Blowing 3 Gees on my Six

Hi fellas,

I’ve been lurking here on FordSix for about a year and I’ve read so much I’ve got blue ovals pouring out my ears. I’m starting to feel just cocky enough now to begin making a mess of things, so here goes.

I’m trying to nail down the roadmap for upgrading the 250 in my ‘76 Granada, and just wanted someone to look at my general plan and point out any glaring mistakes – or offer suggestions of how to best spend my money. I recently got out of another hobby and as consolation I'm using the money I made from selling my gear to get this car pepped up.

DUI ignition is the first task, and it’s on order presently. I have maybe $3 grand left after that but also some limitations: I live in an apartment with no garage. I recently moved to a new state so the garages of my friends and family are a thousand miles away.

For that reason, and also due to my budget, rebuilding the block or installing an aftermarket cam is probably not an option. Heck, for all I know, maybe changing the head is more than a one-man job or can’t easily be done with the engine still in the car (I might be able to get my 100 pound wife to help me sometimes?). I’ve never swapped a head so I don’t know. This is kind of what I’m hoping maybe some of you can help me with. Please tell me if what I’m planning is unrealistic for an inexperienced, one-man operation.

So here’s my plan:
- DUI ignition: on its way
- Get a ‘78 head on the side and send it to CI
- Have them do a:

• 
  - 2V conversion
  - Valve job and porting
  - Mill the head to compensate for thicker gasket
  - Should I spring for oversize valves?

- Autolite 2100 carb
- Headers
- High ratio rockers

I’m pretty sure that list will blow through my money in short order, even not counting the DUI. Here are some specific areas I’m still unsure about:

High Ratio Rockers: There’s a $250 difference between the stock-rebuilt high ratio rockers, and the full roller rockers. Either way I’m getting the high ratio, but are the rollers worth an extra $250? Could that money be better spent on something else that would give me more power, for example, more head porting?

Headers: It seems there are some fitment issues to overcome with the CI headers on a 250 with a low mount starter. I also have an AC compressor on the passenger side, down low. My alternator is on the driver's side so that isn't a problem. I’m not sure if the “modifications” are something I could do myself with my limited tools. Is my mechanic going to be swearing at me trying to mod these things around the AC and starter? Should I consider a different brand of headers or are they all going to require these same adjustments?

Exhaust: I don’t know too much about exhaust. I do know this is a Granada, so the sound needs to be stately and understated. In other words, I can’t have it too loud. In my mind it seems like if I used a dual exhaust, I could increase exhaust flow but still keep the sound down since I would have two mufflers – is this an oversimplification? Any suggestions on mufflers?

Rear-End: I have the C4 transmission and a 2.8 rear-end. Should I be thinking about changing to a different ratio in the back as a performance upgrade? I see lots of guys prefer the 3.5 or something ratio, but I don’t know how much of a difference this would make in my situation, or if a change would be appropriate for the relatively mild nature of my engine upgrade?

Any and all advice or comments are more than welcome!


Luke

And here’s a couple photos of my baby. Only has 35,000 original miles on the car and engine. The engine is stock and has never been cracked open to my knowledge. I did remove the smog stuff and EGR though.

You can probably imagine how difficult it is to get any respect with a Granada, but the way I figure, it would only make people that more unsuspecting and easy to surprise if I had some kick under the hood. Especially from a six.

Of course right now I have anything but “kick” – watching this thing accelerate is like watching a sea slug take a nap…

Luke




Here are some larger shots taken a few weeks ago:
http://www.kansasflyer.org/Images/Granada/General/Granada1.jpg
http://www.kansasflyer.org/Images/Granada/General/Granada2.jpg

You already have a DS2, why go with a DUI? That's a big chuck of change for very little return.
And you would $3k and not spend $150 on a camshaft?

I'm not certain actually that I have the DSII - I believe 76 Granadas had what Ford simply called "breakerless ignition" but the DSII didn't show up until 1977. Of course, regardless of the name, it might pretty much be the same thing.

Perhaps that was a poor choice of dollars, as the DUI is rather expensive. Maybe I was a sucker for advertising.

