New to Ford Six--200 build

'68falconohio

Well-known member
Hi all,
I'm fairly new to the scene of actually building up my 6 but i've been drooling over the CI head for a while now. Recently, the 200 in my falcon developed a head gasket leak that I know is going to get worse as summer approaches. My decision, to take the extra '68 200ci-6 that came with car and have it rebuilt to replace my current engine.(car came with addl. 200ci/C4 combo). I'm going with cast flat top pistons and the cam that my engine builder decided on(don't have the specs handy), the problem is that when he magnafluxed the head, we found it to be cracked in 3 places!!!(intake runner, between the side-by-side exhaust valves, and exh.manifold bolt hole) My engine builder found remanf. log head for $300 but I'm concerned with the lack of performance. I am competent in operating a milling machine and have seen where some people are machining the boss off of the intake manifold and making it more accepting of a 2V. I'm committed to building this six up because i've already had the cylinders bored .030 over and the crank polished, pistons ordered, cam, etc. But due to currently being in school, I can't afford the CI head right now. I'm looking for input on what I can do to one of these stock heads to get me by until I get the money for the CI head. Any suggestions?
 
Welcome to the club! Where are you from?

Best first step is to invest the ~$25 in the Falcon Six Performance Handbook. CI sells them. Lots of suggestions on how to upgrade the performance of the log head. From simply adding a 2bbl carb to fully offy intake setup and more.
 
Vinny-
I'm in Ohio. I've seen the Falcon Six Performance Handbook for sale on CI. I've never bought anything from CI and was curious/spectacle of how useful the book would be. From your previous comment, I'm assuming it's a well spent investment? Thanks for the comment!
 
'68falconohio":2zrf4i4e said:
Vinny-
I'm in Ohio. I've seen the Falcon Six Performance Handbook for sale on CI. I've never bought anything from CI and was curious/spectacle of how useful the book would be. From your previous comment, I'm assuming it's a well spent investment? Thanks for the comment!

Definitely worth the investment. Its written by guys like us for guys like us!
 
Welcome to the Forums, I would recomend at least for the head try to find a 78' log head( bigger valves and log is bigger) a direct mounted carb seems to work well also.
 
Howdy 68falconohio:

1st off, welcome to this FORUM. It is the best. Next, know that if you are seeing weeping along the head gasket seam, stop worrying. It ismost likely that this will not be a crisis problem for a long time- so you've got time to plan and to do a good- no rush- job. I gues I should ask first, what is the nature of your head gasket leak?

Since you're rebuilding the whole engine may I suggest that you attain your CR goal (What is your CR goal) by decking the block to zero and using the cheaper and easier to get small dish pistons. There are several performance related reasons for this suggestion.

Again, welcome to the forum. I hopw you will keep us informed on your progress.

Adios, David
 
CZLN6:
You were correct about the head gasket weeping on the seam. It weeps on the driver side and if i wipe down the block and drive to work, there is a very noticeable amount of oil on the block. This car is an everyday driver and this summer I will be putting nearly 400 miles on the car a week. I'm in college right now so I'm trying to take advantage of spring break and get this issue taken care of. I changed the oil last week and put some Lucas stop-leak in it to try to hold me over until the new motor is completed. As far as the engine that is being rebuilt, the cylinders have been bored .040" over (I made a typo on my orig. post and put .030") and the crank has been polished. The pistons will be in this week, (cast flat-tops) along with the cam. My intentions, due to lack of funds, was to get the short block rebuilt with some add-ons so that I could make the swap to the CI alum. head later when i have the money. I was just going to put the stock log head on it for now but I've found it to be in pretty bad shape. So now I'm at the issue of what head can I can easily get ahold of that will offer a little more performance without great expense. While I would love to have the CI alum. head.....It's too expensive right now. From what I've read, it may be more feasible for me to purchase a remanufactured late model log head($300) and shave it to adjust my compression ratio because the combustion chambers are bigger. CR goal is 8.8-9.0:1 I'm alright with running 89 octane but don't want to be forced to run 91 on a regular basis.
 
