QQ: 4.6 Head gaskets and super charger?

I'm doing the PI head swap on my 97 and I want to put a decent head gasket that could stand up to a 9 psi supercharger for future upgrades.. Along the same lines aret he ford brand head bolts up to the task? If I went with studs would the heads slide on with the block in the car? Input is greatly apreciated! Sources for any recomendations would help as well.

Sean

rec.bicycles.marketplace

Reply to
IamGoode
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Sean,

Congrats on the swap, you'll love the new power. As far as head gaskets go, the Ford versions are fine.

ARP studs are definitely a better way to go than the stock Ford TTY bolts. The installation is trickier if you're doing the swap with the motor in the car. You have to install the last 2 studs on the driver side (and maybe one other) at the same time the head goes on by temporarily securing them in their head-holes with tape or rubber bands while postioning the head in its proper place.

There aren't many folks out there running a blower on a headswapped

96-98 due to the higher compression that is inherent with the swap. It can be done but the tune is absolutely critical. I belive Cometic actually makes a range of thicknesses in gaskets for the 4.6 so you can relieve a bit of the compression that way but you may have timing issues if you try to go too far.

I would say that if an SC is definitely in your future, keep saving your dough and get a new shortblock with at least dished pistons if not fordged rods an pistons.

Hopefully Keith or Ed Clark will come across this thread pretty soon and chime in. They both have more experience with these than me.

Good Luck!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Tom

1998 GT Coupe 5-spd. Bright Atlantic Blue K&N FIPK, Tri-Ax, 3.73's, FRPP Coated Shorties, SpeedCal, P&P 2K Heads, 2K Intake, Bassani X-Pipe and Cat-Back, Subframe Connectors, JMS Chip, Eagle Alloy Wheels
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Reply to
bluestang98

Thanks, I'll look into the gaskets. Sean

rec.bicycles.marketplace

Reply to
IamGoode

Tom described it well, except there are a few more studs that you'll need to put in with the head. There were four or five that I had to suspend in each head with rubberbands. You need to put the stud in the head, but rubberband them so they are suspended at the point just before they come out the bottom. Also, unles you have access to an VERY good tuner and have enough money for a new engine laying around, you may want to skip the supercharger until you lower the compression. The supercharger is doable, but it's easy to be living on borrowed time when doing it. Good luck, and enjoy.

Reply to
Keith

supercharger

Just as a point of reference, look at the number of DOHC owners whose compression is a point higher than a standard SOHC that have broke the bottom end of their engines with 6psi of boost when not done correctly and dyno-tuned (and even some that have had theirs dyno-tuned).....

I agree... if you want the PI heads and a blower, I'd be saving up for a forged bottom end *and* something to relieve the compression (dished pistons as you said). An SOHC with a forged bottom end and about 8.5:1 compression with the PI heads would make an excellent blower recipient, and could probably *safely* crank out into the 600hp mark if it was built correctly. The 4.6 has a reputation for being a very strong block, and with a bulletproof bottom end, you'd be golden. I read a small blurb a couple years back of one of the Pro 5.0 guys that were dabbling in the mod motor area running deep into the 9's with the stock block and PI heads....

If you don't want to rebuild the bottom end, I'd tread lightly with the blower. Start at 6psi and very conservative timing and fuel curves to avoid detonation... maybe work from there.... but as Keith said, it's easy to be living on borrowed time.

JS

Reply to
JS

Hey Keith, how goes it? I knew you'd shoe up here!

2, 4, 5 whatever. I never was good at counting.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Tom

1998 GT Coupe 5-spd. Bright Atlantic Blue K&N FIPK, Tri-Ax, 3.73's, FRPP Coated Shorties, SpeedCal, P&P 2K Heads, 2K Intake, Bassani X-Pipe and Cat-Back, Subframe Connectors, JMS Chip, Eagle Alloy Wheels
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Reply to
bluestang98

Studs can be a big pain and you probably don't really need need them. I've only used studs on high rpm hard core motors. It's a conveience thing. Very hard to remove and replace the heads while the motor is in the car with studs. If you don't like the Ford bolts look into a quality head bolt set from ARP or the like. They make really good stuff. Their head bolts are radiused under the bolt head for strength. You just have to make sure you use the special washers that come with the head bolts.

jim

Reply to
Jim H

You may want to check the forums on svtperformance.com. There are a couple others but I forget the names. (Something like modmotors.com?) There are a lot of knowlegable guys running super chargers and modified mod motors. Not that there isn't a lot of knowledge here, but those groups seem to be more performance and modification based, and it may be easier to search for a similar question or faster to get answers to this type of question. JMO

And before I get flamed, I have nothing to do with the site nor do I know anyone who does. I'm just trying to help the guy find opinions. A good website is like a fast car. I don't care who makes it or what kind it is, if it's fast I like it.

jim

Reply to
Jim H

It goes good, Tom. I lurk more than post lately (although I think that's how I've always been here). Hope all's going well by you too.

Reply to
Keith

Last I checked, the only head hardware ARP made for the 4.6 was studs. They are definitely harder to use than bolts (by no means are they prohibitively difficult), but it's the only choice aside from the factory bolts. If you're going to use a supercharger, even with modest boost (6-8 psi), use headbolts. You may not think you need them, but there are a few people that I know through the forums that have lost engines due to head issues. They've traced it back to the heads lifting as a result of the relatively weaker TTY bolts. And it's not THAT hard. I 've done it a few times on my car and others, and I did it without major difficulty even on my first trip into the 4.6. The last time, I did it outside the car and put them into my new '02 engine that is currently NA. I figured I'd save the hassle later since I have grand plans for the future. :-)

Reply to
Keith

Thanks all, I'm thinking about running the cometic gaskets to lower the compression enough to run a supercharger in the future, still working the head bolts though...

Sean

rec.bicycles.marketplace

Reply to
IamGoode

prohibitively

I didn't know that ARP didn't make head bolts for these motors. Can you actually get the studded head off without moving the engine around?

jim

Reply to
Jim H

Yes. There isn't enough room to pull the stud out of the head in 4 or 5 positions (master cylinder in the way on one side, shock tower on the other), so you just need to pull them up enough to clear the block and use something to hold them up. I've used rubberbands and sections of heater hose cut lengthwise down the side.

Reply to
Keith

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