bad bad luck..need opinions/help

hey everyone, about a month ago i bought my 1st SC. i put it on the road for a day and the trans went, 936 later im up and running. the cam sensor was bad and i had no tach and hard starting. last week i changed my thermostat because the old one was stuck closed. well it happened again and i got another, chalkin it up to a bad stant p.o.s. so im driving today and it startted to overheat. i kept the tools in my trunk to take the therm out. so i did and the car was running in the middle of temp gauge. i realized something was really really really wrong when that started happening. then, in the rearview, i saw the white smoke of death. (as i have seen it called on these forums). i realized that my dipstick broke off also, probably around 3 inches of it. i guess im gonna have to fish it out of the oil pan...the oil is still clean, the gasket broke and the coolant is pissing into the cylinder. hopefully thats the best possible outcome.. now, my questions..
1. which brand or type of head gasket would be recommended
2. anything which i should look out for or do while im in there?
3. any tips or tricks for doin this job? i have done alot of HG but im not gonna lie the supercoupe engine intimidates me..

thanks for all the help and advice in advance, i just need some reassurance/help.

jpw2009 said:

1. which brand or type of head gasket would be recommended
2. anything which i should look out for or do while im in there?
3. any tips or tricks for doin this job? i have done alot of HG but im not gonna lie the supercoupe engine intimidates me..

thanks for all the help and advice in advance, i just need some reassurance/help.

Click to expand...

1. Fel Pro ... Standard is okay if you arent doing anything special or MLS if you need extra peace of mind ( more cost )
2. ARP head studs ..
3. After you take off all of the supercharger stuff off the top, its just like any other 3.8 V6 engine, no intimidation necessary.


- Dan

thanks dan, im gonna look into the MLS. i just feel intimidated due to being so used to workin on late 80s 5.0s for the last 3 years that tearing into this kinda scares me. i think im gonna gasket match the heads. any suggestions on rockers or new pushrods? or wil the old stuff be good if it isnt worn,broken, or damaged in any way?

jeez, your public profile says the stang gave you problems, welcome to the SC dilemma. I have a love/hate relationship with my SC also. Your Sc have any mods? I am in north jersey also, 07075. check out my member's page for info.

im in north north north nj, 07435. jefferson, about 20 miles away from paterson,passaic, clifton.my last stang was a lemon,totally. its a 91 bone stock minus the k&n panel filter. it is a great car drives good and all but this headgasket stuff sucks big time. well, if all goes well and as planned, which we all know it wont, if i have the heads off by sunday night, ill have them back tues morning and ill have it running by tues night/weds morning. well,we'll see how it goes.

pat i just read your post, i didnt know you were so close, your about 30 mins away from me..

I would go MLS but block deck and head surface must be a certain smoothness...deck is probably okay but heads may need resurfacing

also check heads for cracks......make sure you change oil too

are you planning to mod your SC? that will determine what he should do when you get the heads off. The bottom end should hold up to a little blower OD and maybe look into porting the exhaust manifolds while you have them off...and of coarse cam and some head work would be nice

dont let the sc intimidate you, its really a pussy cat. easy to work on once you get the hang of it. although it might make you take out a 2nd mortgage.

list what hp range your looking for and many people in here can tell you what to get and do to achieve it.

Sorry for your bad luck man, I had 2 SC's, sold 1. These cars will kill ya; when they start pitching fits, your in for a ride to hell. BTW.... have you had your turn with the teves II brake system yet ? As I look into the crystal ball, I see front wheel bearing, fuel pump, DIS module, IAC, TPS, the rad going south.......etc,etc. If I wanted to take the time, I could take out my file and review all the other expenses, not today. One might think I'm pissing and moaning, not so, I actually like these cars. They are a bit different though. Keep your CC handy, your factory Ford shop manual , headache meds, and most importantly your patience and sense of humor. Best of luck.

thanks everyone for all your help. i look at it like this, if i can get the heads of by tomorrow night, in the shop by mon morning to get pressure checked and resurfaced, gaskets by tues running by tues night/weds. i wanna keep it close to stock, prob up to 300hp would be nice, im on a budget. its a daily driver, so i wanna keep some aspect of reliablity. i modded the hell outta my stang pushin like 300/360 respectibly and it became such a headache i almost offed myself. these cars are quite awesome, i had to replaced the brake actuator and it made me want to blow my brains out. a few more questions..

