Which headers?! 71 F100, 302, 3 on the tree

[Florian]

It seems to be 28oz when it has the casting 2M or 2MA on it. 2MAE would be 50oz. Don´t know if that´s right.

[Dragon]

if you can't get the right flywheel, You will be in trouble as a 28 off balance stroker is not going live with the wrong flywheel. Contact Ford at Ford's website ask them what you came with when they used a 28 and what was the casting numbers.

[ScreaminZ]

Thanks guys!

I did also search a bit on the internet, most guys say that early 302s should have 28oz imbalance. Seems to have changed to 50oz somewhen in the early 80s. But I haven´t found a really reliable source for it. I will see if anybody can decode the casting number of my flywheel once I´ve got it back from the machine shop.

When you do get the flywheel back, post a picture of the front side (the side facing the engine). There is a raised section that gives it the imbalance. The size of that area makes it pretty easy to identify.

[Florian]

I hope to have the flywheel back by next week.

I wrote an email to Scat, the crankshaft company, they said I should have the kit balanced. I didn´t have the information that I have got a 28oz imbalance flywheel, when I wrote them for the first time. I just asked them what they think about it with the 28 flywheel. We´ll see what they say.

[Florian]

He already wrote back, he voted for balancing it...maybe just to be on the safe side..don´t know

[Florian]

Alright, I got my block and all the stuff back this week. Here is the flywheel now:

















28oz yes or no?

Thanks!

Florian

[ScreaminZ]

Yes, 28 oz.

[Florian]

Wow! That was fast! Thanks man!

Okay now that is clear, but now I still don´t know what to do. I have got something like 50 percent of guys that say it´s okay when the flywheel is also 28oz, but the other half says balancing is necessary.

[ScreaminZ]

Only the manufacturer can say for sure. More than likely, you'll be just fine to put it together and run it as is. I'm sure there's probably some small benefit to getting it all balanced, but I would assume most of the difference would be noticed at high engine speeds and maybe when trying to squeeze out that last couple of horsepower from the engine.

[Dragon]

A machine shop can test the balance in nothing flat. hat is better than guessing. A 50oz flywheel would eat your motor with balance problems even 2 ozs off would cause problems.

[Florian]

Okay, then I´ll see if I can find a shop that is able to balance it. Don´t want to risk anything.

Thanks guys!

[Florian]

Good news: found a shop that can do the balancing for me They will balance every part individually. Sent all the stuff out yesterday.

I´m ordering parts again right now, and have a question regarding the head gaskets: I can´t use the gaskets that come with the gasket set, because I haven´t got stock bore anymore. So I need new head gaskets for 4.030" bore. But which compressed thickness do I need, there are 0,040" and 0.075"?

Thanks!

Florian

[ScreaminZ]

That all depends on the compression ratio you're looking for. You can get a thicker gasket to lower your compression ratio or the thinner one to raise it. There are numerous compression ratio calculators online. Here's the first one that came up on my search:
http://www.csgnetwork.com/compcalc.html

Just plug in all your info and it will tell you what your compression ratio is at. You can try it with both gasket thicknesses and see which number you like better.

[Florian]

Thanks for your fast reply ScreaminZ!

I don´t know how much deck height I will have, as I haven´t assembled the block yet. Also I don´t know how much piston dome volume my pistons have. But I guess a little higher compression would be better?

I tried the compression ratio calculator with the 0.016" deck height (like it was preset) and no piston head volume. I got 10.47 : 1 for the 0.040" gasket and 9.59 : 1 for the 0.075" gasket.

How much of a difference is it between those two compression ratios?

Thanks!!!

Florian

[Florian]

A stock 302 small block seems to have 9.5 : 1

So the thicker gasket would be roughly like stock and the thinner a bit more.