Trick Flow heads question....

[gcomfx.com]

I just dropped the engine in the car. Found a few issues.

First off the accessory bracket bolt doesn't fit one hole in the front of the heads. Is there some kind of adapter I can get? The hole looks like a 5/8 and I have a 7/16 bolt. I checked locally and I couldn't find anything.

Also, did you plug the smog hole on the back of the heads? I looked in there, the hole goes all the way through to the front, but I see NO openings for smog exhaust. So what would be the point of capping the back? It should help keep heat from being trapped in the head right?

 

[Grn92LX]

You need the adapter plugs. They should come in the box with the heads.

 

[gcomfx.com]

No plugs in the box...

Do you have a part number? So I can call Summit?

Also what about blocking the rear holes? It's not really needed is it?

 

[ronburgundy]

yes you need to block them or they will dump exhaust at the firewall.

 

[gcomfx.com]

But that's the thing. Where would the exhaust come from? You can see straight through the head. It's just a hole drilled straight through (like a tube) that goes from one side to the other. Three people looked at it... there aren't any visible openings in the tube section at all.

 

[Redsnk95]

You can get cylinder head plugs from the Ford dealership.

 

[gcomfx.com]

Update: Summit was no help. Talked to TrickFlow, they said two of the plugs should have been in the heads already. They were not. So they are sending them. I went ahead and bought two more to fill the back of the heads anyway. I still don't think I need them but it doesn't matter at this point.

Either way Part #: TFS-51400265 is what adapts the 5/8 hole to a 7/16 thread for our accessory brackets. He said it can ALSO be used to cap the rear smog ports. So I have 4 on the way.

 

[miller92063]

If you don't plug the holes it WILL dump exhaust into the bay . Tried it with the front holes, smoke came out of them

 

[bimmertech]

If you don't plug the holes it WILL dump exhaust into the bay . Tried it with the front holes, smoke came out of them

the holes are for the A.I.R. system and the reason they are on both the front and the back is because heads are interchangeable.

if you do not plug the holes it will leak exhaust---very badly.

i use bmw spark plugs to cap the holes in the rear--i break the ceramic off of course. i really don't like the adaptors to use as plugs cuz i find it hard to keep them tight.

 

[gcomfx.com]

Well, they will be capped. I just don't know where the exhaust could come from. Must be some tiny holes in there somewhere. Like I said, I had a few friends look in there while it was on the engine stand. Didn't see any openings.

 

[bimmertech]

do you remember removing that big crossover tube on the back of your stock heads? that tube attaches to the AIR(smog) pump and injects air into the exhaust(via passages in the head) to heat the cats up faster for emmissions reasons.

therefore if you do not cap those off the exhaust will come out of those internal passages in the head.

 

[gcomfx.com]

I remember perfectly... and I could see the passages in the head on the stock ones. I could NOT see them in the aluminum heads. Just a drilled out "Tube shape if you will" running through the head. Since mine had ZERO plugs from TF in them. I got a really good look through them. We all talked about how strange it was... and that it could have been just to bolt the SMOG on to it, even though it didn't function.

Kinda like my Cobra intake. The EGR would bolt on.... but the lower intake didn't have a passage open in the center of the intake. The upper to lower gasket would get a ton of crude built up on it because it was blocked off.

 

[yellow1995Cobra]

Did you get the emmisions legal heads or no? Thats what will tell you if you need to plug them or not..

 

[gcomfx.com]

Good point....

TFS 51400004 is the part number According to their page, they are all emission legal. Like I said, I'm going to cap them. Just didn't see anything in there I was capping it from.

Actually thought it might help keep them cooler if I didn't cap them IF no exhaust would come out of them.

 

[blksn955.o]

KIND of a stupid question?

Did you maybe put the heads on backwards? On the heads I have messed with, one has had a thread and the other end does not. The end of the head with the threads goes to the brackets and the one without the threads goes to the smog A.I.R. crossover tube. The reason ther are no threads on the crossover tube side is they are held on with a small-er bolt next to that hole.

I did this once on a head and noticed right before I did the final trq. (no heat cycle) and had to pull the head to put it on the other side (so the threaded hole would be in front).

Just something to check.

 

[gcomfx.com]

They are threaded at both ends... :wink:

 

[final5-0]

Well ... It kinda depends on how you look at it

With most of the sbf heads I've seen

There is no right or left head
hence
No forwards or backwards

Now ... I agree about what Greg was pointing out here

Say you had a set of sbf heads that had already been setup with the
accessories thread insert reducer thingie you need in one head

You could end up having that thingie on the wrong side
and
Pointing toward the firewall just as he pointed out above

Hey ... You got a 50 - 50 chance of NOT hosing up here

Grady

 

[blksn955.o]

My heads are factory gt40's off a 1995 cobra, that is how they were, same thing with my buddies 87 GT when we did a head pull and (he tried his hand at porting) from a poped HG.

When I asked the wifes uncle (top Ford sr. master tech at his ford dealership) he said all factory iron 5.0 heads are like that and double check, that was right as I was going around starting the final tq sequence and .

There is no right or left just make sure the threaded hole is at the front so in a retarded way it kinda makes the heads right or left. I dont know about the TFS alum. heads but my buddies AFR185's IIRC were only threaded on one end. Since TFS said they should be installed already it just seems since your having a issue it might be on the wrong way.

Take a smaller bolt and stick it in the back of the head (hole pointing to the FW) and see if you can "feel" the threads back there using the smaller bolt to catch the threads and drag across them if they are there. It seems either way the heads have to come off either to be flipped, sent back, or at least to get a better angle to install the threaded insert.

 

[gcomfx.com]

They are threaded on both ends... TF is sending me 4 of the adapters... two to use as plugs, two to use for the accessory brackets. TF rep even said they could be swapped around, wouldn't matter since I didn't have ANY plugs in mine.

Thanks to Bimmertech's post, I'll use Locktite on the plugs.

I didn't put the engine together. My engine builder basically built me a crate engine.