89F2urd, I see that you are running a 351 with gt40p heads and long tubes. I have a set of flowtech full length headers. Ive been told that they will work if I use 90 degree boot plug wires. Is this true? What plugs and wires did you have to use? As always thanks for the input

 

any header that I'm aware of will work with the P heads on our trucks with 90* boots. not all cylinders require the 90*, 3-4 do, but that doesn't change much of the discussion.


im running flowtechs, only because i didn't know any better when i bought them. i bought 3 sets from summit, kept the ones that needed the least modification (i had to bend them) to clear the front driveshaft and sent the others back.


when mine rot out (they are pretty thin nowadays) im getting pacesetters. they need no modification and are the best bang for the buck as far as quality. if you can send your flowtechs back I'd suggest doing so. if you cant, no biggy....they work and work well (ive been running them for 7ish years) but they pail in quality and fitment vs the pacesetters.

 

I thought the major issue with the GT40P heads is that you can't remove some of the spark plugs unless you either unmounted the headers, or dimpled them to provide clearance. Did I get the wrong? If not, which approach did you take?

 

I can't speak for all headers on that notion, but I don't have any trouble with my plugs, and I don't see how anyone else would either running a different header.. I'd think even if there were problems, thered be solutions that didn't involve removing headers or hammering them. Even modifying a socket to be wrenched with an open end should work......the headers really aren't that tight.

I think all the buzz about gt40p heads and spark plug woes originated in the mustang community, and the problems being limited to them only. The car header tubes are up tighter to the header flange, as they don't have to go very far down to clear the firewall and, being subframe cars, don't have a lot of room under the car so there's no choice but to keep them high. Engine bay is also tighter, so they have to be tighter to the block as well. The truck headers have a long sweep that goes down between the frame, and has plenty of room beside the block to get the tubes away from the head before sharp bends.

 

Thanks for the input. And I have already sanded and painted the flotech headers (in hope of prolonging the rust out factor). I took my block to the machine shop on Friday to have it decked, baked, Fluxed, honed, new cam bearings and freez plugs.. And low and behold the owner talked me into letting him convert my non roller block to a roller block my drilling and taping holes to hold the roller lifter retainer..... So here we go again, What are your thought on a good roller cam for my set up? and has anyone had this done before?

 

I am a torque man. Higher RPM power is awesome depending on use (mud, street car), but grunt is for working.

I think a cam with around 204int/215ex @ .50 would be ideal. You have huge tires and only a 4:10 gear. The rest of the combo sounds solid except a regular 600 vac sec carb would be way better (I am a double pumper fan, but for a truck that actually works sometimes, it will be inconsistent with different loads)

Or, you get more gear under the truck (which is expensive) and stay with the nasty cam.

Or, you save a few more pennies and put a stroker crank in the engine. Now we are talking torque AND horsepower. Cubic inches is the ONLY way to have a (naturally aspirated) grunt and strong mid range dual use engine. A 408 is a FANTASTIC small block.

This is from a page of Coast High Performance

This is the most common stroker setup for a Ford Windsor motor, with a 4.000" stroke and 408 cubic inch displacement. Because of the longer stroke and "square" configuration, these kits are a great balance between low-end torque and high-end power and RPM, making them extremely versatile, as well as more powerful than stock. They are great in any environment ranging from street to drag racing applications. Available in low to high compression ratios, with bore sizes ranging from 4.030" to 4.060"


Men have "more disease", I had it myself when I was young.

If 10:1 compression is good, the 12:1 is better. Well now you have an engine that can't run even premium pump gas.

If a 268 cam (how we used to discuss camshafts was the advertised duration) the a 280 would be better. Well now my car sounds great at idle but I get spanked by stock V6 Camaros.

If a 600 vacuum secondary carb is perfect, then a 750 Double Pumper would TURN IT ON, well my built boss now sounds like a wounded moose under WOT and it gets 2.7MPG when I go to see mama at the state correctional institution.

Don't be a "more" victim, be a combo man who's veh is the one everybody in town talks about because of it's performance, not it's spec sheet.

 

have you tested the fit on the headers yet? I had to bend my flowtechs quite a bit on the drivers side to clear the driveshaft. might want to check that before you invest a lot of time on their finish.


it wouldn't be the end of the world to have to torch a section of your new finish off later, but it'd be nice to know sooner than later.


I agree with pony, don't go stupid on the cam. and a 408 would be great, and the standard (non forged) stroker kits aren't that much more than a complete stock cube rebuild. also, the 408 will tolerate cam profiles that would be borderline unacceptable in a 351 as far as daily drivability is concerned. best of all worlds there....


I suffer from "misewell" syndrome. my 351 in my sig is the first time ive been able to contain myself, in the end I would have rather had a 408 with some small-er port afr's, I could have even ran a little more cam while still keeping the SD happy. but re-using stock internals and porting jy heads left thousands in my pocket that wouldn't have been there had I given in to the misewells. it runs great, satisfying or exceeding my expectations, but now, I feel like I misewell build somethin else....


do it right the first time. "right" being what you want to be in there for years to come, pockets permitting.


all that said, its almost a waste of a windosor block not to take advantage of its inherent ease of huge cubic inch capability, once again, if pockets permit.