Souther Automotive Engine Question

[pgermond]

I have a 406 from Bill at S.A. I have about 250 miles on the engine and it's running beautifully (aka - like a gorilla!), and I am very pleased with it. I've been under and over the car snugging everything up - exhaust manifold, oil pan, etc. Here's my question -

Have any of you re-torqued your head bolts and, if so, was it necessary? I have heads aluminum, and I know with the expansion/contraction re-tightening is required (particularly with the exhaust manifold bolts 'cause they loosened up). But the head bolts?

I'm re-e-eally not interested in lifting the rocker arm assembly to do this if it's not necessary, nor am I looking forward to having to figure out how to get to #8 bolt (bottom rear) with the space (none!) allowed with the foot box :(

Thanks in advance for your input.

Phil

427 Roadster, #4279436
Southern Automotive FE
3:31 and Toploader

Roseville (N.Cal)

[Brent]

It is a good idea to re-torque after the engine gets to operating temp a couple of times. If your motor was seated on the dyno Bill has probably already done it.

Give him a call.

Brent

[WBofTN]

Phil:
I checked the torqued my heads after 1,000 miles, and the head bolts did
not budge.
WB

'93 Unique 427/351W/4sp

[weaver]

I have never been told by Bill that the heads need to be re-torqued, I would call him first before I did.

Alan

[eliminator]

You do not need to re-torque your head bolts, once they are put on and the head bolts allowed to stretch and then torqued again thats it. You will find that after 3 or 4 cycles of torqueing the header bolts they will be set and you can just check them once or twice a year. With cast iron heads that dosn't hold true, check and tighten them all the time. Be carefull with the oil pan you need to snug it down good and keep on doing it but all it takes is a 1/4" drive and tighten from the center out. Too much is not a good thing and you will create a leak. If you have bolts or better studs in your valve train you can re-torque them or check them.

Eliminator

[pgermond]

Thanks guys - that's what I was hoping to hear. To be safe I'll give SA a call, but it sounds like it is unanimous [^]

Phil

427 Roadster, #4279436
Southern Automotive FE
3:31 and Toploader

Roseville (N.Cal)

[Brent]

If Bill used Felpro:

"When a head gasket is installed between the cylinder head and engine block, tightening the head bolts compresses the gasket slightly allowing the soft facing material on the gasket to conform to the small irregularities on the head and block deck surfaces. This allows the gasket to "cold seal" so it won't leak coolant before the engine is started.

The head gasket's ability to achieve a positive cold seal as well as to maintain a long-lasting leak-free seal depends on two things: its own ability to retain torque over time (which depends on the design of the gasket and the materials used in its construction), and the clamping force applied by the head bolts.

Fel-Pro "PermaTorque®" head gaskets are made with top quality materials and designed to remain resilient so they retain torque. That's why retorquing isn't necessary (some competitive head gaskets that are claimed to be "no retorque" can lose as much as 50 to 60% of their original torque after only 100 hours of service!). But even the best head gasket won't hold and maintain a tight seal if the head bolts have not been properly torqued. The amount of torque that's applied to the bolts as well as the order in which the bolts are tightened determine how the clamping force is distributed across the surface of the gasket. If one area of the gasket is under high clamping force while another area is not, it may allow the gasket to leak at the weakly clamped point. So the head bolts must all be tightened in a specified sequence and equally torqued to a specified value to assure the best possible seal."

From the Federal Mogul website

Brent

[pgermond]

I spoke with Lewis this morning at S.A. As usual, I'm worrying about something that I can check off the list - no need to re-torque the head bolts.......... but, better safe than sorry :D

Thanks - I appreciate everyones input on this topic.

Phil

427 Roadster, #4279436
Southern Automotive FE
3:31 and Toploader

Roseville (N.Cal)

[glenn]

Phil,
As usual you come up with good questions to be answered.Mine isn't on the road yet, but getting there slowly.Glad to hear you have the same engine i do from SA.I'am curious to hear details as to how it preforms.Whats the running temperature? Anything that i can compare when i get Mine on the road.
Thanks Glenn

[pgermond]

Glenn,
While it is not a true "427", this engine has met (if not exceeded) my expectations. For the most part, a tap on the accelerator is enough to pin you to the seat and roll your eyelids back. I wish I could make my wife scream as often as this engine does! I haven't yet really popped the secondaries to see what its full potential is, as I am still getting use to the car and breaking the engine in. What I can tell you is to routinely check the oil pan, carb, and header bolts. I've reseated the header bolts, as they had loosened up after 100 miles. Checked them again last night at 250 mi) and they are still snug. The oil pan is a different story - so far, every time I have checked them they have required about at 1/4 turn - but no leaks.

Funny thing is, as awesome as this engine is, I'm envious of Brent's Webers and am considering a change to increase power even though it isn't lacking....... go figure!?! My wife says "it's a guy thing" :D[^]:D




Phil

427 Roadster, #4279436
Southern Automotive FE
3:31 and Toploader

Roseville (N.Cal)

[eliminator]

The biggest improvement you guys can do with any S.A. single four FE is modify the existing 3310 Holley[^]. First of all you need a 1/2" phenolic spacer under it for heat control, get the open body one. Then buy the Proform Body from Jegs or Summit Racing, about 100.00 and easy to install. This will do away with the choke and improve the airflow, they say about 20HP increase. You need to install a quick change secondary vacume kit, made by Holley and get rid of the Silver Spring and put a lighter Yellow spring in the vacume operated secondaries. Re-Jet the Carburetor and you will notice a BIG improvement for the money spent:D:D. Total investment $150.00-$160.00. It will make the 750 flow like the older 780 cfm 3310's. If you engine is tuned correctly you don't need a choke, in 40 degree weather mine will fire up after 3 strokes of the gas peddle and let it run at about 1200-1500 RPM for a couple of minutes and it will idle just fine. One thing on any engine don't start them cold a pop the throttle[V], especially an FE unless you want to twist off the oil pump drive:(, at the distributor that's only 1/4" hex shaft.

Eliminatorhttp://www.uniquecobra.com/uploaded/eliminator/Proform.gif

[GeorgiaSnake]

Be careful with the oil pan bolts - a nitwit tightened mine to the point of making it leak. All is well now that Bill installed a new gasket.

Good advice on checking all of the bolts on the entire car. I have found many loose and lost a few.

Randy

Unique 289 FIA
Southern Automotive 396
Team III 16's
Brilliant Silver

[pgermond]

Hey Eliminator,
Thanks for the tip!

Phil

427 Roadster, #4279436
Southern Automotive FE
3:31 and Toploader

Roseville (N.Cal)