Original 427 SOHC Engine Rebuild

[Bart]

Hey guys, I have been given the task of rebuilding an original 427 SOHC for a friend of mine. The engine was running rough and upon investigation it was found to be leaking compression in between cylinders 1,2 and 3, indicating a blown head gasket. This engine has always suffered from detonation due to the less than ideal fuel we get here in Australia. The engine is now in pieces and I am about to start the process of cleaning all the parts and measuring everything up to see what is required.
It is going to be a no brainer that the compression will have to be lowered. I see on the Diamond website that they offer pistons that will drop the compression to just under 11:1, which should be O.K. with our "Premium Fuel". I will have to source a set of pistons and possibly a new set of connecting rods, from one of the vendors on this site hopefully, when the time comes.
When everything is clean and measured and we have a clear direction on which way we are going, I will no doubt have a heap of questions.
Here are some pictures of the engine and the offending head gasket:
SOHC1 by Chunga Gomez, on Flickr
SOHC2 by Chunga Gomez, on Flickr
Head Gasket by Chunga Gomez, on Flickr

[Heo]

Thats one torched gasket  Is the SOHC going in the 40
Deluxe in the background
I like the 32 roadster with a Y-Block whats the story on that

[machoneman]

Wow! Now that is one torched gasket! Jeesh, I crewed on injected/blown nitro and alky burning Hemis and never saw more than 1 or 2 torched gaskets, between cylinders....and you have 3 on one side alone! How did that engine stay running? 

[Bart]

The gasket is definitely the most damaged one that I have seen in my limited experience. The engine was running, but only just!!!!!

The 40 Coupe is pretty much stock. It has been lowered and has a mild flathead in it, which can just be seen sitting on the ground next to the SOHC. It has been converted to right hand drive as well.

The channelled 32 roadster is my Dads. It was built as a hot rod in the late 50's and was first registered as one in 1961. My Dad bought it in 1963 and it originally had a hot early flathead and running gear. He put a blown Y-block and customline gearbox and diff in it and drove it until 1977, when it was placed into the shed. He sold the blower setup and it sat until about 5 years ago when I dragged it out and got it going for him. It just has an old 292 in it, but it goes plenty fine for him.

[cjshaker]

That '32 Roadster is just plain cool!! I love vintage builds like that. I hope it never gets changed, unless you put a flathead back in it.

Good luck on the SOHC. There are a couple of builds of SOHC engines on the forum. Look them up and you'll find a tremendous wealth of information in them. But that doesn't mean you don't have to post about your build, because I'm sure everyone would love to see it come together.

[Heo]

The Roadster look much like the hotrods that where
built in Sweden in late 50s. With the fenderlaw
using 36 sparewheel covers for frontfenders

[cobracammer]

Hey Bart.  I have Diamond Racing Pistons in Mine with Eagle H beam Rods (Both pistons and Rods are forged).  Works well for me.  Dealing with Diamond was also a pleasure as I had a bit of back and forth with the ceramic coating and Teflon coating.  They were very responsive and professional.  Check them out!  http://www.diamondracing.net/

[Bart]

Bit of an update on progress. I have finally disassembled and cleaned everything. Wow, isn't there some parts to clean and sort on these things? Definitely a lot more time consuming that your regular FE, Y-Block or Windsor build.
This engine always seemed to have a lot of piston rattle noise, especially when cold. I measured the bores and got figures ranging from 4.234 to 4.238. This is with standard pistons so there is a fair bit of wear in the bores and with this excessive piston to bore clearance, no wonder it was rattling a bit!!! The crank is at 20 thou on the mains and 40 thou on the big ends. Thankfully is measured up O.K, no taper or out of round so it can go again. There is a sleeve in cylinder number one.
It turns out that the heads have been O-ringed at some stage of there lives. The head gaskets were copper/asbestos type, don't know if you should use these gaskets with O-rings or not? Anyway, the O-rings wont be going back and we will use some MLS head gaskets, Cometic etc.
SOHC3 by Chunga Gomez, on Flickr

I found some numbers and writing on the front of the block during cleaning. Do these mean anything to anybody or are they just someone's random cataloguing or similar?

 SOHC4 by Chunga Gomez, on Flickr

Another issue I has was with the rockers. The rockers are the stock Ford ones and when I disassembled the engine nine of the little elephants feet came off the end of the adjuster. Is it ok to just sit them back on the adjuster, with some lube to hold them, when reassembling the engine? Obviously the lash would have to be very excessive for them to jump out!!

Thanks again

[Barry_R]

Too bad about the bore sizes.  I have a new set of stock stroke 10.5:1 Diamond SOHC pistons at 4.236

They could have been yours for a heck of a deal.
Tried to peddle them at two FE R&R events without a sale.

