1996 351w Engine Build Thread

[kennygunit 10]

Hello,

 

This is going to be a tread of my build up of a 1996 Ford 351w that came out of a 1996 Ford F150 at Pick-N-Pull. Over the next 2 months i plan on doing a stock rebuild on it (maybe upgrade a couple things if i have the money).

 

First a little information of the car. Its a 1969 Mustang Coupe. It has its original 302ci engine in it, with the original C4 transmission and 8" open differential rear end. The car was bought by my uncle in 1968, and it has been in our family ever since. The car was sitting for 20 years in out garage until about 2 years ago when my mom gave it to me.

 

The goal for the car is to have it be an autocross/open track car. I don't want to do anything that's not reversible (at least not yet), but the fact that its a coupe might change my mind, haha.

 

Anyways, back to the engine. The engine is currently set up for EFI, but that is not the route i want to run. I am going to throw a carburetor on it, and get it running. Eventually, i want to get it up to a 408w, and get about 500/600HP out of it. Sadly, i do not have the money for this setup right now, nor is the rest of the car set up. That is why for now i'm going to do a regular rebuild. Here is a picture of the engine inside the F150:

 

Clarification of the higher deck height

 

 

 

missing the timing chain cover, water pump, and pullies

 

 

 

the full engine in the truck

 

 

 

F4TE Block - Roller Cam!

 

 

 

Missing timing chain cover. Everything looks good though!

 

 

 

After a full day by myself of disconnecting everything with a simple tool set, and another day of pulling it out with my friend. I now have my "new" engine!

 

Edited October 8, 2011 by kennygunit

[kennygunit 10]

10/7/11

 

Tonight, a friend and I started taking apart the engine. Starting monday, I am going to start working on the heads. Here are some more pictures:

 

Heads:

 

 

 

Block:

 

 

 

As far as i can tell, everything looks pretty good! No visible cracks or anything really wrong with it visibly. There are 3 or 4 bolts stuck inside some of the heads, so i am going to have to get rid of those. I am going to start taking more pictures on Monday once i get the heads into a shop and can start working on them.

[LindenBruce 27]

How do those heads look? From the pic they look to have small and restrictive exhaust ports. What about the intake ports and combustion chambers? Bruce

[Junior2561 10]

very interested in this build - i am also doing an F4tE in my 69. I am going EFI though

[kennygunit 10]

How do those heads look? From the pic they look to have small and restrictive exhaust ports. What about the intake ports and combustion chambers? Bruce

 

 

I'll take some up close pictures of the heads over the weekend and try and get some rough estimates for you in terms of size. Once I get the shop on Monday, i will be able to pop out the vernier calipers and get exact measurements.

Edited October 8, 2011 by kennygunit

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

have you considered trying to squeeze some money and put in a good rotating kit so you only have to pay for machine work, bearings/rings, etc once?

[kennygunit 10]

have you considered trying to squeeze some money and put in a good rotating kit so you only have to pay for machine work, bearings/rings, etc once?

 

All the machining is bring done by me at a shop. So free labor when it comes to machining. I haven't thought about putting any money in it, except for a basic rebuild kit. I have the money to spend, but i want to finish the rest of the car first. I want to get the whole engine torn down first and see what I am working with. Then as i build it up, i might upgrade a couple things. Maybe stroke it O.O

Edited October 8, 2011 by kennygunit

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

very nice! where did you pick up the experience to operate the tooling for operations like boring, decking, balancing, rod resizing, etc? Is that your profession? i would have loved to personally watch the whole process at least one time in my life.

 

good luck!

[kennygunit 10]

10/8/11

 

I had about 30 minutes to some VERY rough measurements using a tape measure, just to see what im dealing with. Also got to check out the combustion chamber and inside the water ways. There is some rust in there (as expected), but it should come out once i bake it. Here are some pictures (sorry for the lousy pictures, all i got is my phones camera!)

 

Exhaust Ports:

 

 

 

Example of one of the 4 broken bolts

 

 

Intake Ports:

 

 

 

Combustion Chambers:

 

 

 

[kennygunit 10]

very nice! where did you pick up the experience to operate the tooling for operations like boring, decking, balancing, rod resizing, etc? Is that your profession? i would have loved to personally watch the whole process at least one time in my life.

 

good luck!

 

Thanks!

 

I'm actually taking at class at my local community college for engine building. Everyone can take in an engine if they would like and you get to rebuild it. They have everything you need to work on an engine. The instructor has been building engines for over 30 years, so he know how to squeeze the most out of the these engines for the money. Should run great when its done :)

[kennygunit 10]

10/16/11

 

This week I got some work done to the heads. I didn't get very far, but i was able to get everything disassembled and ready for deep cleaning.

 

Here is a picture of all the valves and springs taken out. The valves seem to have a lot of carbon build up, especially on the exhaust valves. I am going to use a wire wheel and clean up the valve faces, and use emery cloth on the valve stems to clean them up. Hopefully everything stays in spec!