As for the cam, it's not an issue of money (though if I'm going to do the cam I might as well deck the block and put in V8 pistons while I'm at it, as you know that's going to add up to a lot more than $150). Presumably to replace the cam one has to take out the engine block. I suppose you will then need to put that engine block somewhere while you work on it. I'm pretty sure management at my apartment wouldn't look kindly on me rolling a cherry picker around the parking lot. Nor would I then be able to roll said cherry picker through my narrow apartment door. I'm pretty sure I'm not strong enough to just carry the block in by hand, or would want to chance my toes to it, even if i had a helper. But maybe it's an option.

I'm kind of going off the assumption that not having a garage is limiting what I can do, but if you have suggestions that would make me rethink that I'm all ears!


Luke

You can always return the DUI system I'm sure and get your money back.

As for the cam, that is something that I want to do as well and have been told that the block does not need to be out of the car. All you would have to do is remove the grille and radiator+fan unit.

I'm in the same boat as you. I live in an apartment and the car hobby really does suck for guys like you and me because we have no garage to go and do work at. I really wish I had one because it would save so much money for me. But I can see you will save a lot of money if you will be doing a lot of this stuff yourself. I think some people forget how much you save when building a six if you mainly do the work yourself.

I like your list of things to do but I have heard that the rockers aren't really necessary unless you are going all out.

I don't know if you've mentioned the mileage, but a proper compression test will reveal much.
You could consider pulling off the grill and rad, and indeed you can swap the cam without removing the block.
If not buying an aluminum head (subject to availability as I understand it)I would suggest you start with acquiring a junkyard head, get it built to spec, and just swap the heads out in the car.
I have been through pulling an engine in the parking lot.
If you don't have to do it I wouldn't bother.

Jack you are reading my mind (if not the thread). I am indeed having a separate head sent to CI. Both because it will be easier that way, as you say, but also because the head I have on my car is a D5 casting whereas the D7s and later are better suited to upgrading as you know. The aluminum head is out of my price range.

The engine only has 35,000 miles on it (yes that's right). I don't have a compression kit but now you mention it I will get one. Did you have something specific in mind as to what I should looking for on this test?

Ralf, nice to meet another apartment dweller. Yep, cars are not the hobby for those who don't live in a house. I have three cars and we only get assigned one covered (not even enclosed) parking spot. That's where the Granada goes, the other two which are daily drivers for my wife and I, sit out in the Oregon rain. This fact is probably the main thing which has kept me from buying even more old cars... Perhaps that is for the best.

I did not know you could swap the cam without taking out the block. Ralf, the only reason I was considering the high ratio rockers is because the Falcon Six handbook says this is one way of increasing valve lift without swapping the cam, basically it has some of the same effect as an aftermarket cam, while only requiring work on the head. They actually say in the book if you are going to replace the cam you probably don't need high ratio rockers.

In fact, the rocker upgrade would cost more than the cam upgrade, so this is something I should consider. I'm kind of wary of getting halfway through such a task only to find my cam won't come out all the way, or whatever. I guess if you do it this way you don't replace the cam bearings? Can you still replace the lifters without removing the block? How about degreeing the camshaft, that needs to be possible within the engine bay as well.

Maybe there is a thread on this somewhere, I'll try to do some more reading.


Luke

Luke,
You can change the cam out without removing the engine. If you're older and not as limber, like me, it could be a PITA to dial it in; with all that leaning and bending over the fender Whether you do change out the cam or not, go with the adjustable rocker arms. They're not as expensive as the high ratio rockers, and they are easier to adjust the valves with.

Talk to Mike at CI and see what cam he would suggest with your planned rebuild. The 250 is already a torque maker, but improvements can be made with the right cam.

With the 250, you might want to eventually consider an AOD transmission with a lower geared (higher numerically) rear axle. With a 3000+lb vehicle, this would give you improved performance and mileage.

Yup it's possible to screw up a cam swap in the driveway.
In my case I damaged the bearings and after having to pull the engine it needed the rebuild anyways.
But yours has no need for anything and I wouldn't even bother taking the head off at only 35K.
If you're hot for a modded head I would suggest that you find a local machine shop rather than pay to ship a head to AZ and back.
I did, and I gave the shop a copy of the Falcon Handbook with all the good stuff highlighted in orange.
It came back well thumbed, and the head work was beautiful.

Try the rear gear swap first. If you have a 8" or 9" differential, it can be done in a parking lot. Remove the pumpkin, take it to a shop, have the gears changed, and install.

