And the 331 project finally begins...

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Dave
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Re: And the 331 project finally begins...

Post by Dave »

No difference in the blocks them selves. It's just that the Explorers come with the better intake, throttle bodys, heads and the short front dress. Lots of the Mustang guys suck up those intakes. Intakes go for $200 just by themselves. Suck them up if you can!
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Re: And the 331 project finally begins...

Post by cgrey8 »

Yep, what he said...
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331, ported GT40p heads w/1.6RRs, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, ported Explorer lower, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, A9L w/Moates QuarterHorse, Innovate LC-1, James Duff traction bars, iDelta DC Fan controller

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Re: And the 331 project finally begins...

Post by cgrey8 »

I got the springs and valves out of the heads and got the heads onto my bench so I could get a better look into the ports. I think most of the cleanup work I'm going to do is just knocking down the very obvious portions of the ports and bowl that I can see are rough and could be smoothed out. I'll also knock down and shape the inlet face of the valve guides to direct the airflow a bit better. No surprises, but I did note that the exhaust port is smaller than the pics on the Internet show it to be.

I got the springs off and I noticed that the intake and exhaust retainers are noticeably different, and heavy. I don't get why Ford designed them the way they are. Not only are they different, but they are bulky. I'm sure there was a good reason behind Ford's choice, but I cannot see that the choice was because the parts they chose were cheaper. The aftermarket single-piece replacements I bought are thinner, lighter, and simpler. If anybody has any ideas/theories on what Ford was thinking, I'd really like to know.

I also got the pistons and crank out of the block. The crank main bearings looked great...very little wear. The connecting rod bearings were hit-n-miss. Some looked pristine, others had obvious places of hard wear like the bearing was either installed cocked or was malformed and wore in.

The pistons came out rough. The lip at the top of the bores wasn't metal wear, it was build-up. Pushing the pistons by it took a little work for some of the cylinders. But for every one of them, once the build-up was pushed out of the way, my fingernail couldn't feel a lip at all. It's amazing how little modern blocks wear. The pistons were another story. Some of the pistons had seized compression rings. The buildup between the cylinders and between the piston and rings had some of them locked in. Seeing just how much buildup gets between compression rings has me convinced that synthetic oil is worth every penny to prevent that. The rest of the engine had very little buildup, yet the area between the rings was thick.
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331, ported GT40p heads w/1.6RRs, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, ported Explorer lower, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, A9L w/Moates QuarterHorse, Innovate LC-1, James Duff traction bars, iDelta DC Fan controller

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Re: And the 331 project finally begins...

Post by MalcolmV8 »

Motor sounds really old or heavily abused. Messed up rod bearings, seized piston rings. I generally don't see that except on really abused motors. Not that it matters with your complete rebuild.

Throw some pics up too. I like following entire rebuilds :)
92 302 Ranger - sold
94 302 Ranger AWD - sold
07 BMW 335xi - tuned, boost turned up, E85 - sold
04 911 TT - to many mods to list. Over 600 All Wheel HP on pump gas - sold
2015 Coyote - daily driver
03 Cobra - 2.3 TVS on a built 12:1 CR motor with ported heads, cams, long tubes etc.
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Re: And the 331 project finally begins...

Post by cgrey8 »

I'll get some pics of the worst connecting rod bearings and of the rings that are seized in place.

When I get to the head porting, I'll be taking LOTS of pics of that. I think the thing that amazed me the most is just how small the exhaust valve and exhaust bowls are. They are really tiny. The pics on diyPorting GT40p head coverage are probably 8 years old, had poor lighting, and were taken with a fairly low MegaPixel camera. You can't zoom in on them at all without getting a pixelated image.

Otherwise the details you can see in those pics are almost identical to what my heads show. The only two exceptions are:
  • The valve guides on my heads have been machined down. I ASSUME Ford figured out they could grind those down at the same time they ground the valve seats.
  • The thermactor bump isn't so much of a bump on my heads as it is an indention. I'm having a hard time seeing what I'm supposed to grind away as described on the diyPorting site.


What you can't make out in any of the diyPorting GT40p pics is the terrain of the exhaust port roof. One side of the roof is higher than the other. The higher roofed side is the side that gets the most flow according to the port flow profile, but none of the comments for the pics makes mention of the dis-similar height. I don't know if it is raised to encourage flow to that side or if the reason the other side doesn't flow as well is because it isn't raised. I do know I'm not about to go grinding too far on the shallow side since I don't want to punch through into a water jacket. Mild/safe cleanup of the bowl and ports will be more than sufficient for my purposes.
Last edited by cgrey8 on Tue Sep 07, 2010 10:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331, ported GT40p heads w/1.6RRs, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, ported Explorer lower, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, A9L w/Moates QuarterHorse, Innovate LC-1, James Duff traction bars, iDelta DC Fan controller

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Re: And the 331 project finally begins...

