Great stuff!
Hey Chris have you ever used the total seal top ring set up?
If so what do you think of them?
Was also wondering about teflon buttons to hold the wrist pins in place?

I have used both on several high performance engines with good results.
I do not however have any experince with the Ford Modular.

I also noticed that the valley between the heads looked very even colored. Is this area the natural metal or some kind of speacial heat proof coating?

Thanks and keep up the great work.
Greg

 

No, I haven't tried to total seal, but I too am curious as to how well they work.

I'm not sure about the buttons.

actually, the new ford block comes with a fairly decent paint job, but I didn't like how my 1 year old stock block had some surface rust on it, so I went and got some engine paint from auto zone.

I sprayed it on tonight and was very pleased with the results, pretty much EXACTLY matches the factory coating, and is good to like 1200 or so degrees. I used it to cover up all of the remaining bare machined areas on the sides of the block.



they have a few colors to choose from in the 1200 degree product and LOTS of colors in the 500 degree enamel.

look here for more info:
http://www.duplicolor.com/products/engine.html

this photo shows the new painted versus the old stock block. it's hard to see, but the factory leaves quite a few areas bare machined metal, and they will rust. it's only surface and appearance rust, but I figured I'd try to stop it before it got started on the new motor. the new block looks glossier than it really is in this photo because of the flash and because it was prolly still a little wet.



and this brings us to the next stage of the engine build!

 

OK, time to install the oil pump.

this pump is called a G-rotor or gerotor (sp?), it is driven directly off of the front of the crankshaft, so once it's installed, there is really no way to "prime" the engine oiling system because you can't turn it without turning everything inside the motor with it.

you could try to locate an external pressurized "pre oiler" that will allow you to thread into an oil fitting on the block and force oil through the motor without it actually moving, but screw that. let's live dangerously!

j/k ford doesn't say to use one of these, so we aren't going to.

they do say however to prime the pump with oil before installing it. Ford's procedure for priming the engine oiling sytem prior to starting involves disconnecting the fuel pump and cranking the motor over with the starter, and sometimes they also recommend removing the spark plugs to eliminate compression while performing this procedure.

my problem with priming with engine oil is that as soon as you bolt the pump on, the oil starts to drain back into the pan and thus the oil pump loses it's prime.

for that reason, I use Lubriplate. it's a very thin or lightweight white lube that is thick enough to stay inside the pump, but certainly thin enough to be easily "pumpable"



(note: Ford doesn't endorse nor advise against the use of this product. it's just what I have used in the past based on the recommendation of another experienced Ford technician, and it works quite well.)

so back to the motor. here is a shot of some lubriplate squirted into the oil pump inlet. I filled the inlet and then turned the rotor in the center of the pump by hand, then added more lube and continued turning the pump until I saw the lube about to come out the outlet of the pump.



once primed, you can then install the pump onto the front of the crankshaft. making sure you align the tabs on the rotor with the two flat sides on the snout of the crankshaft.

 

once it's lined up, you can then install the bolts that hold it into place. yes they even have a recommended torque sequence for these three bolts. the torque spec is something like 89inch/lbs.


after installing the oil pump, it's time to bolt the cylinder heads on.

however, in this particular instance, my heads aren't yet assembled.

here are a FEW quick pics of some of the steps involved in assembling the heads.

there are a couple of different types of valve spring compressors available, choose whichever suits you.

I use the Ford tool, some people hate it, but it works fine for me. the ford spring compressor requires that you pry against the camshaft in order to compress the valve spring.

so of course step one is intall your camshaft. there is a right and a left, so don't mix them up. apply some assembly lube to the lower cam bore. be sure not to get any lube down inside the bolt holes for the cam caps, because damage to the head could result when you try to tighten the cam cap retaining bolt with a bolt hole full of thick oil.

after you lube the lower cam bores, you can carefully lay the cam in place. now lube the upper cam bores (on the caps) and install the caps.

torque the cam caps in the proper sequence to 89inch/lbs like so:


install the valve seals, there is a special tool but you can use a hammer and socket, or in reality you can probably push them on by hand.

after installing the valve seals, you can insert your valves, apply some type of oil or assembly lube to the valve seals so somewhat sharp edges on the tips and keeper grooves of the valve don't damage a seal.

here is a pic of the seals and valves installed on one head:

 

Damn that's pretty.

