FE head milling ??
Junior User
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 89
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FE head milling ??
Port wise you should mill the intake when taking more then a few thousandths, it's usually milled to keep the ports aligned.
You may have to slot the bolt holes inward on the intake to keep the bolts aligned.
Dropping the head, milling the bottom, risks exposing the air going into the head with a wall and sharp corner across the roof of the port. Some of it can be ground to eliminate this obstruction. Milling the head, you also will have a major miss-match at the valve cover surface that the gasket will not be able to make up. If you're just taking .005-.010 to make the surface of the head flat, you shouldn't have any problems with the intake but if you're taking .050-.200, you should or at least check the alignment.
Milling the intake side of the head drops the roof of the port even more in relation to the intake.
If you want to raise compression, do it with the pistons if you don't want to mill the intake.
I believe milling the intake is the correct way to keep the geometry correct and you will have fewer related problems that will have to be corrected as you go along.
Jim
Senior User
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 472
Likes: 1
From: USA
FE head milling ??
Guys, I just have to add my 2 cents worth here. I am in 100% agreement with dinasourfan on this one.
Several years ago, I had the heads on my 440 race engine milled .060 inch and that required a modification so the intake would still fit. The machinist (also a good friend of mine who forgot more about engines and machining than most of us will ever know) suggested milling the intake face of the head instead of the manifold - should I make a change in the future, the manifold will still work with any combination of parts. Being a mechanical engineer, I immediately agreed wholeheartedly and had him do it. Now if I were to change to a different set of heads, the manifold will still work on a stock set of heads. By far the way to go! Just because many people mill the intake... well, are Chevy owners smarter than us?
To anyone who wants to tell me that a 440 Chrysler is different than a FE on this subject - physics and geometry are the same between the two makes!
Art
Several years ago, I had the heads on my 440 race engine milled .060 inch and that required a modification so the intake would still fit. The machinist (also a good friend of mine who forgot more about engines and machining than most of us will ever know) suggested milling the intake face of the head instead of the manifold - should I make a change in the future, the manifold will still work with any combination of parts. Being a mechanical engineer, I immediately agreed wholeheartedly and had him do it. Now if I were to change to a different set of heads, the manifold will still work on a stock set of heads. By far the way to go! Just because many people mill the intake... well, are Chevy owners smarter than us?
To anyone who wants to tell me that a 440 Chrysler is different than a FE on this subject - physics and geometry are the same between the two makes!
Art
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