Post by MalcolmV8 »

What HP gain do you expect from all the porting?
92 302 Ranger - sold
94 302 Ranger AWD - sold
07 BMW 335xi - tuned, boost turned up, E85 - sold
04 911 TT - to many mods to list. Over 600 All Wheel HP on pump gas - sold
2015 Coyote - daily driver
03 Cobra - 2.3 TVS on a built 12:1 CR motor with ported heads, cams, long tubes etc.
MD Racing Lean Protection Module
E85

Tuned by MD Racing

https://www.youtube.com/c/MalcolmV8
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Re: And the 331 project finally begins...

Post by cgrey8 »

I think mild porting work will increase the flow potential of each port by 10-12cfm which is roughly a ~5% increase in flow...so ~5% increase in HP.

Moderate porting from someone that ports heads on a regular basis will typically yield 15cfm. And there's rumors of some shops that have gotten upwards of 20cfm improvement over stock. But for them to learn what to and not to do, I'm sure they destroyed a few heads for that education. And the amount they charge to port a set of heads just isn't worth it.
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331, ported GT40p heads w/1.6RRs, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, ported Explorer lower, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, A9L w/Moates QuarterHorse, Innovate LC-1, James Duff traction bars, iDelta DC Fan controller

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Re: And the 331 project finally begins...

Post by cgrey8 »

Here are some pics of the engine parts...

This is what the bowls of my heads looks like:
Image
Image


Compare to the bowl of the GT40p heads shown on the diyPorting site:
Image
Image
In both cases, notice how the valve guides have already been machined down on my heads. I don't remember if the engine I'm running in the truck now has the guides ground down like that or not. Being the heads I've got on my bench are also from a 97 Explorer engine, I'd assume they are. There's still plenty more that can be done to them to smooth flow.


Moving on...


Image
I tried to get some good pics of my exhaust port, but the shop light just wasn't cooperating and the camera wasn't catching the light right. It didn't help that I did it at night. With some daylight, it'd make a lot better pic. The port, as pictured, is upside down. But notice how the bottom-right side of the port (actually top-left if the head wasn't upside down) is lower than the other side. There's lots of little areas inside this port that can be knocked down to get out of the way. I'll get some better pics when I can get some better light down in the ports.



Image
Here's one of the pistons that has the top compression ring seized. One side is free, but the other side is stuck. If I tried, I could probably free it, but just pushing in on the ring doesn't loosen it any. Notice how much buid-up there is between the rings. THAT is why I run synthetic...to prevent that or at least I hope it is. Whenever I crack into the engine I'm driving now, I guess I'll get to see for sure.

Image
Image
Image
These are the two worst bearings. One or two of the others had wear down to the copper, but none were as obvious as these.
Last edited by cgrey8 on Sat Sep 11, 2010 6:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331, ported GT40p heads w/1.6RRs, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, ported Explorer lower, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, A9L w/Moates QuarterHorse, Innovate LC-1, James Duff traction bars, iDelta DC Fan controller

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Re: And the 331 project finally begins...

Post by MalcolmV8 »

Wow those pistons and bearings look like sh*t. I don't know why that piston looks so bad but it has nothing to do with lack of synthetic oil. I've torn apart high mileage motors that have never seen synthetic oil but where maintained well and their pistons looked fine. I can't imagine why those bearings are so shot either. My guess was that motor never had the oil changed. Person probably just drove and drove and drove it and just topped up oil as needed.
92 302 Ranger - sold
94 302 Ranger AWD - sold
07 BMW 335xi - tuned, boost turned up, E85 - sold
04 911 TT - to many mods to list. Over 600 All Wheel HP on pump gas - sold
2015 Coyote - daily driver
03 Cobra - 2.3 TVS on a built 12:1 CR motor with ported heads, cams, long tubes etc.
MD Racing Lean Protection Module
E85

Tuned by MD Racing

https://www.youtube.com/c/MalcolmV8
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Re: And the 331 project finally begins...

Post by v8ranger »

By the looks of that piston I would say it had a small antifreeze leak. How many of the other pistons looked like that? with an antifeeze leak it could have also taken away the oils viscosity and wore out the bearings also. But with gunk like that in the rings, I would say it had a leak......
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Re: And the 331 project finally begins...

