heads?
- Thread starter daviszx3
- Start date
Strippt88
New Member
Yeah, in 87 they started using the E7's, flow a LOT better than the 86's- they're cheap to buy now, and ported(like mine, Thumpers) run great, almost like the aluminum jobbies you might spend twice as much for. Depends on what you want the car to do, of course.
I never understood what the purpose of E6s were. E5s (which came on, duh, the '85) were essentially identical to the E7s (not even worth swapping IMO) but they threw the '86 scraps...crappy heads, crappy cam, crappy intake.
Strippt88
New Member
I'd hafta check my books, I think they just wanted the injection on the street, they were already a couple years behind the Tuned Port stuff you could already get on an IROC in 85, and the E6's didn't match up right to the runners, if memory serves. So they mish-mashed the thing together til the 87's came out. But those 86's were not good, an 85 would eat 'em up.
Vinnietbird
Member
- Jun 2, 2005
- 584
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The cam in the '86 is a good one.The '86 has forged flat top pistons as well.No valve reliefs at all.I am running this engine with ported E-7 heads and an E303 cam (and more).Just grab some heads from an EFI 5.0 pickup.Same E-7 heads,and super cheap.
I've often wondered if the '86 pistons have enough material to cut some decent valve reliefs in them. If so, they would make some nice budget pistons since they're flat tops and would bump compression a tad.
Strippt88
New Member
See, I answered my question by reading more- you have converted to mass air! I was just going to ask how the E cam works with the speed density, TMoss says its good, just don't advance it, but before i do it, I wanted first hand input. I'm gonna hafta look, the 86 cam was different from the 87-88's, huh? That'd work with speed density- not that I'm addicted to the idea of losing my stock 88 cam, but I am keeping the speed density- I doing the whole "stock parts" thing!
Strippt88
New Member
E6SE heads were meant to decrease emissions.
The '86 cam is the same as '85 (4V only) and '87-late '88.
E5AE heads (Mustang) were not the same as E5TE heads (truck). E5TE were similar to E7TE. E5AE were NOT similar to E7TE.
'86 HP = 200 (210 for '85 4V), '86 torque = 285 (270 for '85 4V)
The '86 cam is the same as '85 (4V only) and '87-late '88.
E5AE heads (Mustang) were not the same as E5TE heads (truck). E5TE were similar to E7TE. E5AE were NOT similar to E7TE.
'86 HP = 200 (210 for '85 4V), '86 torque = 285 (270 for '85 4V)
There seems to be a lot of misconceptions about the '86 cars, so I always take the opportunity to defend the E6's...
The E6 head was a high swirl, shrouded valve head designed to improve combustion efficiency and reduce emissions. It was a well designed head, but because of the increased valve shrouding, it does not flow well above ~4500RPM. This head went into service on other Ford V8s even though the 87 and later Mustang did not use it. The runner design on the E6 heads was not a "mismatch", and in fact, the only reason it flows less than the E7 is because of the valve shrouding, not some awkward runner shape.
On the street (and I have said this many times), the '86 GT was actually the fastest 0-60 car of any other Fox car (aside from the Cobra). Look it up, I'm not BS'ing here. The improved combustion efficiency made for a broad mid-range torque curve, so in stock form, the E6 cars held their own. In the 1/4 mile, most performance reports only claimed the '86 as being a couple tenths slower than the 87. IIRC, the '85 cars were slower than both, but I can't verify that right now.
The cam in the '86 was actually one of the better cams in the Fox cars. Because of emissions reasons, the cam profiles got somewhat less aggressive into the 90's, and is one of the reasons the later 5.0 cars eventually got down rated to 205HP.
Like you said, 85_SS_302_Coupe, another factor for the lower HP ratings on the '86 cars is that they came with a slightly smaller TB and smaller-runner upper intake plenum. Its an easy switch to '87-up standards, and I'm sure accounts for a chunk of that extra 25HP the '87 cars had.
Disclaimer: I'm not promoting the E6 heads as good candidates for performance builds. They aren't. I just don't like it when people give the '86 a bad rep!
Strippt88
New Member
There seems to be a lot of misconceptions about the '86 cars, so I always take the opportunity to defend the E6's...
The E6 head was a high swirl, shrouded valve head designed to improve combustion efficiency and reduce emissions. It was a well designed head, but because of the increased valve shrouding, it does not flow well above ~4500RPM. This head went into service on other Ford V8s even though the 87 and later Mustang did not use it. The runner design on the E6 heads was not a "mismatch", and in fact, the only reason it flows less than the E7 is because of the valve shrouding, not some awkward runner shape.
On the street (and I have said this many times), the '86 GT was actually the fastest 0-60 car of any other Fox car (aside from the Cobra). Look it up, I'm not BS'ing here. The improved combustion efficiency made for a broad mid-range torque curve, so in stock form, the E6 cars held their own. In the 1/4 mile, most performance reports only claimed the '86 as being a couple tenths slower than the 87. IIRC, the '85 cars were slower than both, but I can't verify that right now.
The cam in the '86 was actually one of the better cams in the Fox cars. Because of emissions reasons, the cam profiles got somewhat less aggressive into the 90's, and is one of the reasons the later 5.0 cars eventually got down rated to 205HP.
Like you said, 85_SS_302_Coupe, another factor for the lower HP ratings on the '86 cars is that they came with a slightly smaller TB and smaller-runner upper intake plenum. Its an easy switch to '87-up standards, and I'm sure accounts for a chunk of that extra 25HP the '87 cars had.
Disclaimer: I'm not promoting the E6 heads as good candidates for performance builds. They aren't. I just don't like it when people give the '86 a bad rep!
See, cool, I'm not sure where my books are, its like 60 degrees, here in Chicago, first time in months, so I ain't finding them now
! Glad one of the brothers has some better info- from what i could recollect, on the street back then, my buddys 86 ran good, better than some newer ones-this one guy's 85 was some sort of terrorist, though. I wasn't sure about the differences in the head, I knew the E7 were cleaned up some, but, well, I'm no machinist. That smaller throttle body definitely choked it, though. When I get to the build portion of the stripptmobile, think I'm keeping a stock cam(its an 88) they were a little hotter than the newer ones, but won't mess with my speed density. True nuff, after like 89/90, the newer the Fox got, the tamer they got, by 93, we all thought there was something wrong with them(private owners fixed soma that!) I &%#*ing loved my 86!
Cobra_Dusten
Member
for those that havent seen them, here are pics of E6 combustion chambers(i have a pair in the my garage.)
View attachment 271927
View attachment 271927
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