[Bart]

Too bad about the bore sizes.  I have a new set of stock stroke 10.5:1 Diamond SOHC pistons at 4.236

They could have been yours for a heck of a deal.
Tried to peddle them at two FE R&R events without a sale.

Just missed out didn't we mate, pretty close

[machoneman]

Bart, no pro engine builder here but...

I had earlier commented on how the f... one could torch so many tweeners on even one bank. Now I know how that could have  happened. My words of caution here relate to the o-ringed heads. They allowed the gasses to eat away at the gasket for any number of reasons (head bolts backed off, no retorque...and more).

Point is unless you intend to mill enough off each head to eliminate the grooves, I strongly suggest you keep the o-rings and at least use a SS wire gauge that sits only a tad 'proud' of the deck surface.

Why? This would replicate a deck without o-rings and give a MLS gasket an excellent perch. Otherwise, if you leave the grooves empty I'm afraid another set of blown-between-the-cylinders gaskets are in your future. JMO but I'd seen enough f...ed up nitro engines with similar blown-gaps to hopefully know what I'm talkin' about!

   

[Bart]

Bart, no pro engine builder here but...

I had earlier commented on how the f... one could torch so many tweeners on even one bank. Now I know how that could have  happened. My words of caution here relate to the o-ringed heads. They allowed the gasses to eat away at the gasket for any number of reasons (head bolts backed off, no retorque...and more).

Point is unless you intend to mill enough off each head to eliminate the grooves, I strongly suggest you keep the o-rings and at least use a SS wire gauge that sits only a tad 'proud' of the deck surface.

Why? This would replicate a deck without o-rings and give a MLS gasket an excellent perch. Otherwise, if you leave the grooves empty I'm afraid another set of blown-between-the-cylinders gaskets are in your future. JMO but I'd seen enough f...ed up nitro engines with similar blown-gaps to hopefully know what I'm talkin' about!

Thank you very much for the input mate, once this is together and back in the car, I definitely DO NOT want to have to touch it again!!!

   

[scott foxwell]

Bart, no pro engine builder here but...

I had earlier commented on how the f... one could torch so many tweeners on even one bank. Now I know how that could have  happened. My words of caution here relate to the o-ringed heads. They allowed the gasses to eat away at the gasket for any number of reasons (head bolts backed off, no retorque...and more).

Point is unless you intend to mill enough off each head to eliminate the grooves, I strongly suggest you keep the o-rings and at least use a SS wire gauge that sits only a tad 'proud' of the deck surface.

Why? This would replicate a deck without o-rings and give a MLS gasket an excellent perch. Otherwise, if you leave the grooves empty I'm afraid another set of blown-between-the-cylinders gaskets are in your future. JMO but I'd seen enough f...ed up nitro engines with similar blown-gaps to hopefully know what I'm talkin' about!

   

Really nothing wrong with leaving the grooves as long as they don't interfere with the fire ring or any particular embossed area. They actually give the gasket something to "bite" into and help keep it form shifting around in extreme conditions, even an MLS. Lot of guys used to do this intentionally, some still do. I wouldn't recommend doing it pro-actively, but I would not surface the heads as much as it would take to get rid of the groove, that's for sure. Especially a cherry set of Cammer heads like these. An MLS gasket absolutely does not want any wire sticking out of the groove, even a few thousandths and you may not have an option as to wire stick-up height...the wire dia. is dictated by the groove width, and how high it sticks up is a function of the groove depth. If it was done right, wire should stick up about 25% of gasket thickness. Some guys will put correct wire in the groove and then surface the heads. If leaving the groove open is not an option, that's the second best thing to do and can be done with copper or stainless wire.

[Bart]

Hey guys, the time has come to purchase pistons and I have just been browsing the Diamond catalogue on-line. They advertise a piston for a 4.250" bore with a 3.784" stroke, which is what I need. They say the "nominal" compression ratio will be 10.8:1, which will suite us fine. Can anybody steer me in the right direction as to where I might be able to purchase these? I live in Australia but have a shipping address in Indianapolis, IN.

Thanks, Bart.

[preaction]

Through Jegs or summit ?

[jayb]

I know that Barry R at Survival Motorsports gets Diamond pistons, so you might try him.  You could probably go direct to Diamond also, maybe send them an email?

[Bart]

Big thanks to Brent for sourcing the pistons for me, thanks mate.

I need to purchase some SOHC specific gaskets, timing cover, backing plate etc. Any leads on where I might source these from?

Thanks

[thatdarncat]

Big thanks to Brent for sourcing the pistons for me, thanks mate.

I need to purchase some SOHC specific gaskets, timing cover, backing plate etc. Any leads on where I might source these from?

Thanks

Precision Oil Pumps has SOHC gasket sets with these unique gaskets. If I remember SCE gaskets came up with a nice reinforced SOHC valve cover gasket, I think Jay was testing a set.

