perf-list-digest Saturday, January 9 1999 Volume 02 : Number 004



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Ford Truck Enthusiasts - Performance
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In this issue:

FTE Perf - 385 series heads
RE: FTE Perf - 385 series heads
RE: FTE Perf - 385 series heads
FTE Perf - Warning: Major Rantage!!
Re: Re: FTE Perf - Re: 302 or 351
FTE Perf - 385 Series Deck Heights

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Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1999 09:39:40 -0500
From: am14 daimlerchrysler.com
Subject: FTE Perf - 385 series heads

Dennis writes: >>I rebuilt my first 429 last year and had the head
machined and installed big block Chevy(excuse the
term) rocker arm studs.

Blasphemy!!! Whats the advantage?? Explain more fully, please!!


>>After 4 sets of pushrods, 4 sets of rockers, and two sets of stainless
steel valves, guides, dollars, etc.. I learned my
lesson. I obviously learn slow, but I learn.

I seem to fit this category an these two engines...

Azie
Ardmore, Al.


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Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1999 10:11:33 -0500
From: Sleddog
Subject: RE: FTE Perf - 385 series heads

that's a bit misleading. it isn't really a chevy part. it just happens to
be the same size as a chevy part. i have chevy sized rods in my 521, but
they are not chevy rods (oliver). the rocker studs are also chevy sized as
are the wrist pins. The rockers are also the same as in a BB chevy as far
as i know (harland sharp aluminum).

The valves may be the same size as a chevy part too for all i know. if
4.470 dia pistons are a normal chevy size then the forgings are also a
chevy piece (venolia).

sleddog

- ----------
From: am14 daimlerchrysler.com[SMTP:am14 daimlerchrysler.com]
Sent: Friday, January 08, 1999 9:39 AM
To: Perf-list ford-trucks.com
Subject: FTE Perf - 385 series heads

Dennis writes: >>I rebuilt my first 429 last year and had the head
machined and installed big block Chevy(excuse the
term) rocker arm studs.

Blasphemy!!! Whats the advantage?? Explain more fully, please!!


>>After 4 sets of pushrods, 4 sets of rockers, and two sets of stainless
steel valves, guides, dollars, etc.. I learned my
lesson. I obviously learn slow, but I learn.

I seem to fit this category an these two engines...

Azie
Ardmore, Al.


== FTE: Uns*bscribe and posting info http://www.ford-trucks.com/faq.html




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Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1999 07:51:03 -0800
From: "O'Connell, Dennis M"
Subject: RE: FTE Perf - 385 series heads

Thanks Sleddog. That's my understanding too. Out here if you go into some
of the speedshops and ask for big block Ford parts they look at you funny
and start with the "we can order it and get it in about a week" response.
If it's Chevy they smile and reach into the big Chevy box.

Dennis
> ----------
> From: perf-list ford-trucks.com[SMTP:perf-list ford-trucks.com]
> Reply To: perf-list ford-trucks.com
> Sent: Friday, January 08, 1999 7:11 AM
> To: 'perf-list ford-trucks.com'
> Subject: RE: FTE Perf - 385 series heads
>
> that's a bit misleading. it isn't really a chevy part. it just happens
> to
> be the same size as a chevy part. i have chevy sized rods in my 521, but
>
> they are not chevy rods (oliver). the rocker studs are also chevy sized
> as
> are the wrist pins. The rockers are also the same as in a BB chevy as far
>
> as i know (harland sharp aluminum).
>
> The valves may be the same size as a chevy part too for all i know. if
> 4.470 dia pistons are a normal chevy size then the forgings are also a
> chevy piece (venolia).
>
> sleddog
>
> ----------
> From: am14 daimlerchrysler.com[SMTP:am14 daimlerchrysler.com]
> Sent: Friday, January 08, 1999 9:39 AM
> To: Perf-list ford-trucks.com
> Subject: FTE Perf - 385 series heads
>
> Dennis writes: >>I rebuilt my first 429 last year and had the head
> machined and installed big block Chevy(excuse the
> term) rocker arm studs.
>
> Blasphemy!!! Whats the advantage?? Explain more fully, please!!
>
>
> >>After 4 sets of pushrods, 4 sets of rockers, and two sets of stainless
> steel valves, guides, dollars, etc.. I learned my
> lesson. I obviously learn slow, but I learn.
>
> I seem to fit this category an these two engines...
>
> Azie
> Ardmore, Al.
>
>
> == FTE: Uns*bscribe and posting info http://www.ford-trucks.com/faq.html
>
>
>
>
> == FTE: Uns*bscribe and posting info http://www.ford-trucks.com/faq.html
>
== FTE: Uns*bscribe and posting info http://www.ford-trucks.com/faq.html

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Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1999 17:00:33 -0700
From: "Dave Resch"
Subject: FTE Perf - Warning: Major Rantage!!