 

(Sorry for some blurry pictures! I had to use my camera phone, and its hard keeping a phone clean and taking a picture with dirty hands, haha)

 

 

In a previous picture, i showed some bolts that were stuck inside of the block. It took me about 2 hours to get these bolts out. The worse ones were the ones that broke off from the exhaust manifold. I had to use a drill and some hex keys to get the bolts out. I didn't have a reverse drill bit handy, so i had to make due with what i had :)

 

 

 

Here are all the rockers. They seem to be in good condition, and not worth replacing.

 

 

I took all the rockers and thew them in some carburetor cleaner. They looked good already, but i wanted to make sure everything was clean.

 

 

The valve keepers

 

 

The combustion chamber has a lot of carbon build up as well. If i could guess, the car was running a little rich in the past. I'm going to have to clean this up.

 

 

 

Here is one of the heads. After seeing all the dirt and rust on them, i knew i had to clean them up and make them look brand new.

 

 

I threw the heads inside a jet washer to get all the oil and crud off them. They turned out alright

 

 

 

They still aren't good enough for me, so starting Monday i am going to throw them into the shot blaster to get them looking brand new.

 

Stay tuned! I plan on cleaning up the valves and resurfacing the heads. Hopefully by the end of the week, i will be ready for assembly :001_tongue:

Edited October 16, 2011 by kennygunit

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

does the shop have the ability to shot peen/blast? that will certainly make your block and heads look like brand new iron.

[kennygunit 10]

Yes, thats what im doing to the heads. I forgot the name of it O.O

 

Its a giant rotisserie that shoots little beads at the head/block or whatevers put in there. Its much faster than media blasting by hand, and will look just as good.

 

I'll post pictures of that tomorrow. The heads are actually sitting in that right now, waiting for me to start up the machine. :)

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

yep. let the machine do the work!

[kennygunit 10]

It just sucks how much time i'm putting into these heads, only to have them be pretty much worthless. I would have gotten new heads, but I don't have the funds right now. I'm trying to buy a new car O.O

 

I've done a little research on getting these heads to be pretty decent once they have been ported. Maybe I'll look into that! :)

Edited October 16, 2011 by kennygunit

[BuckeyeDemon 211]

I don't have the funds right now. I'm trying to buy a new car O.O

 

where are your priorities? does it have to be a new car?

 

i've been driving a 93 escort for the last 13 years, so i get teased quite a bit at work. it does mean no car payment. thus more funds into something that's not really depreciating versus a new vehicle that loses value everyday....

 

on another note, cylinder heads can lead to a slippery slope of cash flow. if you change cylinder heads then you'll probably get beat up for not having a cam/intake/carb to go with it. so stay stock or pull out the mastercard.

 

i'm partially joking (i wouldn't wish my 93 escort on anyone) and do understand limited funds.

[1969 Mach1 14]

Those heads should be the E7TE casting. Your fortunate to get a set that are not cracked. Aside from common cracking, the only better performing OEM casting late model small block Ford head available is the GT40. Since you are doing the machine work yourself, if your budget allows install larger 1.94 intake and 1.60 exhaust valves. You will have to install new hardened exhaust seat inserts to do so. However, the original flame hardened exhaust seat area may be bad by now requiring new hardened seat inserts anyway. Powerheads at www.powerheads.com specialize in OEM Ford cylinder heads and make these E7TE's work pretty well.

[LindenBruce 27]

Well, those exhaust ports look fairly restrictive. Break out the grinder and opening things up yourself. Take your time and match to your gaskets. It's really not hard. I have done several sets of heads myself. Google head porting and read some of the online articles for further tips. Intake valves look to be decent size. If you are doing this in class you have a lot to work with. Good luck and have fun. Bruce

Edited October 16, 2011 by LindenBruce

[TexasEd 191]

Is porting part of your class?

 

Now you make me wish I was able to take the course!

[Nightowl 10]

Decking? Is that where you take the heads and take them over a stone to get a flat surface? That is what the machine shop did to my heads back in 1976. I added high compression pistons, but forgot how much they shaved off, so we had to pack each cylinder with putty, then turn the engine over by hand, then take the heads back off to check the clearance from the piston to the valves. I for sure will have to junk the engine if I drop a valve, but we built it for drag racing, and at that time, it wasn't an issue. Now being older, I want to drive it around again, and to some car meets that our club has, but I always have that thought in the back of my head to keep it cool, and don't do anything stupid, as there is not much clearance there to work with. I may change out the head gasket, and put in a taller one. Ya I will lose some compression, but may save a motor.

 

This motor rebuild project is something I will follow. Things have changed a bit in 35 years, so it is nice to see what is the newest rage in rebuilding a motor.:smile:

[kennygunit 10]

10/20/11

 

This week was a week full of labor. I completed 3 major parts, and am close to reassembly!

