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Mid-range performance upgrades


thegoat4

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My trusty 3.0 nearly died in the desert to a stuck thermostat. I got it running again, and made it out of the desert, but a head gasket (or both) failed; as I was driving and topping off the water I was steadily filling my crankcase with the "lost" water. It pushed out pretty much all of the oil over that 120 mile run toward San Diego.

I patched it, (gotta love Barsleaks) changed the oil, and drove another 5k+ to finish my trip and get back home. Try THAT with aluminum heads!
:headbang:

Anyway, the engine is now down on power and slightly rattly at idle. Oil pressure is probably lower than it used to be. I can make the dummy needle flutter if I bog the engine while taking off from a stop. I'm going to tear it down in the next couple of days and check everything out. If the engine is rebuildable, I want to add some upgrades while I'm there.

Short-term, get it back together solid and running well on regular gas. Long term, turbo charge--I only intend 3-5psi boost for a little performance increase and to avoid such severe power loss in high elevations. Well, that and it's cool. Along with the turbo I'll get a tuner and switch octane grades.

Here are my questions:

1) valve job. What are my options with a valve job? Three-angle worth doing? Any down side? I've read that running forced induction can cause problems with the intake valves requiring stronger springs. Is that a realistic concern with low boost? If it turns out I need stiffer springs, is it a problem to put them in now well before putting on the turbo? If I have to mill the heads any, my compression ratio will go up; how high compression can I have before I develop knock issues on 87 octane gas? I understand that the heads don't have a lot of material to mill out to begin with so this might not be a real concern.

2) port and polish. Worth the effort? Never done it before, any pointers? I've read that I should definitely NOT portmatch the exhaust ports to the manifolds on an NA engine. Does that thinking change when turbo-charged?

3) rockers. best place to get them? What are the trade-offs for the various ratios?

4) fuel injectors and pump. I think this has to wait wait until the turbo, but I wanted to ask. Any benefit to be had from putting the larger injectors in now? As I understand it, I have 14lb/hr injectors stock and the next step up is 19lbs/hr. It looks to me that those injectors will be fine for the amount of boost I plan to use, so I doubt I need to go any higher. But I'm still sorting out the math and could be wrong.

If I do put in the injectors, can a Ford dealer recalibrate my PCM to make use of them or do I need to go another route?

5) bottom end all stock, just replacing bearings and rings and repairing any damage. Maybe stick a bulkhead fitting in the side of the pan for the future turbo oil drain.

6) anything I missed? I'm all ears right now.

(update, I ripped it out this afternoon and started to tear down. Should have a comprehensive carnage report with pics by tomorrow)
 

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Beef52751

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1)Do the 3 angle no doubt, better Flow=More Power
Springs would allow the motor to rev higher before valves start to float if you eliminated the Rev limiter with a chip. Your not going to gain enough compression by milling the heads to cause any problems.
2)I would Gasket match the heads since they were off, but idk if it will gain you any power.
3)Get 1.7s from www.stuffforyourranger.com, they will open your valves a little more
4)i would wait to mess with the fuel system until the turbo is on
5)Use quality bearings and rings if you plan on turboing
6)Underdrive pulley would be worth the money if you dont have one.
Beef
 

graff104

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Beef52751

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oops, guess i havent checked lately, thanks for correcting me
 

88gt

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2) port and polish. Worth the effort? Never done it before, any pointers? I've read that I should definitely NOT portmatch the exhaust ports to the manifolds on an NA engine. Does that thinking change when turbo-charged?
where did you hear that. if the exhaust is trying to get out of the head and runs into a wall of the exhaust manifold, that is restriction. it wouldnt hurt anything to take a dremel tool and massage that back so that the gas flows smoothly. you might even get a little more top end you didnt previously have.
 

thegoat4

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Well, got it all apart, and it is surprisingly unhurt. Cam bearings are marginal and the rings and water pump are toast, but otherwise, no real damage.

headOff.jpg
Got the heads off, looked pretty bad at first.

head.jpg
Heads are fried.

block.jpg
After stripping the block down, I found that it was nearly immaculate. All of the bores look new with only light scratches in #6 hole. So light you can't feel them. Bearings and journals looked nearly new.

waterPump.jpg
Water pump cavitated pretty badly during overheat.

timingCover.jpg
As did the timing cover to match.

The piston rings are completely worn out and the timing chain has a huge amount of slack. But it appears that's just about all the damage from that water.

Block and heads went off to the machine shop for cleanup and crack check yesterday afternoon. I'll keep you all posted and try to get photos of the build.

I had a zoom clutch kit in there. I didn't like it. It isn't burned, and has plenty of material left, but after just 40k miles it drives like crap--nearly no modulation. It has a wavy spring in between the friction surfaces that has just about completely collapsed. Ford OEM is a Valeo clutch. I haven't decided if I'll go with that or a centerforce--the price difference isn't really that bad.
 

thegoat4

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where did you hear that. if the exhaust is trying to get out of the head and runs into a wall of the exhaust manifold, that is restriction. it wouldnt hurt anything to take a dremel tool and massage that back so that the gas flows smoothly. you might even get a little more top end you didnt previously have.
http://rogueperformance.com/block_n_heads.html

He states "Do not 'port match' the exhaust ports on a Normally Aspirated engine. You will have exhaust reversion, contaminate the incoming fuel and loss performance."

