Project "Autonomous" F-350

[VroomSIX]

If you have gone this far you should REALLY consider upgrading the head with some P&P work, bowl blending, bigger valves, and possibly some SBC roller rockers. These old Ford I6 motors have the most to gain from head modifications, since they are really restricted stock. Also, those cast pistons are prone to cracking if you crank up the power too much. You have the right idea as far as exhaust goes as that's another area of heavy restriction. Anyone getting 17-20mpg must be coasting downhill with a tailwind! Especially with a rig as heavy as yours, those numbers are dreamland at best. Realistically with a rig as big as yours I'd expect 10-12mpg max. To move a all that weight you need TORQUE. Really, a 300 six would have been a better starting point for your application and intended use.

Sorry, don't mean to be a downer, just my personal experience with these engines. They are indeed FANTASTIC truck motors.

Either way, awesome build!

 

[pappawheely]

If you have gone this far you should REALLY consider upgrading the head with some P&P work, bowl blending, bigger valves, and possibly some SBC roller rockers. These old Ford I6 motors have the most to gain from head modifications, since they are really restricted stock. Also, those cast pistons are prone to cracking if you crank up the power too much. You have the right idea as far as exhaust goes as that's another area of heavy restriction. Anyone getting 17-20mpg must be coasting downhill with a tailwind! Especially with a rig as heavy as yours, those numbers are dreamland at best. Realistically with a rig as big as yours I'd expect 10-12mpg max. To move a all that weight you need TORQUE. Really, a 300 six would have been a better starting point for your application and intended use.

Sorry, don't mean to be a downer, just my personal experience with these engines. They are indeed FANTASTIC truck motors.

Either way, awesome build!

I can't argue with anything you said. When I drive my F350 with 460, I find myself hyper-miling so that practice would continue with the I6. Once in 4wd, the gearing will get me anywhere I need to go. I would not consider this motor in the F350, I hope the F250 is a little lighter. I will have to be very cautious about adding weight to the truck. If you have any info on roller rockers, I've been trying to find out what's available but have not had much success. I read that the 1.6 ratio will cause the push rods to rub on the head. When I put roller rockers on my chevy 350, the idle went up 300 rpm. I would like to reduce all the friction on the 223. The car headers came in today. They look like they will fit much better. I need to put them in the blast cabinet so I can coat them in a high temp coating that STEEL-IT sent me for testing.

 

[VroomSIX]

If you get the head machined and rebuilt by a good macine shop they can set you up with the roller rockers and anything else you might need.

Comp cams makes a good kit for upgraded stock rockers here if you want to go the semi-stock route.

That Steel-It stuff looks pretty amazing!

 

[pappawheely]

If you get the head machined and rebuilt by a good macine shop they can set you up with the roller rockers and anything else you might need.

Comp cams makes a good kit for upgraded stock rockers here if you want to go the semi-stock route.

That Steel-It stuff looks pretty amazing!

The 223 has shaft mounted rockers but that shouldn't be too hard to find. I have not found a direct application, but I did find some info about Y-block roller rockers being used.



I put STEEL-IT on just about everything. I love the color, and the stainless steel microflakes make it very durable. It also will show cracks, and you can weld directly to it, no grinding needed. It's pretty amazing stuff.

 

[Chorky]

I'm assuming its just a pain type product? Does it work for hi temps? I thought you put some on the exhaust right? But just wondering long term durability. I wish I would have done something different for my engine. Some of the paint is already coming off and it was a high temp too...

 

[pappawheely]

I'm assuming its just a pain type product? Does it work for hi temps? I thought you put some on the exhaust right? But just wondering long term durability. I wish I would have done something different for my engine. Some of the paint is already coming off and it was a high temp too...

The STEEL-IT in a can that I use works for typical engine temps. I put it on the water pump on the F350 and it's still perfect. I plan on painting the engine, and transmission; anything that is cast iron. The stuff that I will be putting on my headers is different. It's made by the same STEEL-IT brand, but it's for higher temps, (1200) degrees.

 

[pappawheely]

The struggle is real. FedX dropped off my fuel pump last night sometime and I didn't discover it until this morning. A mouse must have thought there was something good inside because it chewed through the envelope, box, and took a few bites out of the gaskets. Gaskets for 1950's oil pumps don't grow on trees. Melling still makes the pump so maybe they can help me.

 

[java]

You have got to be **************** me.... Thats a new one.

