Milling FE Heads.
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From: Lynchburg Virginia.
Milling FE Heads.
I remember years ago all the machine shops would tell you that if you milled FE heads you had to cut the top of the block or the bottom of the intake. I saw a formula once on how much to cut. Does anyone know what it is? Doug
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Mike is right, but for more info:
If you mill the heads, the intake should be milled so that the valve-cover gasket surface is level between heads and intake. That's the primary reason an FE needs the intake milled too, because it's the only motor where the intake and head make up the valve-cover surface (only Ford that is, no promises about other motors
)
My machinist who setup my motor got the intake to perfectly match the heads without trial-and-error, just a pad and pencil While it's all math, experience plays a large part in it and you should trust your machinist.
After the intake and heads are milled, if they are milled alot, the cork gasket that sits under the front and rear of the intake will no longer fit - use RTV instead (which should be used instead of the cork anyway). I'm not sure about the rubber ones, but I don't think they fit on mine after the block was decked, heads/intake milled. You can correct this by milling the bottom of the intake, but the smaller the gap, the better the RTV will fill it anyway.
art k.
If you mill the heads, the intake should be milled so that the valve-cover gasket surface is level between heads and intake. That's the primary reason an FE needs the intake milled too, because it's the only motor where the intake and head make up the valve-cover surface (only Ford that is, no promises about other motors
)My machinist who setup my motor got the intake to perfectly match the heads without trial-and-error, just a pad and pencil While it's all math, experience plays a large part in it and you should trust your machinist.
After the intake and heads are milled, if they are milled alot, the cork gasket that sits under the front and rear of the intake will no longer fit - use RTV instead (which should be used instead of the cork anyway). I'm not sure about the rubber ones, but I don't think they fit on mine after the block was decked, heads/intake milled. You can correct this by milling the bottom of the intake, but the smaller the gap, the better the RTV will fill it anyway.
art k.
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You don't ! Not ever !
Oldman, one should NEVER, EVER mill an intake manifold. Its bad form. If you have a machinist that suggests it, or admits to having done it, grab your parts and RUN, not walk, away from him. He does not know what he doing. The proper way to go is to mill the side of the heads where the intake will hit them. You need to take off the same amount that you took off from the decks. If you took .040 from the decks, take .040 off the sides. You sometimes need to take more off because the decks of the block could also have been milled. But you still don't cut the intake. Sometimes, ( I have only seen this once ) you have to shave the top of the block a bit. Keep in mind shaving the decks or heads will change valvetrain geometry, you may need shorter pushrods or shims under the rockerstands. DF, @ his Dad's
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Originally Posted by krewat
If you mill the heads, the intake should be milled so that the valve-cover gasket surface is level between heads and intake. That's the primary reason an FE needs the intake milled too, because it's the only motor where the intake and head make up the valve-cover surface (only Ford that is, no promises about other motors )
)
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Originally Posted by Dino@his Dad's
Oldman, one should NEVER, EVER mill an intake manifold. Its bad form. If you have a machinist that suggests it, or admits to having done it, grab your parts and RUN, not walk, away from him. He does not know what he doing. The proper way to go is to mill the side of the heads where the intake will hit them. You need to take off the same amount that you took off from the decks. If you took .040 from the decks, take .040 off the sides. You sometimes need to take more off because the decks of the block could also have been milled. But you still don't cut the intake. Sometimes, ( I have only seen this once ) you have to shave the top of the block a bit. Keep in mind shaving the decks or heads will change valvetrain geometry, you may need shorter pushrods or shims under the rockerstands. DF, @ his Dad's
(at least thats what someone said to me)
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After reading DF's post, I went and looked at my 390 heads and intake, and the intake was NOT milled, but the heads were... dopey me...
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How about shaving a little off of the compression side of, say, a new set of Edel heads to raise the engine compression a bit as opposed to investing 500 bucks in custom pistons??? Probably thinking too much again...
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Originally Posted by 71FoMoCo
How about shaving a little off of the compression side of, say, a new set of Edel heads to raise the engine compression a bit as opposed to investing 500 bucks in custom pistons??? Probably thinking too much again...
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