223 AIR FLOW NUMBERS

Here are the flow numbers for the 61-64 223 FORD small chamber head with 1.78 intake 1.51 exhaust.
Air flow is @ 28" test pressure.
Intake CFM
.100"=56
.200"=115
.300"=150
.400"=153
.500"=156
Stock Exhaust peaks at 115
These flow numbers are for a 223 small chamber head 1.84 intake 1.6 exhaust. This head has been race ported and currently holds the SCTA xo/production record, in a 53 FORD @ 135.530 mph. I post these numbers only to encourage others to get the most out of there Vintage FORD engine.
Intake CFM With radius inlet.
.100"=70
.200"=128
.300"=167
.400"=187
.500"=200

Exhaust CFM No pipe or header.
.100"=57
.200"=100
.300"=120
.400"=132
.500"=138

Thanks for the info!!!

Thanks for those great looking charts. The 223 can holds it own against the vintage sixes. I was very conservative with the exhaust figures. With a pipe installed on the head the 1.6 exhaust valve will flow 163 CFM @ 28" .500" lift. With a Clifford header installed it drops to 140 CFM @ 28". I have found no need to run more exhaust duration than intake on this engine. With 292 intake/exhaust duration, I have seen no exhaust gas residue in the intake port or bowl. Thanks again Orphan.

That is great data and very helpful to have it.

I've been searching for any dyno tests on the 215-223-262 but cant find any, curious if any dyno testing was done along with the flow testing?

Hot Rod Magazine 1954 annual (Trend Book 110): 132 HP @ 4100. 215 Cu In engine with all the usual racing equipment except had a stock cam. 98 HP @ 3500 rpm stock

Hot Rod Magazine 1956 annual (Trend Book 123): 140 HP @ 4750. 215 Cu In engine with all the usual racing equipment including 276 degree racing cam. 92 HP @ 3500 stock


These two articles may have been reprints from Hot Rod Magazine of about the same era.

The 1956 annual reports the top speed of a 1954 (223 cu in) as 93.7 Mph.

Thanks flatford. I will hunt for those.

Did they give any torq numbers or hp at lower rpm (2000 or so)?
Any details on the builds or was it just headers and 2 or 3 1bbl carbs?
No work to the head or engine?
Details appreciated, I dont have those issues.

Equipment on engine in 1954 annual test: High lift rocker arms, .090 head mill, Fenton 2 carb manifold with 2 1952/1953 Holley carbs, 1 3/4 Lincoln intake valves, mild valve pocket and port job, stock exhaust manifold, stock power timed ignition. This is a 215 cubic inch engine. Engine produced 75 hp at 2000, 92 hp at 2500, 107 hp at 3000, 123 hp at 3500, peak 132 hp at 4100.

Equipment on engine in 1956 annual test: 215 cu in 1953 Ford pickup engine, reworked cylinder head, 3/4 cam, dual point dual coil ignition, dual intake, Fenton cast iron exhaust headers, .150 inch mill for 8.75 to 1 comp ratio. Engine produced 72 hp and 107 ft/lb at 2000, 109hp and 109 ft/lb at 3000, 127 hp and 102 ft/lb at 4000, 140 hp and 95 ft/lb at 5000

Hope this info helps, These are the only dyno tests I remember having seen. Evidently a lot has improved with these engines in 60 years: I don't see either of these engines going 135 at El Mirage.

Can you give us more info Ford 6 -4u? Larger cu in, bore, stroker, 262 engine, split or divided intake ports, head offset on block, better manifolds than 60 year old designs. Your results are a big jump from a reported 54 Ford (stock 223) top speed of 93.7 mph. What is your estimated or dyno hp of your record setting motor? Seem like you should be making 250 plus hp to go as fast as you do! Please advise.

Flatford,
Thanks for the details.
To make any sense out of it with the Gonkulator I am having to assume those dyno tests were done under more like "net" conditions, ie with a fan, warmer air, and mufflers hooked up, single for the stock tests and bigger or duals for the hopped up tests. Maybe they mentioned this or showed pictures of the dyno setup?

