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Notching your Pistons (continued)


As you may have figured out, it will be neccesary to remove the intake valves on one of the heads to allow installation of the cutting tool. This valve spring compressor from ProForm worked awesome for getting the dual springs off and on.
Proform PRO-66832: Valve Spring Compressor
 
With the cutting behind us we cleaned up the block surfaces and chased the head bolt threads in preparation of installing the RHS heads.
     

We noticed the crooks who installed the GT40 heads on this car left the dowels out. Don't be tempted to install heads without the dowels, as they do the locating of the head on the block, not the bolts. Small block Fords generally use the shorter ones, however certain 5.0L engines used the taller ones. Either will work so long as they do not keep the head from seating!
 
A fresh pair of cheapo over-the-counter FelPro 8548-PT2's and we're good to go. These gaskets are usually under $15 and do a great job of sealing. Plus, they are forgiving for minor surface imperfections. We've used them on supercharged engines and they've held up better than gaskets costing three times the price.
     

Most aftermarket heads, like the RHS, for small block Fords come drilled for the larger 1/2" 351W head-bolts. On 289-302 motors you'll need ARP 154-3605 headbolts which include these 1/2" to 7/16" reducers.
 
Remember to use RTV sealer on the lower head bolt threads as they pass through water. Torque from the center bolts alternating to the outer bolts, in steps from 30 lb-ft to 75lb-ft.
     

Here's a tip if you've every had rocker arms grossly misaligned to the valve tip as shown here. You can correct the alignment with a set of offset guideplates from CompCams (foreground). The RHS 180 heads do come with the correct plates,
 
We finished up the head installation with a set of hardened pushrods in stock 5.0L length and a set of Harland-Sharp full roller rockers. We'll continue to run the stock 1993 Cobra intake manifold assembly.
     

We'll run the stock Cobra intake for now along with the stock throttle body and mass-air meter.
 

We'll be spending some time on the dyno at Mustang Ranch in San Jose getting the car tuned and optimized.

What's Next?
With the RHS 180 heads on the Cobra the next step is to get the car on the dyno. As we finished up this article we were able to get a dyno pull but noticed the engine was running lean and throwing codes. A quick investigation showed the computer and mass-air sensor in the car had been replaced with units not likely the right match. Ahh the joys of recovering a stolen and stripped vehicle. We're in the process of rounding up the right parts and continuing with the dyno tuning. In the next issue we plan to have the vehicle tuned and final dyno results. How's that for optimism?


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Contacts:

RHS Cylinder Heads

3416 Democrat Road
Memphis, TN 38118
(901) 259-1134

Isky Cams
16020 S. Broadway
Gardena, CA 90248

Mustang Ranch
1375 El Camino Real
Santa Clara, CA 95050
(408) 247-9005


 

 

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