Newbie question regarding the new FSP alum head

[lorwood]

First let me apologize for my very basic questions. I don't have the tech. knowledge that most of you have. I am not a fullfledged gearhead more of a tinkerer.

I have a 66 Mustang 200 with 87000 documented miles on it. I am the second owner. The previous owner had the engine and tranny rebuilt at 78000 miles. The engine is very tight no leaks smoke etc. It idles as well as these cars can and runs great but as you all know it is underpowered. I have updated the ignition (pertronix ignitor, flamethrower coil, wires, better plugs) Put in a K&N free flowing air filter and I am about to put in a larger exhaust with a less restrictive muffler. My question is would I benefit from the new head? I am not looking to race this car it is my Sunday driver. I would just like it to have more driveability.

My second question. Is there a 2" or 2 1/4" exhaust kit that best suits this car? Which muffler is best. (nice sound low restriction but something I can cruise with). Is my best bet just to bring it to a custom exhaust shop?

Thanks for the help. Love the forum have learned a lot!

 

[Mustang Boy]

yes there would be a benefit from the aluminum head but you wont be taking it anywhere near its potential now if you were to get a cam you would see a major difference with the head but if your not into racing that much i dont think you personally would benefit from it until your start wanting more horsepower

 

[hasa68mustang]

I am going to have to agree with Justin, I think your 1000+ dollars would be better spent elsewhere. I put a mild cam, some valve springs, a holley carb, the ignition stuff and some other odds and ends and was able to run mid 17's which wasn't too bad... it all depends on what your goal is I suppose. Tommy

 

[addo]

I'll third the comments above about a new head not being first priority.

Without knowing too much about your Sunday driving, I'd suggest the following things to look at:

Get the chassis "tight" - as in making sure all bushes are good, the ride height is happy and steering responds well. The more driving you do on winding roads, the more stuff like this can add to the fun of ownership. It won't be faster so much as feel more competent, and flatter your input as the operator.

Then you could look at the complete exhaust, from head through rear bumper. Borla mufflers seem to be capable of a good tone; a true dual setup with an H-pipe or X-pipe is also popular with people here (although there remains dispute about whether the crossover has any real effect). You'd run a Pacemaker header with your dual exhaust - they're well made and reliable. The biggest "gotcha" is most headers need retensioning a good few times early on, following installation.

Next could be the transmission - again, making things feel faster by having a perkier response. You might consider a T-5 manual installation.

After that it's time to dig into the motor. Start with checking the static compression in case it's off-kilter. Then I'd suggest a split pattern cam of close to 280° exhaust, just over 270° intake. This will cover some of the flow inadequacies of your head. With the cam goes a new roller timing set and it's degreed in. A regrind is often very affordable and an old-school grinder can possibly resurface the lifters for you, too. Static compression is normally raised a little by light skimming of the head, with a warmer cam like this one.

Carb and ignition return for consideration now - while it will run well with the standard setup, it'll be happier with a later style dual advance distributor set correctly, and possibly a two barrel carb. Carb choice will not only affect performance, but ultimate power levels possible. It's my opinion that a good number of carbs not normally mentioned, will do fine - if a little thirsty.

Regards, Adam.

 

[69.5Mav]

lorwood

First I agree with the previous comments. Next a couple of questions for you.

First, what is you goal for this car?

Second, how much in your bugget?

Third, what's your compression?

Now a suggestion. You say the engine was rebuilt? what head gsket did they use? If they did not use a steel shim gasket then chances are it's to thick, dropping your compression ratio and decreasing, as a consiquence, your horse power.

If this is the case then you can remove the head and have it milled and install a thinner head gasket from Mike at Fordsixparts to restore lost Horse power.

Good Luke
69.5mav

 

[Anonymous]

and hey, I would like to see a picture or two

 

[lorwood]

lorwood

First I agree with the previous comments. Next a couple of questions for you.

First, what is you goal for this car?

Second, how much in your bugget?

Third, what's your compression?

Now a suggestion. You say the engine was rebuilt? what head gsket did they use? If they did not use a steel shim gasket then chances are it's to thick, dropping your compression ratio and decreasing, as a consiquence, your horse power.

If this is the case then you can remove the head and have it milled and install a thinner head gasket from Mike at Fordsixparts to restore lost Horse power.

Good Luke
69.5mav

Thanks for answering.
My goals are to have a nice Sunday Driver. That is something I can cruise in during the weekends. But I would like to be able to keep up with your average Toyota Corolla.

As for my budget this is a lifelong project so every year the car will be improved. Figure at least one thousand dollars a year.

I don't know the rate of compression or the rebuild date. The car was purchased from the owners widow. This was her husbands thing. I don't think the rebuild is very recent but I don't have any concrete info on this.

 

[StrangeRanger]

The order in which to spend money on a car:

1) safety equipment and brakes
2) chassis and suspension
3) drivetrain
4) engine

All the HP in the world is useless without having the other upgrades in place. Whatever you do, have an end result in mind. Don't just throw parts at it; that only wastes money and doesn't tend to produce results.

 

[lorwood]

and hey, I would like to see a picture or two

As soon as the weather clears i will post a few pics

 

[Geezer 300]

Chaz is still waiting to see pics of Steve's cars... but then, all of us are!

 

[mugsy]

Lorwood,

Please do not feel ashamed to ask questions. That's how WE all learn.

As for your exact question: I agree that the Aluminum head is probably overkill if you keep the stock cam, gears, and carb.

I have a '78 250 ci head from a Granada with a single 1V carb that was listed for a 240 I-6 engine in my '65 Mustang now. That, along with a DS-II upgrade and a single out header, makes the car pretty fun to drive. If you just want to tinker I would say go with the "larger" 250 head swap. The intake valves are larger, the carb hole is larger and the intake volume is larger. All good things for more pep and power.

One of the key things that has to be addressed when messing with the head gaskets on our 1st Gen Mustangs is that the OEM one was steel and about 0.025" thick. The steel gaskets are very difficult to find now. Most people use aftermarket composite gaskets that are in the 0.045" thick range. This lowers what was probably a low compression ratio to begin with. Unless the PO paid very close attention when the engine was rebuilt and had the head milled the corresponding 0.020", I bet the motor's compression was lowered by the thicker head gasket. So you can "correct" the gasket issue when you swap heads

As for the exhaust pipe, I have taken mine to a mom and pop shop and they bent a custom system for fairly cheap. I did this when I added the header. I do not know of any sources for a larger dia pipe in kit form.

Tanx!

 

[Funky Cricket]

I have never heard of an exhaust kit for any of the I6 cars.
Closest i've seen are turbo 4 exhausts for fox bodies, that you need to modify at the header.

I would go with the suggestions.

Fix anything that is currently wrong, then decide what you want to build a plan from there.

It sounds like you are moving in the right direction though, better ingintion (already done) then maybe brakes, suspension, tranny? (t-5), E0 head (or 250 head), cam and bigger one barrel or small 2 barrel.

 

[MustangSix]

The order in which to spend money on a car:

1) safety equipment and brakes
2) chassis and suspension
3) drivetrain
4) engine

Dammit! I think I got it all wrong!

 

[Mustang Boy]

The order in which to spend money on a car:

1) safety equipment and brakes
2) chassis and suspension
3) drivetrain
4) engine

Dammit! I think I got it all wrong!

yea same here im going on the exact opposite order