Head/Intake Swap
 

Alright guys, here's the deal. After a big hassle, I finally got this guy to sell me the heads and intake he has been promising me. They are a set of ported GT-40's w/ fms 1.6 rr, and a cobra intake w/ a 65mm tb. After checking out the lower intake, I noticed that the surface inside each runner is pretty course. I had an idea of how I could go about smoothing them out. When honing the cylinders in outboards, we use these things called flex-hones. They resemble ab oversized pipe cleaner and have polishing stones on the end of each "bristle" so to speak. Im not sure if anyone is familiar with these, thats why I'm explaining how they look. I was thinking that if I could get a small one(about the same diameter as each runner), maybe I could snake it through and smooth them out a little. Do you guys think it's worth a shot? Are there any more practical ways to do this? Anyway, I am going to be swapping this stuff out as soon as I can get back home for a weekend. Is there anything I should no before I start this? This will be the first time I'll be swapping heads on a 5.0. A buddy of mine gave me some head gaskets out of a trick flow gasket set. Will these work ok for the gt-40 heads? He bought the gasket set, then later decided to go with the o-ring ones instead. I know I will need to pick up some new head bolts, becuase the stock ones are only good for one use. Is there anything else you guys can think of that I will need, or any tips or tricks you can inform me of. Sorry for such a long post I just want to make sure I do it right. My dad is pretty good at mechanic work, and he has buit a few motors in his day, but I still want to check with you guys first before I start. After I'm all done, what kind of gains should I expect to see? Im swapping this stuff out with totally stock heads and intake. Thanks in advance for any help you can give me, and sorry again foir the long post. Thanks - John

Snap-On sells a ball type honer for cylinder bore, not really familar with a flexable honer. On the intake you want to get them to a mirror type finish if you can acheive this with your tool go to town, I use a air powered die grinder with 80, 180 and 360 grit cones, then use WD-40 and scotch brite to get a mirror finish, works very well.

You might want to replace your head bolts, this is always a good idea 7/16" ARP's for your application. Remember to use a thread sealant on the bolts that go into the water jackets and oil or I prefer ARP assembly lube on the other head bolts. Don't over torque the intake bolts or you'll strip them out in a hurry. The head gaskets should be fine, what PT# are they? You will need a set of Fel-Pro 1250 intake gaskets and a set of header gaskets as well, believe I use the 1314 which is the big gasket.

If you are going to clean the heads up polish the exhaust to a mirror but on the intake only use a max of 180 grit, this needs to be left rough or the fuel will wash out on the walls, if you are going to port match jut go in 1-1.5".

Good Luck, the swap should yeild a honest 50-75hp gain.

Rick, thanks alot for the info man, I really appreciate it. Cant wait to get started. - John

My bad Rick, I know the intake gaskets are 1250's, because i had to scrape them off the intake and saw the numbers. Also the part# for his gasket set is from summit #TFS51400914. So you say I should not hone the lower intake runners to a mirror? To only use a max of 180 grit? Thanks Man - John

The lower intake runners can be a mirrors.If you plan to clean up the HEADS the intake ports on the heads is where you need the 180grit, exhaust can be fully polished.

Thanks for clearing that up for me man, John

Damn I forgot to ask, do you think it would be wise to go ahead and replace the timing chain while I'm in there. The car is approaching 100k miles. Just Wondering, John

You might as well if you've already got everything apart. I'd go with a gear drive, but I guess it depends on wether you like the sound of them or not.

I actually do like the sound, I might go ahead and do that. Thanks - John

Check out the parts list (and MANY photos) I used when I did the TFS TW heads/cam/intake on my S-trim motor...
http://www.dariusrudis.com/mustang/new_engine

that is a sweat a** motor drudis:D
I love those pictures of it sitting on the stand with the headers and everything:cool:

Sure is one heck of a motor!