* Edited to add - DSC Motorsports has the gasket sets too. Also as you will see on the Precision Oil Pumps website, they have a lot of the small & misc. SOHC parts too.

[ToddK]

Let me know if you find any SOHC gasket sets available anywhere. I’ve ordered and paid for 2 sets from Precision Oil Pumps last December, still have not received them or heard when they might be available. I’ve also placed an order for some with DCS Motorsports, haven’t had a reply from there either.
I also tried Barry R, but he is also out of stock. So if you do find anywhere that has them, let me know. I’ll send you a PM.

[63gal427]

I've also bought a Cammer gasket set from a well known supplier.  They are quick to get your money on the same day of the order, but give absolutely no indication of when you are going to get the product. There is nothing on the website to indicate if the item is out of stock.
Sent emails and received no reply.
Not happy at all.

[jayb]

I just checked with my supplier for the SOHC gasket sets and he is still making them, lead time about 2 weeks.  I think they are $175 per set.  If anyone wants a set let me know, I will get them here and ready to ship before you pay for them.  I need a couple sets myself, so I will be ordering them soon...

Edit:  Just a note on these gasket sets, they don't include the head gaskets or the oil pan gaskets.  Also I checked on the price and they are $188 per set - Jay

[Bart]

Hi Jay,

I'll take two sets when they are available.

Thanks mate.

[jayb]

OK, I've just ordered the SOHC gasket sets for the folks who have contacted me about them (including you, Bart).  I will let you guys know when I have them on hand - Jay

[Bart]

Thanks Jay, appreciate it

[Leny Mason]

Jay I could use a set to if it is not to late Thanks. Leny Mason

[jayb]

Sorry Leny, they are all sold.

[Leny Mason]

Thanks I would like to buy a set when you can find some. and I got to talk to Hemi Joel today it is a small world. Leny Mason

[BH107]

Leny, we have plenty in stock.

[Bart]

Well, it's sure taken it's time but assembly has finally started. The rotating assembly was extremely pain free, the clearances were all good, gapped the rings and it all went together quite easily. The LeMans rods that were in the engine had worn small end bushes. The owner had a set of NOS LeMans rods in his inventory and for the life of me, I couldn't get on of the original rod bolts out, we had to get it machined out!!! Rods went through normal prep and new ARP rod bolts were installed.
sohc1 by Chunga Gomez, on Flickr

sohc2 by Chunga Gomez, on Flickr

While checking piston to valve clearance I noticed that the primary drive gear on the stub cam had some radial movement. Disassembled the sub cam assembly and found that the woodruff key was worn and the Milodon gear was loosee on the shaft.

sohc3 by Chunga Gomez, on Flickr

I took it to our local machinist and he is going to double key the gear onto the stub cam and make a new hub for the Milodon gear as the hub is removable.

Had to drop the heads and camshafts off to him as the camshafts had no end float. Local camshafts, made by Crow Cams, purchased from Paul Munro while he was a free man.

sohc4 by Chunga Gomez, on Flickr

When I checked the combustion chamber volume, it cam in at 109cc, which is down about 10-11cc according to a post I found from Jay on his forum. This was going to raise the compression a significant amount which would be too much for our crappy fuel. Thick Cometic headgaskets were used to get compression down to 10.7:1.
Heads have been installed as well as the backing plate. Just waiting for stub cam to show up from machinist and the cam timing can be done. Then front cover and sump.

sohc5 by Chunga Gomez, on Flickr

sohc6 by Chunga Gomez, on Flickr

When this engine came into the country in 1980ish it was installed in a 1963 Galaxie. The owner, when he put it in his hot rod, acquired a home made tunnel ram. This was on the engine for quite a while before he put the stock 2X4 back on. He wants the tunnel ram back on, so hopefully it aligns pretty well with the thick headgaskets.

Tell ya what, these things consume some time when you don't build them fairly often!!!!!

Thanks to Brent for the pistons and Jay for the gasket set.

[475fetoploader]

Fun build! American muscle car history!

[ToddK]

Making progress Bart, good work. Interesting use of the Milodon primary timing gear. Do you know what the specs on the Munro cams are? I recall speaking to Paul when asking him about his parts, he said his cams were relatively mild with a power peak under 6000rpm.

Those heads must have been milled a fair bit. The chambers in my iron heads came in at 123cc. Do those heads have a number stamped on them, on the rear end that faces the firewall?

[Bart]

Hey mate, I will get the numbers for you next time I've got the engine unwrapped.

The kit we bought of Paul came with Crow Cams, I've observed at least one of his kits supplied with Comp Cams. Anyway, the cam specs are with our kit which is at the old mans place. Next time I go over I'll pick them up as I obviously need them for this engine. I'll post the specs when I have them in my hands.

