I've put it off long enough

[sidewalkman]

I'm finally going to tackle the exhaust manifolds. The PO rebuilt the engine about 8K ago, and I'm thinking he noticed an exhaust leak and instead of dealing with the undoubtedly warped manifolds, he doubled up on the gaskets on each side. So factory is none, I have 2 per side. I've going to start tonight to rectify it. I put on a new Edlebrock carb and during the test drive was checking out the secondarys when the whole back of the outermost gasket blew out, from top bolt to bottom bolt. Although I like a throaty exhaust note, this is WAY over the top.

I've got a big block of completely flat cedar, about 24" long by 12" wide by 8" deep that I'll use to mount a sanding strip and sand the mounting surfaces flat, if they're too far gone I'll take it into the shop to plane. My hope is I don't snap any bolts....wish me luck, I'll report back with hopefully some pics if I can remember how to post them.

[jopizz]

My hope is I don't snap any bolts....wish me luck

Hopefully the PO used some anti-seize on the bolts when he did it the first time.

John

[Tbird1044]

It may be worth it to take the manifold to a good shop and get them blancher ground flat. Chances are the head surfaces are in good shape.
Nyles

[Woobie]

That brings back memories. Removed the heads and did valve stem seals at the same time. Replaced head gaskets that had rotted at the water passage blockoff. Geeesh ! How I miss that old bird.

[sidewalkman]

Was under it for 3 hours last night. the drivers side outside lower nut on the stud for the exhaust pipe is being a puke. Might be stripped. it loosened about a 1/4 inch then I run into the socket hitting the frame right there. I'm trying a different socket this weekend. I need to drop the pipes to access the bottom manifold bolts.

And John, there is no chance at all that there was never seize on them, lol. I might end up pulling the head, I am through driving it this summer anyway and I would like to look at the valve train. I have a gut feeling that the intake water jackets might be partially plugged just by the burnt paint on the intake. I flushed it during the summer and the crap that came out was pretty ugly.

I must say, that motor is shoe horned in there!!! I have the car on jack stands on the front frame and it might make fife easier to undo the nuts on the motor mounts and lift the motor an inch or two.

Thoughts?

[Woobie]

If there is some kind of spray that will freeze it, you might be able to loosen it that way.

The freezer was the final maneuver that loosened an exhaust stud that had to come out. Pb blaster + heat repeatedly and it didn't budge.

There is the exhaust crossover in the intake manifold, too. It may contribute to the burning of the intake paint.

[scumdog]

There is the exhaust crossover in the intake manifold, too. It may contribute to the burning of the intake paint.

Dead right!

I did not use any gaskets on the face of the manifolds, just a thin smear of copper hi-temp RTV.

[Joe Johnston]

There is the exhaust crossover in the intake manifold, too. It may contribute to the burning of the intake paint.

It is common practice to block this crossover when rebuilding a Y-Block - gasket sets even are available with a metal plate covering this passage. I have no experience doing this with the FE series of engines, but the red paint stays fresh on my 312.

[simplyconnected]

I blocked my Y-Block crossover and I blocked my FE. In fact... Edelbrock aluminum FE heads and intake manifold have no crossover port.

It's important to 'gut' your heat riser valve if you block the crossover. And when you do, your cooling system smiles because it never needs to deal with crossover heat.

Here's the intake manifold...


and here's the head...



Notice that the port isn't even there. BTW, that 60069 is the right part number for the FE 390/427 heads. I love Edelbrock stuff. - Dave

[pbf777]

Just to clarify: Edelbrock #60069 assembled cylinder heads are for the Ford FE series 390, 406, 410 & 428 cubic inch engines. The 427 FE would require the Edelbrock #60079 assembled units.

The major concern is the difference in the valve spacing between the 427's vs. other FE's

Scott.

[Woobie]

Was under it for 3 hours last night. the drivers side outside lower nut on the stud for the exhaust pipe is being a puke. Might be stripped. it loosened about a 1/4 inch then I run into the socket hitting the frame right there. I'm trying a different socket this weekend. I need to drop the pipes to access the bottom manifold bolts.

And John, there is no chance at all that there was never seize on them, lol. I might end up pulling the head, I am through driving it this summer anyway and I would like to look at the valve train. I have a gut feeling that the intake water jackets might be partially plugged just by the burnt paint on the intake. I flushed it during the summer and the crap that came out was pretty ugly.

I must say, that motor is shoe horned in there!!! I have the car on jack stands on the front frame and it might make fife easier to undo the nuts on the motor mounts and lift the motor an inch or two.

Thoughts?

On our old bird there was another set to go on, the original bolts that wouldn't budge were ground off, lifted what was left of the exhaust manifold and removed the remaining bolts with heat and vice grips. Not any help if you are re-using the exhaust manifolds. Good luck. I think they built the body first and then tried to figure out how to jam the engine in. lol

[sidewalkman]

On our old bird there was another set to go on, the original bolts that wouldn't budge were ground off, lifted what was left of the exhaust manifold and removed the remaining bolts with heat and vice grips. Not any help if you are re-using the exhaust manifolds. Good luck. I think they built the body first and then tried to figure out how to jam the engine in. lol

I'm pulling the top of the motor off, I have the luxury of having a spare 60 352 so I'm going to liberate the heads off of it to compare which is better, then plane and replace, same with the manifolds. Is there a way to block the crossover? I'm gutting the heat riser valve of course. No point, especially now with the electric choke!

[simplyconnected]

...Is there a way to block the crossover?..

I use simple shim stock. It comes in rolls that most tool & die or machine shops buy.

You don't need much and it doesn't need to be thick. Simply surround the gasket with a 1/4" of .020-.025" shim then bolt her down.

Ford dropped the engine and trans in place as one unit. The engine was fully dressed, complete with exhaust manifolds. Trying to remove exhaust manifolds in the car is impossible.

For any engine this age, it's always best to pull the heads not only to work on manifolds but to change the head gaskets. Over time, head gaskets rust through the cooling ports. This causes the engine to overheat because coolant never gets to the rear cylinders. - Dave

[sidewalkman]

I use simple shim stock. It comes in rolls that most tool & die or machine shops buy.

You don't need much and it doesn't need to be thick. Simply surround the gasket with a 1/4" of .020-.025" shim then bolt her down.

- Dave

Thanks Dave, although I'm confused. Mostly because I haven't seen what the cross over looks like but I'd imagine it looks like a small port on the intake? Can you describe what you mean by surrounding the gasket with shim stock?

[simplyconnected]

Look at the picture 5 posts ago. There is a new intake manifold that's upside down with a blue gasket over the intake ports.

Notice that one large gasket port just left of center has no hole in the intake manifold. That's the crossover port. OEM intake manifolds and heads have the hole.

The shim stock must cover the crossover hole on all sides. - Dave