 

[VroomSIX]

The 223 has shaft mounted rockers but that shouldn't be too hard to find. I have not found a direct application, but I did find some info about Y-block roller rockers being used.

View attachment 459341

I put STEEL-IT on just about everything. I love the color, and the stainless steel microflakes make it very durable. It also will show cracks, and you can weld directly to it, no grinding needed. It's pretty amazing stuff.

View attachment 459343

I was under the impression all Ford six heads were interchangeable with minor mods. The small six head is often swapped onto the big six for an easy bump up in compression. That slight raise in compression will definitely help with producing more torque. The later big six heads are fast burn for efficiency and don't have much meat on them to remove, and the last ones have ports for an air-injection system that's tied into the emissions system making them even harder to work on. I know bowl blending vs just regular porting is what really makes the difference with these heads. I'll dig into my saved tabs later but I'm pretty sure I have a link to the rockers. They will need custom pushrods too, but that's no biggie.

Gonna order some of that Steel-IT stuff. I can think of a few places I can use it on my rig.

Bummer about the gaskets turning into mouse food. Those little buggers will eat anything. You can always just buy a roll of high quality gasket material and cut them yourself using the older ones as a template if you can't locate new ones. I once cut up a gasket for my motorcycle's case cover out of a Bud-Light 12 pack box. It was a temporary fix while I waited on back ordered gaskets. By the time I finally got the real gaskets I realized the beer case gaskets never leaked a drop!

EDIT: So turns out I was wrong about 223-300 six head compatibility, and you are on the right track Pappawheely. The 240 and 300 heads are compatible but not the 223 head. The shaft mounted rockers are indeed unique to that design. The head work should still be a universal improvement. My apologies for the confusion. I know you are going for overall reliability and usability in an overland rig, so maybe a few breathing mods should do you well for what you are trying to achieve.

 

[pappawheely]

I'm no expert at porting combustion chambers. I will do a port match and call it a day. I ordered a punch kit to cut holes and will be getting some gasket material so I can make my own. It probably won't be the last gasket I will need to make. Another thing I am looking at is making a windage tray for the oil pan. Anything I can do to squeeze out more horsepower.

 

[VroomSIX]

I'm no expert at porting combustion chambers. I will do a port match and call it a day. I ordered a punch kit to cut holes and will be getting some gasket material so I can make my own. It probably won't be the last gasket I will need to make. Another thing I am looking at is making a windage tray for the oil pan. Anything I can do to squeeze out more horsepower.

View attachment 459549

Sounds good. Are you planning on pulling the head and doing a new head gasket? Might be worth it to just take it to a local machine shop and have them skim a bit off the head for a small compression bump. I wish I would have had that punch set when I made my gasket.! All I had was patience and an exacto-knife! Probably a good investment. The windage tray idea sounds spot on. Everything helps!

 

[pappawheely]

Sounds good. Are you planning on pulling the head and doing a new head gasket? Might be worth it to just take it to a local machine shop and have them skim a bit off the head for a small compression bump. I wish I would have had that punch set when I made my gasket.! All I had was patience and an exacto-knife! Probably a good investment. The windage tray idea sounds spot on. Everything helps!

I can see that the motor has the old style steel head gasket. I have learned that the steel gaskets are no longer available. If I pull the head, I will have no choice but to go with a composite head gasket that is thicker. That would force me to have the head surfaced just to maintain the current compression ratio. I'm afraid that if I pull the head I will fall into the rabbit hole and do a full rebuild which I don't really want to do right now.

 

[VroomSIX]

I can see that the motor has the old style steel head gasket. I have learned that the steel gaskets are no longer available. If I pull the head, I will have no choice but to go with a composite head gasket that is thicker. That would force me to have the head surfaced just to maintain the current compression ratio. I'm afraid that if I pull the head I will fall into the rabbit hole and do a full rebuild which I don't really want to do right now.

Gotcha, yea you can definitely end up opening a can of worms unnecessarily. I agree that's it'll be a safer bet to just leave well alone. The exhaust and breathing mods alone should wake it up a bit. Gearing should take care of the rest.

 

[pappawheely]

I shot an install at Max Trac yesterday and then got to go testing. I was impressed with the JL. It crawled some steep slippery dirt with no lockers. The kit was shocks and springs and clears 37's.

 

[VroomSIX]

I'm hearing the new Wrangler is a really impressive bit of kit. How's the ol' Six turning out?