>From: Tim Turner
>Subject: Re: FTE Perf - Re: 302 or 351?
>
>In NC there must have been that engine available and
>all emission controls in place etc. I could swap my '85
>2.8 carb'd engine for a much cleaner 5.0 with FI and it
>would NOT pass an inspection even in a County
>that doesnt require 'sniffing'..
>
>Even were I to put converters on headers
>and run all the AIR tubes I'd still fail since
>the B-II never had dual exhaust.

Yo Tim, et al:

You have hit on one of my pet peeves.

The problem you described, i.e., not being allowed to switch in a cleaner
later-model engine because it wasn't available from the factory in that
specific vehicle, even though its emissions would be cleaner, is actually
caused by an EPA interpretation of a federal law (42 USC 7522 a-3-A). In
essence, the federal law says that:

"The following acts and the causing thereof are prohibited ... for any
person to remove or render inoperative any device or element of design
installed on or in a motor vehicle or motor vehicle engine in compliance
with regulations..."

The problem is that the EPA now interprets that phrase "element of design"
to refer to virtually any characteristic of the factory-original
configuration of the entire engine and all it's peripherals, including the
fuel system, ignition and monitoring/control systems, and exhaust system.
Their rationale is that the original factory design was certified to meet
emissions standards and that any modification of the original factory
design must be certified to meet those same standards. This is the reason
that all reputable aftermarket suppliers of high performance engine
components now perform their own testing and obtain CARB Executive Orders
that certify that the component will not adversely affect the vehicle's
emissions compliance. Unfortunately, the average garage shop or enthusiast
is not equipped to perform the certification tests necessary to "validate"
the modifications we'd like to make, so we're stuck.

Since government regulations are by design intended to be carried out by
bureaucrats of questionable intelligence, rules are rules, and even if you
propose a vehicle modification that would actually benefit the larger
objective (i.e., cleaner air), they can't allow that because rules are
rules and it doesn't require any higher cognitive processes to blindly
follow orders and enforce rules without thinking about the meaning of the
rules or even about what results the rules are intended to produce.

The degree of latitude permitted in EPA interpretation of federal laws and
in their interpretation and implementation of regulations is just one of
the many undesirable results of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990.
Yeah, yeah, this is a pretty boring political science lesson, but the
zinger here that reaches out to hurt those of us who give a crap about
tuning up our vehicles more than once every 100K miles or so is that an
independent regulatory agency (which answers to no-one) now has the
authority to make its own judgment about what the Congress "really" means
when it passes legislation. So even though there is no law that says you
can't put a more efficient engine in your vehicle, there is an EPA
interpretation of a federal law enforcing a "rule" to that effect.

Interestingly, not all states enforce federal regulations with comparable
state regulations. Fortunately, the 10th amendment of the US Constitution
prohibits the federal government from pressing the states to be its de
facto law enforcement authorities, so many states have no local regulations
that would prohibit some things the EPA would obviously frown upon, such as
allowing private vehicles to go un-inspected and un-monitored. In those
states where federal air quality standards are not routinely violated and
where (consequently) the federal government doesn't have the "big club" of
withholding federal dollars from the state in order to compel the state to
enforce federal laws on behalf of the EPA, you can actually get away with
such dangerously individualistic things as installing a more efficient
engine or exhaust system in your vehicle.

Dave R. (M-block devotee)


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Date: Fri, 8 Jan 99 18:51:43 PST
From: don neomagic.com (Donald Paauw)
Subject: Re: Re: FTE Perf - Re: 302 or 351

>My only option would be to RE-title the truck as
>a home-built and be exempt.. Even were I to put converters on headers
>and run all the AIR tubes I'd still fail since the B-II never had dual
>exhaust.

In California, if there's crossover pipe, it's considered to be a
single exhaust.

- -- Don
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Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1999 19:43:48 -0800
From: George
Subject: FTE Perf - 385 Series Deck Heights

10.300 '68-70
10.310 '70-1/2
10.322 ' 72-

SCJ, CJ Police 10.300 '70-72 Four bolt mains

Again, thanks to Tom Monroe's excellent book. If you like the big block and
want to learn more about it, I'd suggest anybody who doesn't have one to
get a copy. I have no affiliation with him or HP Books. We tossed this book
around on the list and I don't recall any blatant, what could get
expensive, errors being pointed out by any of the list members. And we have
some pros. It's straight arrow Ford from their service manuals with good
style.and photos. Complete spec coverage and a good parts interchange. It
was first published in '80. I bought my copy in '87 and rebuilt my first
big block that year, using it as the sole reference. Good book.

385 Series Addict,

George Miller




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