Porting the Edelbrocks...Heads and Lower Intake

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Porting the Edelbrocks...Heads and Lower Intake

August 17, 2012, 07:55:34 PM

I am having a guy in Arkansas port my Edelbrock Performer RPM (2.20/1.60) heads and the Edelbrock Performer RPM II lower intake for the new 331 in my Coupe. I bought the heads used and basically stole them from the guy but he named his price. I took them to the gentleman that does all my machine work up in Norman, OK and we decided to strip them down to just the castings and install all new valve train. The new valve train consists of Isky 8005 springs, Manley titanium retainers & keepers, Manley severe duty valves, new ARP rocker studs (the old ones were about a 1/4" too short), and some Crane Cams aluminum full roller rockers. I also got a set of stud girdles with the heads so the top end is rock solid. The heads have been the choke point on the car since I built the last 306 so with the 331 and Ed Curtis cam I decided to bite the bullet and port all of this. I took pictures of the before and will post the after here in a couple of weeks.

Lower Intake:

Head:

Hopefully with the additional cubes and the higher flowing upper end this one will hit the 400+ rwhp mark.

Darren

Porting the Edelbrocks...Heads and Lower Intake

Reply #1 – August 17, 2012, 08:56:47 PM

Seems like I read on this forum awhile back that Crane's rockers are junk...?

Porting the Edelbrocks...Heads and Lower Intake

Reply #2 – August 17, 2012, 10:11:47 PM

Crane makes the Ford Racing roller rockers, like the Cobra roller rockers and the blue ones.. They also make the pro-form rockers believe it or not.

Porting the Edelbrocks...Heads and Lower Intake

Reply #3 – August 17, 2012, 10:26:13 PM

Ahhh. There was a fella...maybe you, Vinnie, who had a set of some brand rockers, they went bad, and ruined an engine. Then it seemed like quite a few 5.0 guys with those same rockers had engine failures...

Porting the Edelbrocks...Heads and Lower Intake

Reply #4 – August 17, 2012, 10:59:56 PM

They are the Crane Energizer roller rockers. They have been on two motors now and still work flawlessly which is why they will be on the 331. I have the Comp Cams Magnum roller rockers on 351W in the Bird and they are IMO a better rocker arm but its like comparing a Chevette to a Chevelle. I am a Comp guy but the Cranes came with the heads when I bought them so the price was right. On a street based car they work fine but its when someone ups the anti and tries to use them out of their designed range is when the failures happen. The Isky springs are 135 lbs seat pressure and 395 lbs open pressure so well within the design of the Crane units.

http://www.cranecams.com/314-315.pdf

Anyhow, this thread was more of a show and tell with a before and after comparison of the heads being ported. A discussion on roller rocker strengths and application is a whole other thread, anyway that is how I see it.

Darren

Porting the Edelbrocks...Heads and Lower Intake

Reply #5 – August 17, 2012, 11:40:36 PM

Nice!

Porting the Edelbrocks...Heads and Lower Intake

Reply #6 – August 18, 2012, 10:36:29 AM

Quote from: Aerocoupe;396220

well within the design of the Crane units.

Right on.

Quote from: Aerocoupe;396220

Anyhow, this thread was more of a show and tell with a before and after comparison of the heads being ported. A discussion on roller rocker strengths and application is a whole other thread, anyway that is how I see it. Darren

Absolutely, you're the boss. more pics! :)

Porting the Edelbrocks...Heads and Lower Intake

Reply #7 – August 18, 2012, 10:49:10 AM

Quote from: ThunderbirdSport302;396218

Ahhh. There was a fella...maybe you, Vinnie, who had a set of some brand rockers, they went bad, and ruined an engine. Then it seemed like quite a few 5.0 guys with those same rockers had engine failures...

None of my rockers went bad. I got a set of Scorpions one time (used) and one was cracked, but they replaced it for free. I've never had an issue with Crane. Works well for the Cobras. Back to our scheduled thread.

Porting the Edelbrocks...Heads and Lower Intake

Reply #8 – December 03, 2012, 10:54:25 PM

Well three months later and I am finally getting back to this. I have some before and after pics but I really wish I would have cleaned up the exhaust ports so you can see how much work was done in the bowl area and blending it into the port. Anyhow, the short block is finally assembled and I had more issues with this one than any of the past ones combined but its my first 331 build.

Ported Intake Port Pics:

Ported Exhaust Pics:

Darren

Porting the Edelbrocks...Heads and Lower Intake

Reply #9 – December 04, 2012, 03:14:09 PM

Ooohh purdy!

Porting the Edelbrocks...Heads and Lower Intake

Reply #10 – December 05, 2012, 08:50:10 AM

Wow! That sure should make a big difference! An early Christmas present. So, when are you going to put them to work? I want to know what you think!