A lot of those old 50s dyno tests were run that way (arguably more realistic tnan open headers and an electric water pump corrected to sea level 60F bone dry air....) but sometimes even the articles dont say how they were run.

Otherwise they are not seeing all that much power. And yet, the old 215 "Mainline" six (does it have an official name?) better than kept up with the 239 flathead v8 so it must have been at least making its ratings on the whole.

Ford 64u
Yup it would be great to see some hints.
I ran the Gonkulator on a 53 Ford lowered a couple inches, here is what it took to get it to 135mph:
* cold air induction, open headers, electric waterpump ie no belts
* 223cid
* 11.0cr
* Cam 245-245-108, .440 lift, about the equal of the stock 427 THunderbolt cam, not THAT wild.
* 4bbl intake and 600 Holley
* Heads with flow you gave
* 1.75" headers
* A few mods down below for minimum friction
Result:
Torq 272 at 4400
Powr 291 at 5900
135-136mph top speed
Is that anywhere in the ballpark?

WerbyFord, flatford6

Thank you for the interest in the 135 motor. The basic engine has a 262 block and crank with a 61-64 223 cylinder head. Other info:

223 rods with arp bolts
Schneider Cam 292 @ .015 256 @ .050 540 valve lift with stock rockers.
600 Holley with vacuum sec.
14.0 to 1 compression ratio
Stock port and head position.
We spin stock water pump and 18 volt alternator
MSD 6al with Duraspark 2 (a must)
Custom intake 1.625 tubing to center cylinders with 1.750 to Siamese ports. (worth 5 mph)
Clifford style headers
292 y block pistons .040 = 273 cubic inch
rollmaster y block timing set
6400 rpm @ 135 mph

The 223 ran over 128 mph earlier in the same car with less improvements. OK no excuses start building those I blocks.

Ford 6-4u
Thanks for the great data.
So here are some Gonkulator estimates based on that:
I'm assuming 1-5/8 headers, short length tho not much difference there, 2-1/2" collectors

Top Speed 135-136mph
Torq 355 at 4200
Powr 326 at 6100

Top Speed 130-131mph
Torq 353 at 3500
Powr 303 at 5500
All I did here was swap on a out of the box 4bbl intake. And Im really not "predicting" either intake, just tuning the intake to match the speeds you saw. For lack of any other data its a start.

Just trading down to 223cid, same everything else and same 4bbl intake, Top speed 128mph
Torq 291 at 4000
Powr 282 at 6000

Of course these numbers are not definitive, but they had to be in this ballpark (gross hp anyway) to make the car do that.
It tells me the old Mainline Six can indeed be made to run with its 1960s-70s counterparts.

I like your numbers. We assumed similar performance numbers just bench racing with others, but we didn't have the Gonkulator. It would be nice to see some 223s competing in other forms of vintage racing. They are durable and respond well to modification. My racing partner campaigned a 53- 215 in the 60's. The car weighed 2800, had two ones, a fenton exhaust, with a 3/4 cam. Shift points were 7200. He ran 15:50 at 89 mph. What does the Gonkulator say?

Ford 6-4u":i0cwp7s7 said:

I like your numbers. We assumed similar performance numbers just bench racing with others, but we didn't have the Gonkulator. It would be nice to see some 223s competing in other forms of vintage racing. They are durable and respond well to modification. My racing partner campaigned a 53- 215 in the 60's. The car weighed 2800, had two ones, a fenton exhaust, with a 3/4 cam. Shift points were 7200. He ran 15:50 at 89 mph. What does the Gonkulator say?

Click to expand...

