[brainsboy]

1969 351w
pro topline aluminum 215cc heads


Originally my motor ran great, then slowly started running bad over time, after checking rockers, plugs, carb , timing and everything I found that some on the intake bolts were loose. So I tighten them back to 20ftpds and it would run fine for a few days then act up again. Eventually it stripped the bolts out of the head, but only from one side, which seemed weird. Fords use 5/16 intake bolts so instead of helicoils i just drilled and tapped out to 3/8 inch and ran studs. Put it back together and after a few days started running bad again, i was sure it wasnt the intake since the top wasnt leaking so went through checking everything else with no luck. With no more options I pulled the intake again and discovered the thing was leaking from the under side. Put in new gaskets and over torqued it down to 30 ftpd's.... runs like a top now with no problems. Seems to me the heads were milled at the wrong angle or a few degree's off, what do you guys think? I'm not sure if a machine shop can mill that side of the head since they have a ridge that the valvecover sits on. Maybe the intake could be milled to adjust for the heads being wrong.

[machine shop tom]

Yes, they can be milled on the intake side. You can use an end mill or a shell mill cutter. The hard part is determining the exact amount needed and you have to remember that the heads will be one-off afterward.

tom