Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Modifications 3.0L Duratec Parts needed for rebuilding a 3.0L Cylinder Head

Okay guys,

in preperation for building my 3.0L engine, I will need to form a list of allll the parts necessary to rebuild the cylinder heads, including the valve train of course. I will be using custom camshafts and I want to replace the valvetrain with all new parts. Here is a partial list of items I can buy brand new from FordPartsOnline.com... I am assuming I will need 24 of each part, since I have 24 valves.... tell me if I am wrong and what I am missing:


Valve Keeper
Valve Retainer
Valve Seals
Valve Spring Retainers
Valve Springs
Rocker Arms

also need 12 Intake Valves and 12 Exhaust Valves

(although I might see how much it will cost me to have 12 32mm exhaust valves made for me to fit the car, or try to find 32mm valves I can buy that will fit this car already.)

I will of course buy the correct tools to do the job and follow the instructions off my Ford CD-ROM Manual..... Also, will I or should I be able to re-use the Camshaft Timing gears on the new custom cams? I guess they just need to make the part the gears connect to the proper size.

Any pointers would be much appreciated....


Thanks,

Nikolas

The 32mm valves should serve you well. I ran computer simulations on the valve sizes that I used in my heads and it seemed to give me pretty accurate estimates of torqe and HP.
I ran the simulations with 32mm valves and it seems that the high RPM breathing would definitely be improved though it may lose a little torque below 2000 rpm. However, you should still be making more torque below 2000 rpm than the stock 2.5L so you won't notice any problems.

I think the intake and exhaust valves are the same material, so you may be able to use the intakes from the 2.5L as your new exhaust valves. Check with a machine shop to be sure.
Then all you would need to buy are 35mm intakes from the taurus duratech.
The valve springs, seals (which includes the valve seat as the assembly), keepers, etc. are the same on the 2.5L or 3L. The valve stem diameters and lengths are the same. Therefore you can use all of your 2.5L stuff.
If you want to use new cams, all you would need to buy are the roller finger followers, though I would tell you that and engine isn't fully broke in until maybe 20K miles. That information comes from oil testing reports that tell how much metal is found in the oil. For the engines that were tested in the report I read, the levels of metal in the oil don't start dropping off until around 20K miles. THis is an old report however, so newer tests may vary.

If you still want to buy new valvetrain components other than the roller followers, then bear in mind that there are two keepers per valve, so 48 would be required. They may sell them as a pair however, so you should check on that.

Good Luck,

warmonger

Tom,


Shouldnt I be concerned with using valvetrain components from my 2.5L since it will have over 50,000 miles on it by then?

Also, I didnt see roller finger followers listed on their site or in their diagram of the heads. I wonder where I can find the part number for those. How many would I need of those, 24, one for each valve?

So the trick is to use the 32mm Intake Valves from the 2.5L as exhaust valves on the 3.0L I will definitely look into that as it wont cost me any extra money to buy one set of valves over another. Well worth it in my opinion....

Between You, Brad, and Terry, I am getting tons of info...this will make the job so much easier for me. Thanks alot, and keep it coming!!!


Nikolas

THis is gonna be short, because I have to go to class now.

Make sure you check that the intake and exhuast valves are the same material..should be, but I don't want that on my conscience.

As far as 50K miles, The only parts moving in contact with the others is the cam, roller followers, and the pivot studs. I measured my cams and valves at 49K, and they showed no wear out to 3 decimal places on the micrometer.
The machine shop confirmed all this as well.

If your car was maintenanced well and the measurements are good, I would use all the parts over as long as you use the same cams. There should also be no wear on the valves either.
Just get new ford valve seals.

Later,

warmonger

Does anyone else know if there is a part number for the roller finger followers? I dont even see that part in the diagram of a cylinder head, just rocker arms.....

Looks like i can just re-use most of the parts, just get some new valve seals for sure. What about pivot studs..I dont see those listed as well in the diagram....If someone knows how many of those I would need and their part number, please let me know....

Thanks again,


Nikolas

The rocker arms ARE the roller finger followers. Just a different name.

Use your same cams and you don't have to buy anything but new valve seals.

I got my valve seals from for about $1.50 each.

warmonger

To put it in perspective, save whatever money you can. Don't do shortcuts when it comes to durability though. Using the same valvetrain components on an engine with only 50K on it is no problem, especially when these engines can go 200k without valve work.

The verdict: I did my whole engine swap for $1,750 in parts and machine shop costs.
Pretty good for 217 wheel HP.
Of course I did all the other work myself, but why spend money when you don't need to. Spend the $50 on a micrometer and measure stuff...it'll save money in the long run.

warmonger

Tom,

after getting home last night and checking out the Ford CD, i saw that on the CD they call them roller finger followers, whereas at the online store they call them rocker arms....same darn thing..... thats cool though..


Yeah, the valve seals are pretty cheap. When I get the heads shipped to me, I am going to take the cams down to Crower (about 1 1/2 hour drive) and see what they can do as a re-grind. I guess they hook it up to a machine and it tells them how it is cut now, and then what kind of room they have to work with. I wonder what everyone thinks about the stock cams being used in an engine that has some pretty agressive head work done. I dont know if the stock cam grind is good enough to allow the ported and polished heads to flow to their potential. But maybe like you said, upgrading the exhaust valves to 32mm will help anyways.

What is the consensus about using the Tri-Metal bearings on a 3.0L buildup? Is it really necessary? I can save $600 by not using them. I dont plan on running boost on the engine or NOS or revving the crap out of it either (unless I get some hot cams that will move the "peak" power point out to 7000rpm), so maybe I can keep the stock bearings. I would like some opinions on that.

Right now Im gonna spend more money on paying someone to install the engine, LSD, flywheel, and clutch than than I will on the actual cost of the engine and most of the parts. I dont have the knowledge or the tools necessary to install an engine and all the other stuff. But after waying the costs of building up an engine to support boost for a turbo application, the 3.0L comes out ahead in terms of value.....

Nikolas

Hope you marked the followers,lash adjusters with the cylinder and position they came from re the cams you are using...if not it could rattle like hell!!!!

Nikolas,

If you run the chance of spinning a bearing, which the stock lower end does, it will cost a hell of a lot more to fix than $600. So, you need to ask yourself ... spend $600 now or run the risk of spending much more later. I would opt to invest in piece of mind and get the tri-metal bearings for the rods. The main cap bearings are the same IIRC. Or, you could get the cheaper more fail safe piece of mind of an Acupump Oiling system, or both. Otherwise, you still run the risk of spinning a bearing depending on your driving style. I know that I drive the piss out of whatever I get (poor Escort), so if I where doing this, I would buy all my insurance up front so to speak.

Also, unless you add a spacer between the UIM and LIM, the UIM for the 2.5L heads will not fit the 3.0 because the 3.0 Valve cover will get in the way. So, you must either have a custom spacer machined or you must modify either the 2.5L UIM, or use the 3.0 UIM & LIM and get a hood buldge/scoop fitted because the entire 3.0 longblock will not fit because the UIM will hit the hood about 1-2 inches from closing. I would opt for a rebuilt 3.0 Longblock with a nice hood scoop ... this will help keep the heads cool, just have to accomodate for water pooling in the spark plug gallies because this will cause them to rust in place. By scoop I mean Impreza sytle hood scoop to cover the hole you are going to have to cut into the hood to accomodate the 3.0 UIM.