Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums  

I tried the fancy FMS valve cover fasteners on my 302 aluminum valve covers, they are a pain in the ass!  They constantly come loose and leak oil.  This time, I am leaving the studs in the heads and just using vinyl lined lock nuts.  The load spreaders do not work work with this design of valve cover, maybe the stamped steel valve covers. 

Good luck with that nice cat!!

Well here is some of the things i would do. Clean and chase all bolt holes. Make sure the mating surfaces are clean and slightly ruffed up. Just something i do i never use the front and rear lower intake gaskets. I use silicone. The sock gaskets just do not make it. Also use fast tack to secure the manifold side rails to the head. And when cleaning up the intake surface of the head be sure not to break the retaining tabs that hold the intake side gaskets. Just a tip!!

I tried the fancy FMS valve cover fasteners on my 302 aluminum valve covers, they are a pain in the ass!  They constantly come loose and leak oil.  This time, I am leaving the studs in the heads and just using vinyl lined lock nuts.  The load spreaders do not work work with this design of valve cover, maybe the stamped steel valve covers. 

Good luck with that nice cat!!

You can also use studs in the lower as i do. just a thought. I just assumed he was doing the lower. If just the upper that job takes about 30 minutes wearing boxing gloves!!

I guess you can't go wrong with doing it that way.  Are you using just 1/4-20 nuts from the hardware store? Or did you get them from an auto store? Because I looked (quickly) and didn't see any with the vinyl lined lock nuts from auto stores.

Thanks again for all the help guys!

Well here is some of the things i would do. Clean and chase all bolt holes. Make sure the mating surfaces are clean and slightly ruffed up. Just something i do i never use the front and rear lower intake gaskets. I use silicone. The sock gaskets just do not make it. Also use fast tack to secure the manifold side rails to the head. And when cleaning up the intake surface of the head be sure not to break the retaining tabs that hold the intake side gaskets. Just a tip!!

This is all great info nobody thinks about mentioning. It makes me question something though. Are we pulling both the upper and lower intake? As far as I know, there is no difference in the lower intake on the Mustang and the one on the Cat. I would just leave the lower alone. If you do pull it, I would line the lifter valley with rags while cleaning the gasket surfaces. Keep the debris out of the engine. Just don't forget to remove the rags before assembly!

X2 on the lowers being the same...

If the stang lower came with fuel injectors, there 19# and will not run with the stock s.o. computer that is tuned for 14#ers.

An h.o. upgrade isn't much more then heads intake and cam. You could probably get away with stock exhaust and upgrade to duals later down the road. Stock parts are cheap.

I was reading about the HO upgrade on coolcats. I plan on doing this in the future. I'm slowly getting the parts together. I just wanted to do these few things with the parts I have for now. I also already installed Shorty headers(a pain getting the bolts in right) and the BBK 2.5" X-pipe (No cat-back for now)

Do you have an HO upper/lower?