ford fe intake-head valve cover tolerance

[wrench87]

does any one know what the tolerance is for the valve cover rail i have around .045 difference in the rear and a little less in the front. what is the proper way to machine is there a formular on how much to cut?.

[Mr Jody]

The article in the link below specifies that 0.015” and greater mismatch of the rails requires machining of the intake-to-head surface of the intake. It doesn’t address machining the bottom of the intake, but keep in mind this may be required also to keep the intake-to-block mating from holding the intake off of the heads . Take a look at the picture that precedes this one also for more intake installation tips.
http://www.carcraft.com/techarticles.../photo_16.html

Steve Christ’s “How to Rebuild Big Block Ford Engines” specifies that if the block-to-head mating surface of either the block or heads have been machined more than 0.020”, the intake will require machining on the head and block mating surfaces (pg. 101), and has a table for how much to remove from each manifold surface based on head or block machining (pg. 102). If you don’t already have this book, it is well worth it just for the wealth of information on the FE engine, even for someone never planning on rebuilding their own (Book ISBN: 0895860708).

[FWB]

Originally Posted by wrench87

does any one know what the tolerance is for the valve cover rail i have around .045 difference in the rear and a little less in the front. what is the proper way to machine is there a formular on how much to cut?.

aftermarket heads? what intake is it? does the intake stick up over the heads or visa-versa.

[wrench87]

i am using edelbrock heads and a edelbrock rpm intake

[FWB]

best case is to try another intake and see if it fits the same. if it does then i would skim the intake mounting surface of the head to make them true. hopefully the heads aren't torqued yet. if you don't have another intake to try then measure on the head from the dowel pin counterbore to the intake mounting surface and compare the front measurement to the rear if they are the same then machine the intake. if they are out more than .005 then skim the head. i had a .05 difference from front to rear on my edel. heads. i skimmed them square and intake fits beautifully.

fred

[FWB]

while your at it make sure you don't have any pushrod rubbing issues.

[Barry_R]

Much more that .01 will cause leakage problems. I have "crutched" bad assemblies by modifying cork valve cover gaskets - sanding a "step" into them to match the intake/head offset.