[Bart]

Casting numbers on one of the cylinder heads:

sohc7 by Chunga Gomez, on Flickr

Test fitted the intake, fit like a glove, no port matching required:

sohc8 by Chunga Gomez, on Flickr

Went to the parents place today and picked up the cam card for the Crow Cams that were supplied with Pauls kit. They have used the rocker ratio from the wedge engine when calculating the lift, should be 0.558" lift at the valve. They should be adequate for the scope of this this build:

sohc9 by Chunga Gomez, on Flickr

[ToddK]

Thanks for the update. That intake manifold is impressive, what did it start out life as? Does it have a valley plate to go with it?
The cam specs are similar to the cams in my engine, should run well and sound good.

[machoneman]

Nice intake for sure. But why such thick and likely quite heavy base plates for the runners?

[Bart]

The intake was semi finished when it came into the country in the trunk of the Galaxie. I can only assume that the tunnel ram started out life as a Cleveland intake and was modified from there. This is probably why the base plates are so thick, the SOHC is wider than a Cleveland? There is a valley plate for it as well as a copper pipe for the coolant transfer on the front of the intake.

[preaction]

IIRC the rocker ratio for a cammer would be 1.3 not the  1.6 listed in your cam spect sheet.

[Bart]

IIRC the rocker ratio for a cammer would be 1.3 not the  1.6 listed in your cam spect sheet.

You are correct mate, should be 0.558"'lift at the valve.

[Bart]

Received the stub cam back from the machinist. Here's the new hub for the gear and the extra key:

sohc10 by Chunga Gomez, on Flickr

sohc11 by Chunga Gomez, on Flickr

I do have a question I hope someone can help with. The interference fit adjusters in the rockers are very loose, as if they have lost interference. I did some quick hunting on the internet, as Y-blocks and 6 cylinder engines have the same style adjusters. I couldn't find any info on this issue from recent times. All I seemed to find was that Ford used to offer 0.002"oversize adjusters. Anybody have any suggestions on a course of action to rectify the loose adjusters? Here's a picture of them:

sohc13 by Chunga Gomez, on Flickr

[ToddK]

Do the factory rocker adjusters have the elephants foot style bases, that ride on the valve tip? I haven’t seen a factory adjustable rocker up close, mine rockers are the early non-adjustable type. I do know that the T&D rockers for the SOHC have an elephants foot base. Maybe you could source some of those adjusters and fit them to your rockers.

[Bart]

Do the factory rocker adjusters have the elephants foot style bases, that ride on the valve tip? I haven’t seen a factory adjustable rocker up close, mine rockers are the early non-adjustable type. I do know that the T&D rockers for the SOHC have an elephants foot base. Maybe you could source some of those adjusters and fit them to your rockers.

Hey mate, these rockers do have the elephants foot style base that contact the valve. I assume the T&D rockers have a jam nut to lock the adjuster in place and aren't an interference fit type arrangement? If so I could possibly put jam nuts on these adjusters but would probably have to spotface the rocker for the jam nut to locate into. Was hoping we might be able to buy new adjusters or something and keep the interference type operation.

[jayb]

A locknut would be the right solution.  I'd try it without bothering to spotface the rockers, I think they'd still work fine that way.

[cjshaker]

Twice I've used Crane locking nuts without spotfacing the rockers, to fix a loose interference adjuster issue, and both times it worked fine. It was a standard FE and not an SOHC, but that wouldn't make a difference.

[Bart]

Thanks for the help guys. Will look into the Crane locknuts. You wouldn't happen to have a part number for the lock nuts that you used?

[Bart]

Well...…….…… Finally it is together. We ran it on a test stand and I was as nervous as I have ever been in my life. Very relieved that it all went smoothly. No pools of coolant or oil on the ground and scared the crap out of the old mans German Shephard!!
I ended up using jam nuts from the local bolt store on the rockers, thanks for the recommendation of this simple fix. We're taking the up to the owners place next week where he will no doubt get it in the car ASAP. I'll post some pictures and video of it in the car as soon as I can.
Thanks for the help guys.
That coolant pipe on the thermostat housing is off the original Ford intake. The housing is the same bolt pattern as a Windsor I've since found out when we hooked it up to the test stand.

sohc1 by Chunga Gomez, on Flickr

sohc3 by Chunga Gomez, on Flickr

sohc2 by Chunga Gomez, on Flickr

[Bart]

Apologies for the large pictures. Using a different computer, don't know what I've done different. If you click on the pictures it will take you to Flickr where the pictures can be viewed at a more reasonable size.

[ToddK]

Well done. I know how nervous you must have felt. I was nervous as hell when I first fired my engine up, hoping I hadn’t messed up putting together a rare, exotic, 55 year old engine.

[preaction]

Great job Bart !