Save your $, keep the current Duraspark or change to a Duraspark2 then use that money to service your c4 tranny and maybe install a shift improver kit. Cut the new modded log head to gain a tad more compression also.

db

The hard part about this whole process is making decisions, but sooner or later you have to take a fork in the road. I went and read every thread on FordSix that I could find on swapping the cam with the engine still in the car (yes, including yours JackFish). No one had anything particularly pleasant to say about the experience, and some said they wouldn't do it again. It's one of those things where you'd only find out how big (or small) of a nightmare it might be when you are halfway through the project, at which point you're committed to whatever the consequences are.

I bought a compression tester and when this rain lets up I'll do a check on the engine. Like Jack says, it only has 35k and the bottom end should probably still be pretty good. If that's the case, I might as well just leave it as is and put another 20-30 thousand miles on it. Hopefully by then I'll be living in a house with a garage, and I could take the block out, swap the cam the easy(er) way, and consider a complete rebuild while I'm at it, or new pistons, and by so doing take full advantage of having the block out. All the upgrades I do now will position me then to be able to take full advantage of a better cam.

So for now I've decided to just go with the high-ratio rockers instead. They will give me some of the same benefit of an aftemarket cam by increasing valve lift, without the effort.

sp_alloy_head: Yes, I will mill the head a little bit to gain compression at the same time it's getting the 2V conversion. I might not do too much so that in the future I still have the option of decking the block as well. Thanks for the tip about shift kits. I'd never heard of them until today, so that was a whole 'nother slew of reading to do. Many people seem to be happy with the Transgo 40-2, and they're only $50 on eBay. Looks like this an easy and inexpensive upgrade to add to my list.

250six_71: I have the 8" rear. I did some reading on gear swaps and you're right, it does seem pretty straightforward. I checked prices and ring & pinion sets for this would cost me around $200-300, plus labor to do the swap. It's hard to know how to prioritize these things. I think for the moment I might put this on my list as a "do it if I have money left over" from the engine upgrades - unless someone can show me how it should be ranked higher.

I'll let you know the results of my compression test...


Luke

thats a heavy car.id swap in a 351 windsor....

Hold off on the rockers until Mike gets his package together.
They'll be offering ratios up to 1.75, and I think that's a pretty good idea for your situation.

I lived in apartments for years with my first project car; a '68 Catalina convertible. I did a bunch of work on it in the parking lot but followed these three guidelines. 1) Don't leave it on jack stands or milk crates over night. 2) Make sure the hood can close each night. 3) make sure there aren't any huge puddles underneath it (like ATF, motor oil, rear end lube). I never had any issues with the Resident Manager or other tenants complaining.

Don't know how big you are but you should be able to handle the six head if you want to swap it out. It would help if you had a buddy but I've taken the head off/reinstalled on my engine twice without a prob (OK, I'm 6'-4" too).

Rear gear ratio is a tricky thing, get too much gear and the car flies off the line but its terrible at highway speed and sucks gas like its going out of style. Too low of a gear and its a dog off the line. Personally I'd look into the 3.0 or low 3.X ratios. 3.5:1 is a little high in my opinion, but maybe others with more experience here will chime in. Plus these engines don't like to rev and the higher the gear the more revs you need. I have a 3.23:1 in my 4400 lbs. Catalina and love it. Now it is mated to a 428 engine too ....


Motors are nothing more than a big air pump. If you have any desire I'd swap out the cam. I think the higher ratio rockers will only take the engine so far. You should be able to swap out the cam with the engine in place. Typically you have to remove the radiator and grille for clearance.

We had a bit of sun today, rain is supposed to return tomorrow so I made hay while the sun shined. Always lots of little things to do on the car... but here are the results of my compression test - these are the average of two readings for each cylinder:
Cylinder 1: 160
Cylinder 2: 165
Cylinder 3: 160
Cylinder 4: 162.5
Cylinder 5: 160
Cylinder 6: 160

They all looked so close to me I didn't repeat the test with the teaspoon of oil trick. I also got out the vacuum gauge and she's pulling 20-21 inches at idle. Spark plugs looked good. How does all this sound to you? Seems like it's in good shape to me.

