaft or on the crank snout. This option might make the most sense if one was converting to an EFI induction system because you could conceivably use one computer to control both fuel and spark.

(I'll leave it to the clever people to work out the details of just how to do either of these things.)

:)

[Note -- All images in this message were shamelessly stolen from other members' posts in this forum. May the copyright gods have mercy upon my soul. :) ]
 
btw......the little chamfer on the top of the 200 block is all that needs filled in to mount the xflow head (this is on a D8 block at least) I was thinking of welding up that block but ended up building a motor instead with it (have a 200" aussie block to use anyways)

an EFI plenum or SC lower could prob be made to work much easier than a carb intake I think. but even a carb intake with some work might not be too bad.
 
Don't bother welding up the block. Just bolt on a piece of 1/4" and fill the gap with JB Weld, then machine or file it flat to match the head surface. That will provide enough area to support the gasket and seal the pushrod openings.

BTW, I used a carbide cutter with my router to mill open those pushrod holes. Lots of chips, but the carbide goes thru cast like butter. Wear eye protection.

The pics you posted clearly show the problem with using a stock manifold. It simply won't clear. That's why I ended up with a fabricated tubing manifold.
 
i cant help thinking that a megajolt Ignition kit using a toothed sensor pulley on the crank would be the easiest way to go - no need to have the top part of the dizzy poking up (need to retain the dizzy shaft for the oil pump drive) and then can do what ever you want with the manifold.

http://www.autosportlabs.net/index.php? ... rs_Welcome.

not going to do the crossflow head but have a megajolt kit which i intend to put on my ford log head six

probably will cost $250US the whole kit
brett

melbourne
 
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