Cylinder Head Swap

I broke three bolts when removing the exhaust manifold to install the header that I got from Terry. I decided to remove the head and drill out the broken bolts. The worn out rockers and shaft was almost as stubborn as the exhaust manifold to remove. When Terry called to ask me how the header is going I explained the problem with the bolts and he said come get the head that the header was attached to.

The head was from an 80's Mustang that was rebuilt less than 2000 miles ago and was milled .070 to make the compression ratio closer to 9.2 using today's thicker replacement head gasket, whereas the factory had it around 8.0. It also had a new rocker shaft and rockers installed along with stainless steel exhaust valves. Terry also gave me a new gasket kit to install the head. Since the head has been sitting for a few years I went ahead and replaced the valve seals before installing the head on my Maverick.

Couple good things about stepping up to a later model head are the bigger intake valves, 1.75" verses 1.65" and larger intake log, 1345 cc verses 1240 cc.

The non-adjustable rocker shaft was replaced with the pre '64 adjustable rockers since the shaved head was pushing the limit on the factory length pushrods. This required 1/4" shorter Ball/Cup style pushrod to be used. I also used harden washers under the head bolts to keep the bolts from bottoming out and help spread the load. I had to go back and add a little extra clearance to the baffle in the valve cover.