The next step for my Windsor – is it the right move?
Hi everyone! This is my first post on these forums so I hope I’ve got the right section. I was wandering whether you Windsor experts could give me your opinions of my planned engine upgrades and whether I’d be better or not doing them!!
I’m in Australia and I’ve got a Ford Fairmont Ghia with an EFI 165kW (when stock) 302 Windsor, nasty E7TE heads and the HO manifold.
I’ve done the following modifications to the car:
intake
GT snorkel
K&N filter
Ram-air tube from lower bumper to air-box
Standard MAF and throttle body (55mm?)
exhaust
Pacemaker extractors
2 ½ “ mandrel bent single cat back with a single Lukey straight through muffler
Standard Y piece and cats.
internal
1.7:1 ratio roller rockers (stock ratio is 1.6:1)
external
Underdrive pulley kit.
I wanted a better sound and better mid / top end performance so my planned upgrades from this point were to be:
intake
home porting of the standard E7 intake ports (incl short side radius, throat, valve guide boss etc) and standard lower HO manifold (esp 1 & 5 runners)
exhaust
home made press-bent twin exhaust with x-pipe and 2 Lukey straight through mufflers.
Home porting of the standard E7 exhaust ports (incl short side radius, throat, valve guide boss etc).
The Problem
Ok I’ve been reading and reading and I’m starting to get concerned about whether or not my soon to be implemented upgrade plans will give me the results that I am after.
When I had the pacemakers put on, I noticed a significant drop in bottom end torque. My peak power increased and my ¼ mile ET and trap speed decreased and increased respectively but I could no longer spin the wheels from idle. I associated this with the loss of back-pressure.
Some of the material I’ve read from the states and some of the posts on www.fordforums.com suggest that I’m already suffering from “exhaust flowing more than cam” syndrome. My questions are as follows.
Is there such a thing and if there is, will the reduction of backpressure that a 7.95sq.in. twin 2 ¼ system will provide over my current 4.91sq.in single 2 ½ result in shifting the power band too high for my stock engine? I’ve read in numerous places that the Xpipe will increase torque, but increase it with respect to what? A single system? A similarly sized H pipe twin system? What part of the rev range experiences this increase?
I was hoping that the head porting would increase my high end pulling power with little or no bottom end effects, am I to believe that my bottom end will drop off more if I port the exhaust ports?
With my engine breathing so well, will my current cam with the 1.7:1 roller rockers be “insufficient”?
Essentially, I was chasing mid to top end improvements which I’m sure I’ll get but I don’t want to compromise bottom end performance much more! What should I expect from these mods? Are they appropriate for an engine running stock internals?
Additionally, whilst I’m at it, what would you recommend regarding compression ratio? I’m happy to always run 98 octane fuel. Should I bother shaving the heads a little? What would I be happy upping the compression ratio to? Can you do this by yourself or is it best to get a work shop to do it? Approximate cost?
If I have to go with a cam to “match” the newly ported heads? What profile should I look at? I’ve researched regrinds recently as some of you may remember and found that it would be costly; requiring new springs and longer pushrods. Presumably I would want a longer duration cam with similar lift to my stock one ( the 1.7:1 rockers increase the std cam lift anyway ). Any thoughts on whether a cam is necessary to avoid murdering my bottom end and if so which cams to look at and the implications of sticking with my standard cam? I do not want to change my computer.
I’ll also clarify my driving style. I have read that my heads and manifold "run out of air" at about 5000 RMP. My engine is an infrequent visitor to that speed but now and then I like to rev her out an most of the time that is done in 1st / 2nd gear for overtaking or on the strip. Certainly the car feels very "sluggish" as it passes 4,000 / 4,500 RPM. My 1/4 times are really good for 60' etc but everything catches me up high and I feel as I just coast over the line maintaining my speed towards the end. This is the symptom I’d like to remove or make better. As far as compromise is concerned, I don’t want to have to take my engine past 2,500 every time I want to make any power – or in other words I don’t want to start to feel sluggish when off the line… that’s not what a V8 is about in my mind. I guess for daily driving the engine operates primarily between idle and 4,000 – occasionally 4,500 and 5,000 even less frequently. This is my definition of “top end” and I’m looking for better breathing and pull from maybe 2,000 to these top end engine speeds. Are my plans in line with this objective?
All of this is a little confusing. I basically don’t want to go ahead with my bigger exhaust and head porting to discover that I’ve lost power over significant parts of the rev range. Am I being overly paranoid? If anyone can help with some of these issues I’d be most grateful!