Well I had to guess a few things again but here is a Gonkulator match
215cid
223 head with some porting, about half the improvement you show above
cam 230-230-112 .420 .420 straight up, kinda healthy for a 3/4 but that got the job done
2*1v intake specs "borrowed" from the Stovebolt 235, big 1bbl carbs 170cfm each at 1.5" Hg
Fenton specs again "borrowed" from the STovebolt
8.75 compression, a guess
Loose build, say .003" and an easy spinning crank, well worn in engine
Torq 222 at 3700
Powr 204 at 5500
I was shifting the Gonkulator at 6200, hoping the 7200 was a typo? That would be some kind of 3/4 cam to spin that high?
With open exhaust and decent weather and a 4.11 (and pretty crappy traction)
2.52
10.01 at 73.2
15.51 at 89.0
I remember those days, only the 1/4 stuff was on the timeslip, ET and if you were lucky a MPH scribbled on it too.
In some ways a timeslip is better than an old vague dyno article, ET and MPH are pretty clear, and if you know the weight of the car then the engine had to be doing something right. Well I'm feeling a little better about the Gonkulator model of the old Mainline SIx now.

WerbyFord
Thank you for the estimate, I think you are very close, but he is still sticking to the 7200. It sounds like a 200 hp 223 street build would be viable project.

Thanks again!!!

Sorry if I'm dredging up an old thread unnecessarily, but I wanted to thank you for these numbers. They've been printed out and being poured over whenever I have a few minutes to assist me in my engine build plans. I do have one question ...

I'm a bit of a numbers guy and a "gear head" (frustrating combo) and cannot understand how intake volume being greater than exhaust volume in the head flow charts is a good thing. Am I missing something? On the surface that appears to be a indicator of restriction.

Thanks much!!
=====

There is much more too it then this but, Roughly you want the exhaust to flow about 70 to 75% of intake flow. With a N/A engine the intake valve and port side needs to be more because you are drawing or pulling in the air and fuel mixture to fill the cylinder with only atmospheric pressure. The exhaust port and valve can be made smaller because after ignition and combustion the volume in the cylinder is reduced plus you also have the piston pushing it out too.

bubba22349":3p4thv66 said:

There is much more too it then this but, Roughly you want the exhaust to flow about 70 to 75% of intake flow. With a N/A engine the intake valve and port side needs to be more because you are drawing or pulling in the air and fuel mixture to fill the cylinder with only atmospheric pressure. The exhaust port and valve can be made smaller because after ignition and combustion the volume in the cylinder is reduced plus you also have the piston pushing it out too.

Click to expand...

And that makes sense. Thanks for keeping it simple!
=====

Ford 6-4u":2x4m5zj3 said:

Here are the flow numbers for the 61-64 223 FORD small chamber head with 1.78 intake 1.51 exhaust.
Air flow is @ 28" test pressure.
Intake CFM
.100"=56
.200"=115
.300"=150
.400"=153
.500"=156
Stock Exhaust peaks at 115
These flow numbers are for a 223 small chamber head 1.84 intake 1.6 exhaust. This head has been race ported and currently holds the SCTA xo/production record, in a 53 FORD @ 135.530 mph. I post these numbers only to encourage others to get the most out of there Vintage FORD engine.
Intake CFM With radius inlet.
.100"=70
.200"=128
.300"=167
.400"=187
.500"=200

Exhaust CFM No pipe or header.
.100"=57
.200"=100
.300"=120
.400"=132
.500"=138

Click to expand...

Ford 6-4u I am very interested in talking to you about the scta xo production record info posted above ... I am currently in the recherché and development stages of building a 223 for the XO/PP class with a 61 ford pick up. I would like to talk to you about cylinder heads. I'm new hear and don't know my way around just yet. I tried to pm you without success. I hope I can find you hear.. Thanks John

Great info on the flow numbers of the 223 head! Questions: Has any flow work been done on the 262 head? Are the stock ports any larger than the 223 head? Based on a circumference check on a 262 manifold manifold near the head end of a runner compared to a 223 manifold the 262 was about 3/8+ inch larger than the 223. May be larger inside or just thicker. Ford may have made the head ports larger to compensate for the 39 extra cu ins. Has anybody measured this? Personally I would rather have larger ports than a small combustion on a racing engine. Any answers to these questions out there?