C2SE-B Heads on a 427

[dmazz]

This my first post on the forum. Ive been checking in almost everyday and enjoy reading. I bought a 427 centeroiler last year with 406 heads on it and would like some input. Everything is at a shop being checked out. The block will be bored .020, heads were never run since being rebuilt and checked out fine, rods are C6AE - C, crank a 3U both are ok. Will these heads be ok? What pistons should buy? Also need a solid lifter cam I,m thinking Comp 270 or 282.  I have a good running  66 Fairlane with a 30 over 390 4 spd, 389 gears. I,m not looking for anything radical just nice running reliable street car. I'm 61 years old and had Fords all my life. Thank you in advance for your input.

[jayb]

Welcome to the board, and I hope you find the information here useful.  I think your heads will be fine, and I'd select the Comp 282S cam; it is an excellent street solid lifter cam.  That engine should haul your Fairlane around very nicely!

[dmazz]

Thanks Jay, Probably going to need a new intake, the motor came with a Sidewider that has been modified. It has weld build up and surface ground at the bottom of the ports, maybe to match ports I don't Know and the wall under the carb has been ground to a sharp edge. Also had double intake gaskets on it. Were you at Pittsburgh Raceway for 2010 Dragweek?

[jayb]

I actually didn't make Drag Week 2010; I was busy getting my book finished up and decided to take that year off.

If your Sidewinder has double gaskets it must have been cut pretty extensively.  A Performer RPM intake would probably work really well with your combination.

[BH107]

Be careful, as those 406 heads have very small chambers. Even with dished pistons you will be close to 11 to 1 CR.

[cammerfe]

When the first Sidewinders came out of the Specialty Foundry, made up for (among other things) the just-released CJ Mustangs, we (John Corrunker and I) arranged to get one for a try-out. I was the designated engine 'grunt' for John's one-of-the first-ten-CJs. Jack Roush and Al Buckmaster came past Corban Transmissions late one evening and dropped one off. The problem was that those first castings were supposed to fit the MR and to make one fit on CJ heads it was necessary to weld extra material at the bottom of the runners at the head interface. And since we were going to use it on a SS/EA car, the completely open plenum was said to need a fore-'n'-aft divider.

After the basic welding was done, the manifold simply set on a shelf in the back room for a number of months. When I put the 427 CO engine in my '67 XR7GT, I 'liberated' the manifold and finished the work. It had been milled to make the fill-in work at the runners flat, but each runner required some material removal to make the openings match the heads.

The divider was flat on top and about a quarter-inch thick. That's what Buckmaster recommended, and I simply left it alone.

The Cougar was drivable enough to take to Northern Michigan for weekend trips and I found it possible to eat the lunch of all the street Hemi cars I ever encountered. Those were the days!!

KS

Added to clarify---I should have said that the plenum divider was suggested to make the engine work better with a C-6. The manifold, with a completely open  plenum, was intended for stick cars.

[bobford]

 my sidwinder was welded alond the bottom of ports and milled so much  that I run 2 intake gaskets with a piece of sheetmetel between them to make it fit ,and center divider milled out completely  .I say it's workable been thatwayfor 20+ years,Things they did in 60's ?

[dmazz]

The small chambers 65 cc's is my concern I want cr to be around 10-1. If that isn't achievable I'll sell the 406 heads and buy different ones. The engines builder said he can get there but I'm not sure thats why ask for help here. I had a set on a stock 390 in a Fairlane conv. years ago and it ran well. As for the manifold we'll probably wait until the heads are on to make a decision. Thanks for all the help.

[My427stang]

Looking at Comp 282S, installed 4 degrees advanced, 65 cc chambers, Felpro 1020 head gasket, .010 in the hole, you'd need an 18-20cc dish to get compression in check with those heads.  That gets you between 10:1 - 10.25:1, and on either side of 8:1 dynamic compression ratio

If you considered the 270S, same setup, you'd need 22-24cc dished pistons.  That gets you between 9.6:1 and 9.8:1, same DCR numbers.... or you could install it on a 110 degree centerline and use the same compression as the 282S

With the gears you have, I think the motor will be much happier with the 282S and a 750 or bigger Holley.  I actually chose a 270 for my 445FE but its going in a 4000 lb pickup with 32 inch tall tires and 3.50 gears.  Yours is lighter, more gear, less tire, so let it breathe

As far as the heads, if you can find a piston, nothing wrong with those heads at all.  You will need to run Cobrajet headers though, not 390GT headers.

If you can't find a piston, go with a larger chamber early head, the performance will be the same, you just need to use a different piston to get to the compression you want.

One last bit of advice though, if you haven't measured the chambers, measure them before you decide.  Ford iron castings are all over the map in side, some small after being cut a few times, but most run big.

[dmazz]

running Hookers and a Holley 750 mech. sec. on the Fairlane now.