Head milling ?

[Anonymous]

I have a blown head gasket on my 83 I6 and want to have the head milled while it is off. I talked to my machine shop guy and he said if I go .060 I'll have problems with valve or push rod length. Is this true?
I have the Falcon Six Perf. Book and it doesn't mention this problem. Please help I'm pulling the head tomorrow. Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

Not true. Really by the time you subtract for the difference in the gasket thickness it isn't all that much.

 

[Rustang Racer]

Yeah, not true for this engine. On a lot of engines it would be a problem but I doubt the machinist took the time to check all the specs for this engine. Most machinists don't do a lot of Ford sixes so he probably wouldn't know off the top of his head.

 

[Anonymous]

I took .060 off my head and it didn't cause any problems.

 

[hotrodbob]

You might want to go with adjustable rockers when you do this. You will find them on early 144-170 and maybe even 200's. If you have trouble finding a set let me know. I may have some. You may need to replace the shaft due to wear as these are used. I did that when I put the set on my 200. The ones I used came off a '64 170.

If I remember correctly, this is noted in the Ford 6 performance book.

 

[CoupeBoy]

You may need to replace the shaft due to wear as these are used.

Is there a source for replacement shafts? On the last head I bought '74 250 Mav donated it. The shaft was worn quite a bit where the rockers rode on it.

ron

 

[hotrodbob]

Just went to the local Ford dealer. The shaft was instock. I believe it's the same shaft that was used from the 144's on til the end of the 3.3 (200)

 

[Anonymous]

I may end up not having the head done anyway. The engine has 154k on it so I might just replace the head gasket and wait for funds to do a total rebuild. Any thoughts on this? BTW, a 3 angle and milling $140.00 at NAPA
machine shop. Thanks.

 

[hotrodbob]

You may find that with any head work/head gasket change you will start to have some oil burning issues with that amount of miles on the motor. Before you just change the gasket, make sure the head is still flat. If it is warped, you will blow another gasket in no time.

 

[Anonymous]

Ron,

Sealed Power makes them also for around $28.00.

Later,

Doug

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, LTFBob;

The NAPA I use has .060" underlength pushrods for this 200 CID engine in stock. They're a standard item, he says.

Milling .060" is considered the max for these heads.
Rebuilding with that many miles and NOT milling the head flat is asking for a leak. Mine was .005" out-of-flat (aka 'warped') at 163K when I rebuilt.

Removing .010" on these late Fairmont heads generates a reduction of 2cc. This rule holds true until you mill away the little shoulder that matches the cylinder bore. On mine, this shoulder was .050" high, so I could remove up to .050" for a reduction of 10cc in the chamber. However, that would put the compression (with a stock Victor headgasket of .045" thickness) at over 9.6:1, which could make it difficult to control knock. If thick head gaskets are used, the quench band is too thick, resulting in more knock than otherwise. If the thinner gaskets are used, the mix turbulence in the chamber rises, improving the resistance to knock. This happens because the small quench band in these engines has a limited influence, so try to keep the quench band thin.