Ford Stock-Block Stroker Engine Swap Part 1

With the Professional Products SFI damper installed, we set the engine to top dead center on the No. 1 piston.

When installing cylinder heads, the locating dowels are always an issue. Trick Flow now offers its own (PN TFS-51400420), and the beefy continuous tube design will keep your cylinder heads properly located and prevent them from moving around on the deck far better than the thin stock pieces. They're sold in sets of four.

Using a Trick Flow engine gasket kit (PN TFS-5140E913), we installed the cylinder heads. ARP head bolts were used in this build, though Trick Flow recommends using ARP studs. The bolts were torqued in increments of 55, 65, and 70 lb-ft.

We installed the Trick Flow 6.700-inch pushrods and aluminum rocker arms (PN TFS-51400520). The rocker arms feature a 1.6:1 ratio and are 7/16-inch stud-mount units. We rotated the engine over and as the exhaust valve opens, we adjust the intake rocker. As the intake valve closes, we adjust the exhaust valve. The rockers were set at zero lash, followed by one-half turn of the nut.

Finished for now, our little stroker that could is slated for the engine dyno next. We'll follow that performance with chassis dyno and track numbers in an upcoming issue.

Using the pushrod length checker will give you a measurement, and while you can eyeball the rocker tip placement on the valve, it's a good idea to turn the motor over and verify how the rocker is working the valve tip. We slipped a piece of paper between the valve tip and rocker and turned the engine over a few rotations. Here, you can make out the circle of the valve tip and note that the rocker is riding right in the center of the circle. This is optimal. If the paper gets cut anywhere around the edge of the circle, or if the roller tip line is not in the center, then you may need a different length pushrod.

The lower intake manifold is next. Trick Flow says the 190cc heads should use a Fel-Pro 1262 intake gasket, but we found the 1250 to be a better fit. Make sure you torque the lower manifold in the sequence stated by the Trick Flow instruction sheet, and that you do not exceed 22 lb-ft of torque on the bolts. Going over that can lead to cylinder-head distortion.