!Gn|T|0n©®™
Hi everyone! This is my first post on these forums so I hope I’ve got the right section. I was wandering whether you Windsor experts could give me your opinions of my planned engine upgrades and whether I’d be better or not doing them!!
I’m in Australia and I’ve got a Ford Fairmont Ghia with an EFI 165kW (when stock) 302 Windsor, nasty E7TE heads and the HO manifold.
I’ve done the following modifications to the car:
intake
GT snorkel
K&N filter
Ram-air tube from lower bumper to air-box
Standard MAF and throttle body (55mm?)
exhaust
Pacemaker extractors
2 ½ “ mandrel bent single cat back with a single Lukey straight through muffler
Standard Y piece and cats.
internal
1.7:1 ratio roller rockers (stock ratio is 1.6:1)
external
Underdrive pulley kit.
I wanted a better sound and better mid / top end performance so my planned upgrades from this point were to be:
intake
home porting of the standard E7 intake ports (incl short side radius, throat, valve guide boss etc) and standard lower HO manifold (esp 1 & 5 runners)
exhaust
home made press-bent twin exhaust with x-pipe and 2 Lukey straight through mufflers.
Home porting of the standard E7 exhaust ports (incl short side radius, throat, valve guide boss etc).
The Problem
Ok I’ve been reading and reading and I’m starting to get concerned about whether or not my soon to be implemented upgrade plans will give me the results that I am after.
When I had the pacemakers put on, I noticed a significant drop in bottom end torque. My peak power increased and my ¼ mile ET and trap speed decreased and increased respectively but I could no longer spin the wheels from idle. I associated this with the loss of back-pressure.
Some of the material I’ve read from the states and some of the posts on www.fordforums.com suggest that I’m already suffering from “exhaust flowing more than cam” syndrome. My questions are as follows.
Is there such a thing and if there is, will the reduction of backpressure that a 7.95sq.in. twin 2 ¼ system will provide over my current 4.91sq.in single 2 ½ result in shifting the power band too high for my stock engine? I’ve read in numerous places that the Xpipe will increase torque, but increase it with respect to what? A single system? A similarly sized H pipe twin system? What part of the rev range experiences this increase?
I was hoping that the head porting would increase my high end pulling power with little or no bottom end effects, am I to believe that my bottom end will drop off more if I port the exhaust ports?
With my engine breathing so well, will my current cam with the 1.7:1 roller rockers be “insufficient”?
Essentially, I was chasing mid to top end improvements which I’m sure I’ll get but I don’t want to compromise bottom end performance much more! What should I expect from these mods? Are they appropriate for an engine running stock internals?
Additionally, whilst I’m at it, what would you recommend regarding compression ratio? I’m happy to always run 98 octane fuel. Should I bother shaving the heads a little? What would I be happy upping the compression ratio to? Can you do this by yourself or is it best to get a work shop to do it? Approximate cost?
If I have to go with a cam to “match” the newly ported heads? What profile should I look at? I’ve researched regrinds recently as some of you may remember and found that it would be costly; requiring new springs and longer pushrods. Presumably I would want a longer duration cam with similar lift to my stock one ( the 1.7:1 rockers increase the std cam lift anyway ). Any thoughts on whether a cam is necessary to avoid murdering my bottom end and if so which cams to look at and the implications of sticking with my standard cam? I do not want to change my computer.
I’ll also clarify my driving style. I have read that my heads and manifold "run out of air" at about 5000 RMP. My engine is an infrequent visitor to that speed but now and then I like to rev her out an most of the time that is done in 1st / 2nd gear for overtaking or on the strip. Certainly the car feels very "sluggish" as it passes 4,000 / 4,500 RPM. My 1/4 times are really good for 60' etc but everything catches me up high and I feel as I just coast over the line maintaining my speed towards the end. This is the symptom I’d like to remove or make better. As far as compromise is concerned, I don’t want to have to take my engine past 2,500 every time I want to make any power – or in other words I don’t want to start to feel sluggish when off the line… that’s not what a V8 is about in my mind. I guess for daily driving the engine operates primarily between idle and 4,000 – occasionally 4,500 and 5,000 even less frequently. This is my definition of “top end” and I’m looking for better breathing and pull from maybe 2,000 to these top end engine speeds. Are my plans in line with this objective?
All of this is a little confusing. I basically don’t want to go ahead with my bigger exhaust and head porting to discover that I’ve lost power over significant parts of the rev range. Am I being overly paranoid? If anyone can help with some of these issues I’d be most grateful!
!Gn|T|0n©®™