Also, it really hasn't been in my favor that my buddies don't have a lot of experience with hopping up 6's. Even though they're all Ford guys, the first thing I've ever seen them do is pull the 6, and put it in the back of the truck to be taken to scrap. I've been getting a lot of hell for sticking with the stock motor when I had the option of a '68 302 or a 289ci that my buddy sandbagged for my car.
 
So now I'm at the issue of what head can I can easily get ahold of that will offer a little more performance without great expense.

Later model 250 head with oval log and the bigger valves. It is a bolt on improvement.
 
ludwig:

Would the '78 250 log head that 82F100 was talking about be the head you're speaking of? Can you tell me what years or castings would be the best head to start with?
 
Would the '78 250 log head that 82F100 was talking about be the head you're speaking of?

Yes

Can you tell me what years or castings would be the best head to start with?

Don't know offhand. You can get them in the Falcon Performance Handbook. Or do a 'search' on this site. Keywords: '250 head' or some such.
 
'68falconohio":19oalm5v said:
ludwig:

Would the '78 250 log head that 82F100 was talking about be the head you're speaking of? Can you tell me what years or castings would be the best head to start with?
thats what im using on my 170.get a 1977 or later 200 or 250 head.200 and 250s have the same head.when you have the valves done have the head shaved because the later heads have larger chambers.
 
So I've been on the phone almost all day today trying to track down a cylinder head for my 200. I'm trying to get a 77-later head for the larger log and valves. The problem is, parts stores say they can get them, and when I show up at the store they say that no one is supplying them anymore. I've called several(more than 15) salvage yards and some have a head that will work(I've been telling them '78 Granada) but very few will look up the casting number on the head. Along with the fact that the places that have a 77 or newer head refuse to ship it because it is cast. I got one place to measure the valves for me because they couldn't read the casting number. I was told that the intake was 1.75" and exhaust was between 1.5" and 1.75" on this head. That didn't sound right. I went to a salvage yard today and the guy picked a head off the shelf and swore to me that I was wrong and it was a head for a 250ci Ford. Only when I pointed out the GM logo on the intake did he admit that he was wrong. Is it always this hard to find parts for these engines???
 
I've heard that in some places they can be hard to get. What that guy had on his shelf was most likely a mid to late 70's GM 250 head, they made them with integral intakes for a couple years. I've got one at my Dad's house out of a '77 or '78 half ton 4wd. You may want to search for any 200 head up to '83 they may have a fairmont hanging around since they are on the Fox platform.

-ron
 
Ah, at last I found a head in Nevada. It's a D7BE-6090-AB head. The head+shipping came out to be the same price as the head from the local junkyard!

CoupeBoy: You were right, it was a 250 chevy head and they even had 'chevy' written on the side. But the head wasn't on a shelf.....They had cylinder heads, alum. and cast, piled about 2 ft high in a room with some shelves in it.(shelves were full too) I decided after being told to find the cylinder head by the owner and walking to the back where we both waded through the piles to find the ford section that I wasn't going to purchase anything from them. It was ridiculous.

Thank you all that have responded. I really appreciate all of your input and I'll keep you up to date as the build continues.
 
ludwig gave me a walkthrough on posting pics...hopefully i do this right.....
I finished cutting on the log head and got my adapters made for the H/W 5200. I know it looks slightly cobbled up but I wanted to mount the CI adapter to the log head so that I would be able to put a bigger carb on the engine later. Here she goes....

milledlogcastD7.jpg


logwithCI2Vadapter.jpg


logwithCIadaptermyHWadapter.jpg


completecarbsetup.jpg


On the CI site, the adapter plate was advertised as coming with just the four outside holes drilled and tapped(drill your own to mount it to the head)...maybe I ordered the wrong part#, I'm not sure, but I couldn't get the original four 5/16" holes it came with on the log head well. I had to drill the smaller 1/4-20 you see on the bottom right of the second pic because I really wanted to have four fasteners on the adapter.

Now I just need some advice on a good gasket material to cut mine from..I know the mating surface is pretty narrow in places...

My buddy recommended Garlock(sp?) Anyone heard of this or use it before?
 
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