Porting the Edelbrocks...Heads and Lower Intake

Reply #11 – December 09, 2012, 10:20:28 PM

Funny you should ask...I have been putting the 331 together over the last week. Its a slow process but have to work to keep the lights on in the garage. I even had two ballasts blow out last night so I had to run to Home Depot and do some electrical work as well. The ballasts were Chinese made junk and the lights always hummed, installed some GE brand ballasts and now the light output is much better and no annoying hum. Anyhow, back to the motor build:

Short Block
- The block is a stock 1987 5.0 roller unit that has been line honed, torque plate bored, decked, and squared (old F-150 motor that I snagged for $50, actually got two for that price)
- Crank is a Scat cast nodular steel unit
- Probe Street Fighter main girdle
- Eagle rods with ARP bolts
- Probe SRS full floating pistons w/ Mahle rings
- Clevite 77 bearings on the mains and rods
- Blue printed Melling oil pump set at 70 psig
- Melling hardened oil pump shaft
- FTI custom ground camshaft
- Comp Cams double roller timing chain
- New Pioneer timing chain cover (got it at O'Reillys and it is for an F-150 pickup)
- Ford Racing water pump (made in China...:wtf:)

Typically with rods that use bolts you do not have to notch the cylinder walls but with the larger Eagle rods every one had to be notched. I also had to have a buddy machine the cam plate to recess it for the machine screws required by the Comp Cams cam gear. It has a bearing on the back of it so you cannot have bolt heads sticking up. As for the Pioneer timing chain cover, typically on the cars Ford installed a timing chain cover that was for a water pump with clock wise rotation. The serpentine belts cars rotate in reverse which makes the ports on them 180 degrees out. The Pioneer timing chain cover for a late F-150 solves that problem but I there was some flashing that had to be removed. Here a are a couple of shots of the short block:

Remember to check piston to valve clearance:

After the short block was put together it was time to install the cylinder heads, Canton pan and pick up tube, and then the valve train.

Long Block
- Edelbrock Performer RPM heads (ported) with guide plates
- Manley Sever Duty SS 2.02" intake and 1.60" exhaust valves
- Manley titanium retainers and keepers
- Isky 8005A valve springs
- ARP rocker arm studs (factory studs were 1/4" too short)
- Fel-Pro 1011-2 head gaskets
- ARP head studs
- Crane Energizer 1.6:1 roller rockers
- Ford Motorsport roller lifters
- Ford Motorsport hardened push rods
- Jomar Pro-Model rocker arm stud girdles w/ARP poly lock rocker arm nuts

Here is a shot of the heads installed:

Here are a couple of shots with the timing set installed, modified water pump, and the timing cover & water pump installed:

The guy that I sold the old 306 short block to was putting a Canton road race pan on it so I left my old pick up tube on it as it had to be modified for the DSS main girdle which is really thick due to it being aluminum. He gave me his new pick up tube so I had to clay it to make sure I had enough clearance. Without the pan gasket it had right at 3/8" of an inch so with the pan gasket it has over 3/8" which according to a couple of engine builders is good to go. Here is a shot of the bottom end with the girdle and pick up tube installed and a couple with the pan on:

And the last shots are the valve train installed (the gold pieces are the Jomar's):

That's as far I have made it to this evening. Still have valve covers, lower intake, distributor, headers, starter, harmonic balancer, flywheel, clutch set, and bell housing to install before I put it in the car. I am taking the week of Christmas off on vacation so I am hoping to get it started, tagged, tuned, and then inspected...its never ending.

Darren

Porting the Edelbrocks...Heads and Lower Intake

Reply #12 – December 09, 2012, 10:57:37 PM

, that looks good! The port work on the heads is awesome!

Porting the Edelbrocks...Heads and Lower Intake

Reply #13 – December 09, 2012, 11:59:19 PM

Looks great :). Maybe one day I'll get my Performers ported out. At that point I might as well pull the engine and stroke it like you did :D.

I'm surprised the FRPP water pump is made in China now. When I bought mine 5 years ago it was a made in America re-boxed Motorcraft part. They even just slapped a FRPP sticker right over the Motorcraft sticker on the box.

Porting the Edelbrocks...Heads and Lower Intake

Reply #14 – December 10, 2012, 11:59:34 AM

Yeah, I was a little shocked about the water pump but not really. Guess I will be buying an Edelbrock water pump next time as they are made in the USA. They are not cheap but they flow a lot more water.

The guess from a couple of guys is the car should put down around 400 rwhp. I am a bit skeptic about that and I would prefer more area under the curve than a peaker anyhow. Hopefully the torque will be up there as well as that is what gets the car out of the corners anyhow.

Darren