 

Next thing i did was media blasted my heads. Sadly, i didn't get a picture of these heads media blasted. (There is one shown below, but its not that good. I will update it with another on monday).

 

After i media blasted the heads, i moved onto working on my valves. I was using a valve grinder. I set the angles for my exhaust and intake valves to 44 degrees. The previous valves had some carbon build up, so i had to do some grinding to get that off. (Note: I know the valve isn't set up right, it needs to go as far into the machine as possible. I had my friend act like he was grinding it so i can get a picture ;) )

 

 

After that, i went to resurface my heads. One of the heads i threw down down was off by .006, so i had to resurface that head to get it even. The second head i threw down was off by .009. That one seemed way off at first, but after talking to my teacher, he said you can go up to .030 until you run into problems.

 

 

Thats it for this week. Like i said, i've worked for a while, but only between 2/3 different jobs.

 

Next week, i plan on checking my valve guides, seats, and also getting out 2 more bolts i found broken off in the heads (they must have broken off from the intake)

 

Also, i ordered a SC51 Carbide Dremel Bit so i can part my intake and exhaust ports. I have never done porting before, but luckily one of the students in class has done it before and is willing to help me out. Hopefully i can get that done next week!

 

Next week is the last week of class for the valve train portion of our class. Starting 10/31/11 we will begin working on the short block. Thats when things will get really interesting :)

 

Thanks for keeping up with this build!

Edited October 21, 2011 by kennygunit

[LindenBruce 27]

Looking good dude!! Take your time on the porting. Don't get into a hurry when grinding because once you take it off you can't put it back. Those carbide burrs have a tendency to grab and will remove large amount of metal fairly fast. Use a firm grip on the grinder and think of it as shaving. You will also need some grinding stone and cartridge rolls to help smooth things out after using the carbide burr. Bruce

[LindenBruce 27]

Also, don't polish the intake ports. Clean up the bowls, that area directly under the valve heads, clean up obstructions in the intake ports, and match the first 3/4" or so to the intake gaskets making an even blend from port opening to port runner.

 

Do the same on the exhaust side. However, you can polish the exhaust ports. That will help reduce carbon building up, misc. obstructions and help run the exhaust gasses out of the engine.

 

besides that carbide burr and several grinding stones, you will find it helpful to get straight and tapered emery cloth cartridge rolls. That will make it a lot easier to radius and blend the corners as well as smooth out the sides of your runners.

 

Bruce

[kennygunit 10]

Thanks for the advice Bruce. I'm going to be doing some more research on porting, and will probably start working on that in December!

[kennygunit 10]

11/11/11

 

Sorry for the lack of updates. We finished up our valvetrain class and have moved into the short block class. I have been making a LOT of progress, so lets get to it!

 

Once i dropped my short block off to class, we started the dis assembly progress. I had taken some pictures of it before, but they did not turn out well at all! Here is the block with the crankshaft, and pistons out!

 

 

After getting the crank out, i took out my roller lifters. They are in great shape. Not sure if i want to upgrade them or not, but its good to know i could reuse them if need to.

 

 

After taking the main parts off, all i had left to take off were the bearings. I had to use a camshaft bearing removal tool to get the cam bearings out. Everything looks good bearing wise! Someone else in my class had an engine that spun a bearing, im glad mine didn't have that problem!

 

 

 

After all the freeze plugs, parts, and bearings were removed, it was not time to throw my block into the oven! The teacher had 2 blocks go in at once to save time. In the picture below, my engine is the one in the back. The oven was set to 700 degrees!

 

 

After i got my engine out of the oven, i threw it into the "engine washing machine" as he calls it, hehe

 

Before:

 

After:

 

After that, i had to do some measurements on the engines bore. I was checking out the pistons, and i didn't see any markings on them stating if it has been bored before or not. After some measurements, it looked like it hasn't been. The 4" bore was standard, although there was a little wear. The bottom of the cyliners stayed at 4", while the top (where all the wear occurs) ended up being about 4.001 over. Livable, but I am going to bore it anyways! (probably .030" over, suggestions?!?)

 

Top of cylinder:

 

Bottom:

 

After i got those measurements, it was time to move onto my crankshaft. I plan on using my old crankshaft to save some money, so i had to make sure everything was in spec. I used a magnaflux to make sure there were no cracks, and everything turned out great. Everything was in spec! I even got a chance to polish up the journals!

 

 

I also media blasted my main caps. Apparently it adds a little strength to them.

 

 

The last thing i was able to do this week was to deck the block. I set it all up and had everything level. I ended up taking off about 0.016" on both sides. Everything looked new and perfect!

 

 

Thats it for this week! Next week i'm going to be boring out my cylinders, grinding down my connecting rods, and start going part shopping!

 

Let me know if anyone has any questions or suggestions, and please, let me know if i'm doing something wrong!

Edited November 11, 2011 by kennygunit