 

here's a shot of the "keepers", the spring presses against the retainer which squeezes these against the grooves in the tip of each valve.


here's a shot of me compressing the valve spring in order to gain access to the keeper grooves on the tip of the valve.




once you get two keepers lined up properly in the grooves, slowly release the compressor tool and move on the the next valve.

pretty soon you'll have a head that looks like this:

 

every once in a while i read a thread like this and it all seems so danmm easy i almost try it

then about an hour later i realize that as a true mechanic i am probably more like the guy in the dodge comercial that sits back and says SWEEEEEET so i think even though you make it look so easy ill pay the pro before ill try it



keep showing the cool build prodjects it gives all of us 12 second guys the itch

 

One head down, and one to go.

just be thankful it's not a 32valve!



now you can install your new head gasket onto your shortblock.

be aware that the gaskets are different left to right.


on an interesting side note, my truck is an '03. my understanding (or maybe just my assumption?) was that it came equipped with the updated "non oil leaking" head gaskets.

well upon removal of the heads from my original motor I found that my truck had the same old 3 layer MLS gaskets?

no matter, because the new ones have 4 layers. I believe that increasing the layers is supposed to compensate for any minor variances in deck flatness of the block and/or head. also the newer gaskets supposedly have the sealing ridges around the oil pressure orifice shaped differently just incase you are reusing old heads, they are designed to seal around any indentions that might have been left by the old gasket.

here's a shot of the 4 layer MLS head gasket:

 

now you can drop your cylinder head into place on the studs and dowels.


if you haven't already, apply some arp moly lube to the male threads and to both sides of the washers and you can torque your head down.


oops almost forgot, the cylinder head casting is interchangeable right to left, so there are holes and oil passages on either end of each head to accomadate the timing chain tensioner. MAKE SURE that you check and DOUBLE CHECK your cylinder heads to make sure that all of the little oil galley plugs have been installed. otherwise engine damage or at least severe embarassment may occur when you start the new engine for the first time and it promptly begins pissing oil out of the back of the head and onto the shop floor!

here's a pic of a few of the galley plugs. check ALL SIDES of each head!

 

 

bolt on both heads and you will look like this:




another shot of my freshly painted block:



that's all I got done tonight folks. the painter showed up in the middle of my work to deliver some goodies!

tomorrow the timing chains go on and it's not long after that and we should be going back into the truck!

later,
chris

 

chris, you are the man!!!!

 

superfords,

Are you using the 4.6L CP 17cc dish pistons? I was told they have a - 0.118 to - 0.122 compression height when used in a 5.4L which makes compression lower in a 5.4L application than in a 4.6L. What is your CR with the 2v heads?

My 4.6L CP's with DOHC Navi heads will net around 7.8:1 to 8.0:1 CR depending on CC work and valves. I was expecting 8.5:1 like the 4.6L DOHC has, but I was misinformed.

Is there any way I can deck the block and heads to raise CR without my timing chains getting too lose and messing up quench? As long as I'm 8.0:1 or above I'm fine with it since I'm using a T76 turbo, but if it's 7.8:1, I'd like to bring it back up to at least 8.0:1.


Regards,
John

 

using 17cc dished cp's give a ratio of 8.5:1 on a 5.4 block

 

Nope, not if they are in a 5.4L DOHC. Around 7.8:1 to 8.0:1 CR.

Try 52cc CC, - 17 cc dish piston, 4.165 stroke, 3.572 bore, - 0.118 (or - 0.122) deck, and plug in gasket thickness in a CR calculator.