Fast351Back

I decided to tear into my 66 C code 4v, C4 can't find 3 rd gear, smoking mess of a stock 289.
Lack of late night thing to do. I bought it about 2 years ago and all the seller could tell me was it had an engine rebuild and now is a 302. About 2000 miles down the road the left engine bank starts smoking, black and gets worse at higher RPM. Then the C4 likes to stay in 2 gear. I just put it in the shop and covered it up. Now I am tearing it down, after taking pictures at every step. I did a good compression test and found all readings were between 125 and 140 psi. I repeated the test twice with same results. Lower readings from the left bank headers and H pipe but you can still tell smoking from that side is much worse. So, I am now looking at the heads, which are correct for the car 66, build date in early 1966 and 289 stamped on both heads. The heads look ok but there is a little to much play in the valves and one appears a little bent. The intake is stock for a 4v casting # indicates it probably came off a 289 0r 302 in 66 or 67 model year. Question, should I replace the heads with Procomp aluminum 175cc heads or rebuilt heads similar to the ones I have. The Procomp is tempting priced at $600.00 a pair bolt on.
I guess I need to to get the intake of and pull the heads to look at the valves. But the Procomp heads are on sale now! I have a replacement for the tranny and plan to pull the whole thing at the same time. Any advise is greatly appreciated!! Pictures to follow........

Soaring

I think you mean "A" code 4V. The C code is a 2v engine. Obviously, with the compression readings, you are OK on the bottom half. And, I think you are dead on with suspicion of the heads, valves, guides, etc. $600 for a set of 175cc aluminum heads is an incredible price. Research those heads to see about the quality, and if they are par, then jump on them. AFR heads are much more than that.

Acorn

I have a stock 289 and it smokes after a rebuild (the camshaft was out of a 302!). My friendly neighborhood mechanic is thinking that it has the wrong headers.
Can I ask what the die casted ID on yours are?

Thank you. Matt

jeffro22

i have seen post from other users of the procomp heads and while not the best head out there, for the money they aren't bad. most seemed to be pretty happy with them

JMD

Wow,,, that is an old thread,,, I scrolled down and saw Soarings post,,, thought Isaw a ghost..

Smoke after a rebuild does not indicate "wrong heads" (or wrong headers), on a small block FordIMO (I am assuming small block). Smoke comes in three basic varieties,,,,

Black (usually too much gas)
White (blown head gasket or cracked head)
Blue (burning engine oil)

Let us know what kind of smoke you are seeing....

Starfury

Issues with the valves/seats would show up on the compression test. Especially with the rpm-dependant smoke, it sounds suspiciously like a valve guide problem.

I'm not really a fan of rebuilding stock heads (pre-87 sbf heads have horrible exhaust ports) so I thinkaftermarket heads would be a good idea at this point. The catch is you're going to need to find some heads with combustion chambers as small as you can to cut down on compression drop. You're likely going to have some drop in compression with any heads when compared to the stock heads, but the increasedflow-rate should make up for it as long as it's not too drastic of a drop.

jeffro22

wow, this is old..who dug this one up?