JackFish: I'll have to ask Mike about the new rockers, that could be an interesting option. Is there a thread on these somewhere?

mugsy: Well, I'm not 6'4" and I can't say the ladies swarm over my biceps. But I can probably rustle up a friend or acquaintance for help swapping the head. I've been thinking along the same lines as you for the rear gearing - a 3.0 or 3.2. I think I will wait till the engine mods are complete and then run some numbers through one of those online calculators to decide. I may also go to larger rear tires? I don't really know. I think it would be best to know the most I can about the performance of the engine, and then choose the gearing to suit. I do take this car on long highway trips so as fast as I'd like it to be off the line, it still has to be tolerable cruising at 75.

Ok, as for progress. I've started to answer some of my own questions from the first post:

Headers: I've gone ahead and ordered the Classic Inline headers. For one they are about the most affordable option (I didn't get the ceramic coating) and they look about the best, and come from a reputable source. Hopefully the muffler shop can make them work. I'm not worried about the starter clearance but I am about the A/C compressor.

Exhaust: I've decided on a single exhaust rather than dual, for reasons of cost and simplicity of routing the pipes under the car. Diameter will be 2.25". This is also what the FordSix handbook says would be good for a street car. Too much exhaust apparently can be as bad as too little. If I really want the look of a dual I can get a 1-in, 2-out muffler. But as for this muffler business, I still haven't decided. I'll gladly take any suggestions. I've been on YouTube and watched plenty of videos. Given this is a Granada I think silence is my top consideration - as much as I'd love some deep-throated sound it would make it less of a sleeper, and less enjoyable on long trips. The quietest mufflers in the videos I've seen are the ones on these Asian imports, but boy, as quiet as they are, I don't think I can have my Granada sounding like a rice-rocket.

Here's a real interesting video of a '69 Charger, the guy has Flowmaster 50 SUV mufflers AND Magnaflow resonators. Probably still too loud for this application. The Flowmasters also have the distinct tinny quality which I'm not huge on.

Progress: I've been going back and forth with a junk-yard in Arizona about a 250 head, they're having problems getting the casting number, though this should be pretty easy. The lady is going to have a real genuine mechanic look at the heads on Tuesday and let me know. I found this place on Car-Part.com, there are no junk-yards near where I live, at least none with the engines I want. Car-Part shows they have the head I want, if they can confirm it I'll have it sent to Mike and the journey will begin! Otherwise I'll try a different yard. Car-Part shows half a dozen or so with 250 heads from 1978.


Luke

I'm just saying I have a long wing span and can lean over the fender pretty easily. Now I do come from a long line of bad backs... but most guys should be able to wrestle the head onto the block while in the car.

Taller tires will "slow down" the gear. If you wanted you could go a little steeper on the rear gear and then try to dial it back with a larger diameter rear tires.

I also remember that "back in the day" 3.08:1 gears were called "highway" gears. That's why I think you should stay in that neighborhood. A few years back I swapped out the stock 2.53(?):1 gears for a 2.78(?) on my Mustang and the performance increase was noticeable. I have an 8" I snagged from a local U-Pick-It JY and it will get either a 3.00 or 3.2 gear change. Our little sixes are pretty torky in my opinion and you don't need that much multiplication to make a nice difference.

Sending anything out you better be ready for a very long wait.. to get it back. Just get a falcon performance book and map out the type of performance gains that you want and find a local performance shop to do your build..

3.08 gears in the Fairmont wagons with 200s.
I will have to say that with the cam advance 4° and a dizzy recurve it hooked up pretty well and was quite spiffy running between lights, on an otherwise stock motor.
Ithink it would outperform my new setup, with the hot cam worked over head and the cam dialed in straight up. But only up to about 50mph, where the new cam has added lots of top end power. I like. :mrgreen:
It would be nice if there were adjustable gearset for the 250.

For my 8 inch rear I think the only options in this range are 3.00 or 3.25, no 3.08 (of course there are plenty higher, but I agree, they would probably be too much). So the question will be between 3.00 and 3.25. From a cursory look at the online calculators there isn't a massive difference between the two.

I think what I will do is complete the engine upgrades, then take her out on the highway and tach the engine at high speeds, and see what kind of RPMs I could live with. Then try to see which of those two gearings will come close to match that at typical highway cruising speeds. Obviously the 3.25 will be better for off-the-line acceleration, and hopefully it will also be ok for highway driving as well. We'll have to see. But even the 3.0 will be much better than the 2.78 in there now. Like I say, watching this thing try to accelerate is so painful it hurts. Though I did get a small bit of performance boost by following the tuning procedures in the CI tech articles, and removing the smog pump, and EGR crap...


Luke