Now, that is the only place I've heard that, but I've also heard form several places that port matching to stock manifolds is pretty much a waste of time. So, either way, I think I'll not mess with the exhaust ports beyond smoothing.
 

Ranger44

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It's like Deja Vu. I just did 80% this to my 3.0. These are easy to rebuild and very easy to work on.
 

Beef52751

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the only reason i know not to port match them is because power gains are small. I have found that The bigger the header the more power it makes, but this has been on SBC with upwards of 12.5:1 Compression. On what we call a Spec Motor there is a 10.5:1 Compression rule, so we put the smallest Header we can on it because it restricts air flow and "bumps up" the compression while the motor is running. We put big headers on a Spec Motor once and it gain like 30 Horsepower and 20FT/Lbs of torque Mid range but lost around 50HP and 35T on the top where we run the motor. So on a street motor i recommend Big headers and big exhaust ports, but on such a small motor the gains will be minimal.
 

DCinDC

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where did you hear that. if the exhaust is trying to get out of the head and runs into a wall of the exhaust manifold, that is restriction. it wouldnt hurt anything to take a dremel tool and massage that back so that the gas flows smoothly. you might even get a little more top end you didnt previously have.
The hole in the head is smaller than the inlet of the exhaust manifold. So he is right.

Well, got it all apart, and it is surprisingly unhurt. Cam bearings are marginal and the rings and water pump are toast, but otherwise, no real damage.
Cam bearings are critical for oil pressure, this killed a lot of 2.9s.

I had a zoom clutch kit in there. I didn't like it. It isn't burned, and has plenty of material left, but after just 40k miles it drives like crap--nearly no modulation. It has a wavy spring in between the friction surfaces that has just about completely collapsed. Ford OEM is a Valeo clutch. I haven't decided if I'll go with that or a centerforce--the price difference isn't really that bad.
Borg Warner heavy duty, or a Valeo. I'll never buy a CF clutch.

I've got my 3.0 apart for head gaskets and I felt it up. I wouldn't grind on anything.

The only thing I see these things needing is a different intake manifold. I'm gonna try the 1999 ram one someday.

The ports in the heads are fine, pretty nice actually. Big valves aren't reasonably possible.

The specific output (Hp/CC) of the 3L is higher than the 5L HO. Boost is the only answer.

Do 8psi. It's safe and worth it. 5 basically isn't. Milling won't bother it.

Can't just stick 19s in it. I use an FMU and stock 14s on my 2.9 with 18 psi.

You cooked all the tension out of the valve springs. You need new ones. Stock is fine.

Keep us updated!
 

Gotta_gofast

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I'm guessing you can't get the roller rockers anymore because they are manufactured by Crane Cams for the Fox Body cobra mustangs. Since Crane Cams closed the doors and sold to S&S cycle, parts have been scarce lately.


When porting the exhaust port, You will want to concentrate on smoothing the short turn radius. The key is to smooth things, not remove tons of material. Work around the valve guide as most heads will have some sort of hump or protrusion that causes turbulance. Look for ANY and ALL casting flaws... and remove them. Look behind the valve seat, you will probably see a "lip" from where the machined seat meets the casted bowl. Keep going and smooth it out, carefully not to nick the seat though. And lastly, keeping the exhaust port slightly smaller than the header size will help exhaust reversion (as stated earlier). When the sound waves bounce and travel back up the pipe, they have a lip to bounce off of and some of the waves return back down. At certain rpm (dependent on valve events and pipe size) this will help scavenge the exhaust through the header. Because as the exhaust valve opens and the exhaust rushes out, it is met by the waves bouncing from that lip and returning down. This isn't a huge performance gain (if any). But the problem lies when there is no lip. There's nothing to break up that reversing wave. Now, at a given rpm, the sound wave is on its way back to the head just as the exhaust valve opens. The exhaust valve opens and is met with a wave that tries to push it into the cylinder agian. This causes a restriction. Ohh! And in the exhaust port, make it all SHINY smooth. This reduces carbon build up.

There is simply too much info about porting for my fingers to type! Talk to a reputable engine builder or surf the web. Its very easy (as long as you have patience) and if done right, you will notice a difference.

The stock valve springs are okay, but not great. Spin that 3.0L to 6,000rpm just once (even accidently) and you can kiss them goodbye. You used to be able to take crane cams' single springs (PN: 99833) and retainers (PN: 99944) and drop them right in... but again, Crane closed up.

And my last bit of 2 cents, when boosting (6-8psi would be my personal target) use quality gaskets, ARP or equivelant fasteners, and Keep a good eye on your fuel delivery and sparking events!
 

4x4fun

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Yea I think I got the last set of RR from rouge:) sorry
 

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