Hi there, I've got to the stage of stripping the heads etc off my L.O. 1987 5.0l windsor.

The engine came out of a lincoln towncar based limo.

The pistons and bores are in good shape and I'm not planning on a cam swap so heads, water pump and sump off are about as far as I'll go before I slot it in the car (british Ford Capri mk3).

The engine has pistons with a round recess on the crown (low comp?)
As I can't afford new heads just now the originals are going back on-
Can I get them skimmed to raise the compression ratio or is the only option to fit flat top pistons?

Are the heads unleaded fuel friendly?
Here in the UK we have either 95 or 97 octane unleaded but leaded is no longer available. I though that in the US lead was removed from all pump gas by the early eighties but just wanted to check the heads had hardened valve seats to cope with unleaded?

Finally, Since most (even old) UK cars use metric sizes of everything I've had to buy a new set of sockets but I'm having a hard time finding ones bigger than 7/8.
What size socket is needed for the crank pulley nut on the 5.0l?

Whew, that was a mouthfull, sorry for all the dumbass questions but being the only person I know who has ever seen a 302 V8 means I can't exactly call the local garage or any friends (they all drive 4 cylinder crap).

cheers,
Tom
 

I am postive  that the engine ran unleaded gas in 87'. you should be fine  

Yes all Ford heads of the 80's up are no lead heads, hardened seats.

The dish you describe on the pistons, are standard compression. about 9/9.5 :1

Yes you can "skim" the heads, we yanks call it milling the heads. and it should bump compression .25-.5 point.

The crank bolt is a 15/16inch if I recall correctly.  A 24 mm socket should work fine.

Good luck!

Dane V

www.fordautowrecking.com

First, the term "windsor" refers to the 351 cu. in. engines, and basically identifies them as a high deck 302 style block (windsor ). The other 351 is a "cleveland" 339 style block (much different). Now, the American car manufacturers ALL had hardened valve seats by 1973 and unleaded was introduced as early as 1972 and no "leaded" fuels were offered by the end of the seventies. Next, there was an issue with the standard 5.0 litre fuel injected blocks as they were subject to cylinder bore wear and would show considerable "blow by" (leaking compression past the rings) due to a low nickle content in the cast iron block, (mid eighties to early nineties). Compression on these engines fall into the 8-8.5 range. Consequently the 5.0 H.O. engines utilized a high nickle content iron block and were 2-3 times more durable and compression was closer to 9 to 1.  Check the bores for ring wear on your engine. 1995 5.0 trucks (Explorer) had much better designed heads and designed to "swirl flow" the intake charge and had much better breathing over stock and will bolt right on.  

Don't EVER be embarassed by "Dumbass" questions. I've been in automotive for over 35 years and I still learn by asking them.  

Good luck with your Capri, I am a member of a American Capri Club. Primarily for the Euro MkI and II's.  

Sounds like a nice project.

The engine should have a hydraulic roller camshaft.

If you pull the heads and cannot find replacements from another Ford small block, consider unshrouding the valves.  The E6SE heads like those found on the 87 EFI 5.0 are notorious for poor flow due to the shrouding of the valves built into them to get the "swirl" effect.  Decking the heads may offset the work done to unshroud the valves.

Are you keeping the EFI or converting to carburation?

Some people with the EFI 5.0 convert it to HO specs.  They install E7TE heads, the stock HO camshaft, the HO upper intake with the 87-93 throttle body and EGR spacer.  They also run the HO 19 pound injectors and an HO computer.  The only thing that would be different with these parts compared to a real HO engine is the pistons.  The HO pistons were forged aluminum with 4 valve reliefs.  They have the slight dish just like the EFI 5.0 pistons.  The EFI 5.0 pistons are cast aluminum.  Measure piston to valve clearance if you run E7TE heads with an HO camshaft.

You can usually find stock HO parts for little expense in the US because many owners of Mustang 5.0 cars upgrade all those parts to aftermarket and then try to sell the stock parts.

Tom

Many thanks to everybody for the replies. I'm actually converting the motor to use a carb and some species of single wire electronic ignition, so I've scrapped/sold off all the efi stuff, so far I've got a holley contender manifold, still looking for a suitable carb,

If I mill the heads I take it the push rods will have to be changed for shorter ones?- the motor has the unadjustable rockers.

WEll if you are just going to surface the heads , not really cut them for compression you do not need new push rods . There is not enough coming off to worry about it.