the car has head studs stock right? not bolts?

is there anyway i can port out the intake manifold? i did it on my stang with the gt40p qith some success.

how about porting the blower?

gasket match heads deff.

would porting the exhaust the same thing?

what about heat wrap for the E.M?

jpw2009 said:

thanks everyone for all your help. i look at it like this, if i can get the heads of by tomorrow night, in the shop by mon morning to get pressure checked and resurfaced, gaskets by tues running by tues night/weds. i wanna keep it close to stock, prob up to 300hp would be nice, im on a budget. its a daily driver, so i wanna keep some aspect of reliablity. i modded the hell outta my stang pushin like 300/360 respectibly and it became such a headache i almost offed myself. these cars are quite awesome, i had to replaced the brake actuator and it made me want to blow my brains out. a few more questions..

the car has head studs stock right? not bolts?

is there anyway i can port out the intake manifold? i did it on my stang with the gt40p qith some success.

how about porting the blower?

gasket match heads deff.

would porting the exhaust the same thing?

what about heat wrap for the E.M?

Click to expand...

the stock sc motor has head bolts, switch them to arp studs.

yes, porting the blower helps some so long as you do it correctly.

porting the exhaust does help but its not as good as getting headers.

heat wrap always helps. make sure to use good stuff though, and use clamps to ensure it doesnt come off.

No one yet has proven that headers are better than ported stock manifolds on these cars. There's been cars in this club running over 400rwhp on stock manifolds with no issues, so that should be considered the last thing you do if you have a lot of other work and go fast parts to get.

In fact, use that money towards getting yourself a cam and some "PROPER" head work done.

Forget about the heat wrap... its not going to make any difference and from my reading actually can lead to problems, especially with cast manifolds, with cracking and warping.

Fraser

I would (which is a bit of what everyone is saying)

Get ARP head studs for a 2.8 chevy v6 not an SC(no head studs stock)
Use standard felpro gaskets. They are good enough and no issues.

Use any money you plan on putting into the car at the moment into getting your heads checked and a good valve job and new springs. DO gasket matching on the intake side..Be careful on the exhaust

Get a small cam.

If you dont have look for a 94/95 blower. EVen stock I believe its an upgrade over a ported early model. But if it's a budget thing port teh early one

Port stock manifolds...As had been said put your monney elswhere.

ALSO...If you want to wait a bit. I will hav ea set of heads (fully ported with stock size valves, new springs) and a cam that has made 316rwhp with a 94/95 blower. Likely $600 you pay shipping. There are Morana stage 3 heads and his B cam

i got everything apart today, the machine shop is gonna go through the heads tomorrow. i have a queastion, when i took the blower off, when the pully moved it was like the screws on the inside werent like "hard mounted" to the pully, it was like almost rubber mounted or i dont even know how to explain it. when i spun the pully it was like the screws didnt spin at the same rate right off the bat..is this screwed up? this is my 1st forced induction car so im in a whole new world...

THANKS!

If you stick your hand into the rotor pack, then turn the blower pulley, you should feel the pulley spring a little bit....

If so, you have a spring mounted coupler inside the blower snout....

im from lyndhurst nj but currently in ca till may when my contract is up

ok thank god. so is that a good thing or a bad thing? i thought it was screwed up.

edit- another quick question..do i need to loosen up the rocker arms to get to the head bolts that are between the valves? or is there anything else i can do to get to them?

Remove rockers s they will have to come off anyway. And the SC as had been said has a spring loaed coupler. Thats what your feeling

i swear i dont know what i would do without you guys...thanks for all the support!

Did you get her running?

i started it 4 mins ago...it was like the gasket was still blown. it was smoking alot..it didnt get any better the 5 mins i ran it. when i revved it it ran good. no cel or anything. .is it just the antifreeze that is remaining in the exhaust? or is something messed up..i feel like im gonna cry right now.. i hope this is normal. i didnt run it longer in fear of my neighbors but i just pray this is normal. and that once the antifreeze in the exhaust burns out it will be good. i dropped like 500 in parts and i cant afford not having a car..god help me...