STEEL HEAD GASKETS

Ted (11/22/2025)

DANIEL TINDER (11/22/2025)

Ted, I apologize if this has come up previously (memory failing), but this thread has me thinking:
Stroked/honed 292, non-posted G heads (chambers matched, cleaned up .005), Best gaskets, milled deck with pistons level, Isky E4 cam timed zero.
Aside from ignition advance & 93 pump fuel considerations, what issues might emerge in a street/driver car? Would an alum. flywheel be thus more problematic?

Daniel. While you do not give the particulars on how much bore and stroke increase you have, it’s difficult to get in trouble with the compression ratio on the Ford Y when using iron heads. For the math, I used a 0.060” over bore, a 312 crankshaft with the pistons at zero deck, and the E4 camshaft installed straight up (zero advance or retard). You said a 0.005” mill on the heads, so I used 68cc for the combustion chamber value without any other information to go by.

http://forums.y-blocksforever.com/uploads/images/433a326e-0c01-4a63-a200-05f4.jpg

With these values, I do not see any issues at all with your basic combination. The engine may see a slight hesitation right off of idle with the camshaft at 108° intake lobe centerline depending upon the carburetor. Loosening up the lash some more can help with that. Carb adjustments would include a richer idle circuit and potentially more pump shot from the accelerator pump.

Aluminum or lighter than stock flywheels can make the car difficult to drive in stop and go situations. Aluminum flywheels work well for something like a circle tracker but not so much for a daily driver and/or a drag car where getting the car moving from a dead stop is more important. As a general rule, the flywheel weight for a street driven car needs to be at least 1% of the cars weight. Trucks will use even heavier flywheels to keep the engine from pulling down excessively when engaging the clutch from a complete stop.

Thanks Ted. Your estimations are likely right on. Was just concerned by the high static comp., but hadn’t realized how much lower the dynamic would be.
Bought the alum. flywheel assuming quicker revs would enhance highway performance, but didn’t consider the overall driveability penalty reality (any circle trackers out there interested?).

6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA

Author	Message
Ted	Posted Last Month
Co-Administrator Group: Administrators Last Active: 11 hours ago Posts: 7.5K, Visits: 205.8K	55blacktie (11/23/2025) Hesitation off idle more/less likely with narrower/wider LSA, generally speaking? That’s a ‘Yes’ in that narrowing the lobe centerline angle on the camshaft can create some lean and hesitation issues. That’s simply due to the overlap between the intake and exhaust valves increasing as the lobe centerline decreases and that will have a negative effect on the manifold vacuum at idle. Intake manifold design becomes a significant player in all of this. The use of a true dual plane intake is worth as much as a 1½” Hg increase in manifold vacuum versus what you would see with a dual plane intake with a notch in the plenum divider or a single plane intake. The carburetor signal at idle relies on the manifold vacuum so anything you can do to increase that manifold vacuum will help low end performance. Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)
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DANIEL TINDER	Posted Last Month
Supercharged Group: Forum Members Last Active: 5 hours ago Posts: 1.7K, Visits: 154.2K	Ted (11/22/2025) DANIEL TINDER (11/22/2025) Ted, I apologize if this has come up previously (memory failing), but this thread has me thinking: Stroked/honed 292, non-posted G heads (chambers matched, cleaned up .005), Best gaskets, milled deck with pistons level, Isky E4 cam timed zero. Aside from ignition advance & 93 pump fuel considerations, what issues might emerge in a street/driver car? Would an alum. flywheel be thus more problematic? Daniel. While you do not give the particulars on how much bore and stroke increase you have, it’s difficult to get in trouble with the compression ratio on the Ford Y when using iron heads. For the math, I used a 0.060” over bore, a 312 crankshaft with the pistons at zero deck, and the E4 camshaft installed straight up (zero advance or retard). You said a 0.005” mill on the heads, so I used 68cc for the combustion chamber value without any other information to go by. With these values, I do not see any issues at all with your basic combination. The engine may see a slight hesitation right off of idle with the camshaft at 108° intake lobe centerline depending upon the carburetor. Loosening up the lash some more can help with that. Carb adjustments would include a richer idle circuit and potentially more pump shot from the accelerator pump. Aluminum or lighter than stock flywheels can make the car difficult to drive in stop and go situations. Aluminum flywheels work well for something like a circle tracker but not so much for a daily driver and/or a drag car where getting the car moving from a dead stop is more important. As a general rule, the flywheel weight for a street driven car needs to be at least 1% of the cars weight. Trucks will use even heavier flywheels to keep the engine from pulling down excessively when engaging the clutch from a complete stop. Thanks Ted. Your estimations are likely right on. Was just concerned by the high static comp., but hadn’t realized how much lower the dynamic would be. Bought the alum. flywheel assuming quicker revs would enhance highway performance, but didn’t consider the overall driveability penalty reality (any circle trackers out there interested?). 6 VOLTS/POS. GRD. NW INDIANA
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55blacktie	Posted Last Month
Supercharged Group: Forum Members Last Active: Yesterday Posts: 1.2K, Visits: 1.8K	Even if you can live with an aluminum flywheel on the street, how long will it last?
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STEEL HEAD GASKETS

STEEL HEAD GASKETS

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