brsvo's ongoing project

[brsvo]

I have been after a header for some time now and finaly got a used Rods Header off TF. ( It had a broken tap in it) Most of you know me and my 86 1E SVO. This all started back in 97 when I bought my car from the Best Man from my wedding. He lived in Long Beach and bought the car new. I had only had the car for one year and I took the car out in spring and cranked the boost controller and bent all the intake valves. It seems the stock springs weren't up to what ever I threw at them (stock boost gauge) and so it started. I knew nothing about turbo Fords and the OOA was no help. (I had no computer back then). I did however get an Essilinger catalog along with the car! Determined not to bend valves again I ordered stainless stock valves (the head had been cracked before and my buddy thought he had it welded) and heavy duty springs from Esslinger. The machine shop I worked through ran into clearance problems with the retainers and followers. They clearanced the bottom of the followers to clear the retainers. While I had the head apart in 98 I took after it with my die grinder and did a pocket port job on it. I ran it this way until 2 years ago when a HLA went south and I decided to put in a RR cam. This swap brought up the clearance problem again and I had to get different locks from Bo to lower the installed height of the spring. Ever since the roller followers have been in the valve train has been noisy and after inspection I realized that the little clearance I had wasn't enough. So when I bought the Header I decided winter was the time to do the head with proper parts in the proper way.

[brsvo]

So I took my head into the local speed shop to get it cleaned and magnafluxed. They told me to look for a new head!! I knew it had been repaired once because of over heating when stuck in LA traffic and the stock fan switch failed. I thought it had been welded but it was apparently stitched? 2 cylinders have stitches and hardened seats now. See pic of cyl #3. Also cyl #4 has cracks thru the exhaust seat down into the port. The pic doesn't show it well but in person it looks pretty bad. I thought I was starting with a head that was close to ported and big valves but now I had to find a different head. SVOPONY was good enough to offer his spare 86 head to me. I picked it up today and disassembled it and I couldn't believe how the ports look! They look so small after looking at mine for so long! I am taking this head to the shop tomorrow for cleaning and magnufluxing - wish me luck.

[brsvo]

This is what the stock head looks like. Looks like I have my work cut out for me!

[MikeFleming]

Yep stock heads need lots of work. Be sure to have the replacement core crack-checked first.

[brsvo]

Goes in tomorrow after work I hope.

[brsvo]

Dropped off the head today hope to hear good news soon. I drilled the tap out of my header and ran a chaser thru it. Istalled the stud I bought and the studs not square. Aparently they broke the tap because it was cross threaded. Thought about welding the hole and re machining but after talking to my place of employment they advised me that 300 series stainless moves around alot just milling it never mind welding. I have Keylocking threaded inserts I have decided to try. I used them in my ported E6 and they worked fine. They are 300 series also and the thought was drilling and tapping would be far less stress than removing the 3 good studs and welding re milling the flange flat.

[MikeFleming]

Looks familiar. Have seen that same quality control issue with Rod's stuff before.
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BTW - Those thread inserts you're considering are rated to a MAX of 600 F. Certainly wouldn't want to use them in a turbo application where stock temps reach 1650 F. In any case check with the mfgr about the max temp recommendation.

[brsvo]

They have been in my E6 since 98 without problem. If you know of a better quality one available let me know.

[MikeFleming]

I'm not aware of any thread insert that's rated - by the manufacturer - to over 600 F.

[brsvo]

When I purchased them it was stated they were 304 stainless. The same material as the header? The only thing that may fail is the locks. The locks may not go into stainless either. This I didn't consider!
I have bigger problems than this now as the 2nd head I just took in is cracked in 2 exhaust seats too. Does anyone know the diameter of the OS hardened exhaust seats? I am hoping these may come out while machining for the seats.

[MikeFleming]

The stock turbo heads do not use seat inserts - the cast iron was merely flame hardened in-place on the exhaust seats. Any competent automotive machine shop can machine out the casting and press/roll in replacement stellite (or whatever is the current seat material). Or you can send it to Bo if you're on the West side of hte big island.

[brsvo]

I knew the stock heads had no inserts. I was trying to figure out if the cracks would machine out with an insert. After checking 2 heads that came off of running cars and they both were cracked I'm discouraged! Now I have researched Esslinger heads and decided that aluminum is not going to be dependable for for the long haul and may be overkill for my app. After talking to Bo at Bo port I think my tax returns will be sent his way. I really wanted to do this my self but finding a crack free head may be more of a challenge than I thought. Bo will sell me a stage 3 head that is crack free and told me the 2.1 cam will make my 300+ HP goal with around 10lbs of boost! He also has the experiance and tools to not go too far while doing the SSR. I thought of a 2.5 cam as I always go too conservative and end up redoing it later. Bo told me to use the 2.1 and if it wasn't enough he would take it back for a 2.5 for $50. Its hard to not go this way.

[MikeFleming]

The only way to now how far the crack goes into the head, is to machine it out for the replacement seat. Problem then becomes that if the crack is still there (most likely), then now you're got machining time and costs into what may well be a useless head.

With the proper seat insert material, it *might* be possible to solder the seats into the head for sealing, but it's an expensive and risky process with no guaranteed results.

On another note, it's difficult to not send all your money to Bo. He makes it too easy.

[brsvo]

I have been told there are welders out there that can fix it also but I may end up with alot of money and work into a head that does not hold up. On my Esslinger head thread the question came up what are my goals. I would like to make over 300HP on as little boost as possible using pump gas here in WI. That said its 93 with 10% ethenol or 91 without. The 93 runs much better than the 91 for sure. I have turned the boost up too much with the stock injectors and don't want to go down that road again. I am thinking stage 3 Boport with a PIMP managment system for fuel. Will be going to larger injectors and staying as close to stock ignition as the PIMP will allow for cost reasons. I am spending way more than I ever planned but the right parts should make my car more reliable in the long run. I don't want to crack a stage 3! Also keep it drivable for car shows and the like. Open track events are also on the horizon.

[MikeFleming]

I am spending way more than I ever planned ...

Yeah, Scope Creep is a very dangerous disease.

[brsvo]

Well the tax return came today. Now to get ahold of Bo and work out the deal there. Scope creep is very dangorus indeed! I would like to do an external wastegate but that will involve modifying the Rods Header, buying the wastegate and modifying the exhaust. Guess it will have to wait. I did get motivated to take the porting tool to what I could reach inside the header and knock down the welds that were protruding into the pipes. Tried to get pics but they stink. Its hard to take a picture inside of a header! When the head comes then I can port my intake manifold to match it and I will finally have something I can do! Which was the point of taking the head off in the fall.

[brsvo]

I have repaired the crooked stud with a 304 stailess insert and chased the treads of the studs. mocked up the header on my bare head and figured out the bolt locations. I don't like the lack of meat with the socket head screws. I don't feel good about drilling them for safty wire as the heads look too weak. Mike what are you doing for bolts?

[MikeFleming]

I drilled them. Works just fine.

[brsvo]

Thanks for the reply.

[brsvo]

Well I made a little progress. Got a well ventilated catch can installed. Also my wideband sensor is at least in the pipe.
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