Post by cgrey8 »

They all had buildup between the rings. But most did at least have free rings. As for the bearings, there were only 2 that looked like this. The interesting thing is the rest of the engine looked great. There was no scaling or buildup in the crank case, oil pan, or on top of the heads. The oil didn't look great, but it didn't look bad.

BTW, I edited the post with the pics above to include some pics from the diyPorting.com site for comparison.
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331, ported GT40p heads w/1.6RRs, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, ported Explorer lower, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, A9L w/Moates QuarterHorse, Innovate LC-1, James Duff traction bars, iDelta DC Fan controller

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Re: And the 331 project finally begins...

Post by plowboy34 »

Looks like poor maintenance to me. I have torn down engines with 300,000+ miles that didn't look that bad. I have never run synthetics and my engines never looked like that. Only poorly maintained engines have looked like that. I'm not trying to dis synthetics or anything like that. Just saying a properly maintained engine with plain ole oil will not look that bad. Also looks like it was burning oil to me.
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Re: And the 331 project finally begins...

Post by Dave »

Just poor maintanece is what I was sure looking and thinking about. Socker mom or grocery getter, not driven hard or long enough. Oil light never came on so why bother. Had a good buddy who's wife drove their old Plymouth with the oil light on but it was only "Pink", never went red. Rod thru the block! They are not together anymore.
Dave
'66'Ranchero 302/5 speed
2015 Stage 3 Roush - rated at 670 hp
2000 Ext Cab/4 door swap project
2000 Ext Cab/4 door, Summer beater
2000 Ext Cab/4 door, Winter beater
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Re: And the 331 project finally begins...

Post by cgrey8 »

Well, I got Adam's old Crane Powermax 2020 cam. And I found something interesting. The base circle of my stock Explorer cam was 1.440" and the Crane's base circle is 1.350". So this may mean I need a longer rod. I expect to deck the block AND I'll be using a thinner gasket. So I don't need to make up the entire distance difference. However is .070" within reason to reuse the stock rods? Or is that enough that I'll need longer rods? I don't know how much the lifters can "make up". Any thoughts?

In other news, I also CCed 4 of the 8 combustion chambers. 3 of the 4 I tested were 62cc. The oddball was 61cc. But all were more than the 58-60cc that GT40p heads are advertised to be. I used a 60cc and 3cc syringe to inject water into the chamber. The 60cc syringe could've been off by a 1cc for the one cylinder and I not known it. So I'm not terribly concerned about the difference. What I am a little surprised about is that the compression won't be as high as I was expecting it to be. On top of that, I still have some valve unshrouding to do which will further increase the cc of the chambers. And the valves and seats will be getting a 3-angle valve job so the valves will drop down just a tad. I don't know if all that will add up to more than a cc, but if it does, then I'll be well within a safe Dynamic Compression to run premium and possibly midgrade. I just thought it odd that the cc wasn't what I expected it to be.
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331, ported GT40p heads w/1.6RRs, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, ported Explorer lower, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, A9L w/Moates QuarterHorse, Innovate LC-1, James Duff traction bars, iDelta DC Fan controller

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Re: And the 331 project finally begins...

Post by cgrey8 »

I took yesterday as a vacation day and finished up the majority of the porting. It's amazing how when I looked at the ports I did yesterday and compared them to the 1st port how different they were. After seeing that, I revisited the 1st head and did some touch up on it to make them all look relatively the same. That's FAR easier said than done. The only thing left before taking the heads and block to the machine shop are to cut reliefs around the intake valves. I smoothed the area, but I need to actually get a head gasket down and measure where the edge is and grind out so the compression chamber is relieving out to the edge of the cylinder, but not beyond. The hole in the head gasket is 4.100", however the bores are only going to be 4.030". So I can't simply grind all the way to the gasket line knowing that my gasket is slightly larger than my bore.

Another thing I noticed last night that I completely missed before is visible differences in valve placement in the combustion chamber. The intake and exhaust ports are placed with fairly high precision, however I'm not seeing an equal level of precision in the combustion chamber. I'll get pics of what I'm talking about. I doubt it is enough that I'll ever notice. But I can see how if I were aiming for absolute max HP that these compression chamber differences could mean the difference of a few hp between the heads.
...Always Somethin'

89 Ranger Supercab, 331, ported GT40p heads w/1.6RRs, Crane Powermax 2020 cam, ported Explorer lower, FMS Explorer (GT40p) headers, aftermarket T5 'Z-Spec', 8.8" rear w/3.27s, Powertrax Locker, A9L w/Moates QuarterHorse, Innovate LC-1, James Duff traction bars, iDelta DC Fan controller

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