Gen 2 SCAB makeover…totally not ripping off Geoff’s 2.5 build!

[91Eunos]

Only had a couple hours to work on the motor today, but made good progress…



Realized I got way ahead of myself and pulled the cams with the cam phasers still attached, LoL, so left one head on so I can reinstall them and put in the cam locks to remove the phasers mañana or Friday.

A lot going on, so pics are a bit out of sequence…

Motor mounts were actually in pretty good shape, but will put new ones in regardless:





Even though I’m pulling everything, I ran the motor through a few rotations to confirm the timing, etc. and to test fit the cam locks:



…no issues or surprises getting the timing chains, guides, tensioners, etc off:





And only had one bolt head strip when removing the cams; gonna use all new ones when I get the heads back from Headgames anyway:



The cam followers and lifters look to be in good shape too, but these will all be replaced by Gen3/Coyote parts:



Will swing by Ford and grab one to confirm they really do fit before ordering 24 of each!

Nothing unusual getting the RH head off, except that cheap harbor freight engine stand kept wanting to spin when I was trying to break the bolts free, LoL. Will have someone come over to hold the motor or maybe strap the stand to The lift post or something for the other head!

Combustion chambers on this bank look pretty normal for a 115K motor to me:

 

[91Eunos]

The cylinder walls looks OK, but holy crap there was a lot of debris/carbon on the pistons! A lot of it clearly fell in there when I removed the head, but wow!



And WTF is this little plastic tube I found when I pulled off the head gasket?



There’s a groove machined into the cylinder liner that it sits in, so I think it’s supposed to be there, but what is that thing?

 

[91Eunos]

Only part that gave me trouble today was one of the bolts holding on the oil filter housing/heat exchanger unit. Again, I want to nut punch the Ford engineer who though placing a bolt here was a good idea!



I had to tap that wrench down into that gap with a punch and hammer, then work it oit slowly as I loosened the bolt what felt like 1 degree at a time!

Maddening.

 

[91Eunos]

At any rate, another big pile of parts from tonight’s efforts; exploded onto the bench waiting to be bagged, labeled and put into bins…



More to follow.

 

[91Eunos]

@full-race geoff or anyone who has done work on these heads: How hard is it to pull the spark plug guide tubes?

I tried tapping on them with a rubber mallet and then just pulling/twisting on them by hand, but they’re not budging. I assume they need to be removed in order for Headgames to do their pocket port and valve job, but don’t want to mess something up if they aren’t supposed to be removed.

Will call Headgames mañana to ask too… They never answered my question about whether or not their “Raptor valves” are the SI valves. I assume they are, but want to confirm before the work is done.

 

[dillard09]

Dang you got alot done!
Where at in the Hill country are you? I'm in College Station.

 

[91Eunos]

Dang you got alot done!
Where at in the Hill country are you? I'm in College Station.

Just North of New Braunfels, heading towards Canyon Lake on 46.

 

[full-race geoff]

Still need to decide whether I’m gonna just rebuild this bottom end

I sincerely appreciate your sharing this build with everyone, and love your sense of urgency! to keep progress moving I called an old industry friend this morning, expert machinist with strong 3.5L ecoboost experience ( I don't know why I didn't think of him earlier). He provides some of the machining services for another well known ecoboost engine builder that starts with an M. Said he will get back to me tomorrow with suggestions and considerations, he may prove to be an ideal resource for the shortblock machining and assembly (fyi: he does not do heads or longblocks).

A recipe for most reliable, easiest and lowest risk is looking like:
gen 2 block (known good) with gen 2 knock sensors, gen 3 crank, ati crank pulley
Headgames head, gen 3 timing assembly, coyote lifters/rockers
ARP coyote crank pulley bolt, ARP head studs, ARP main studs
*replace valvecovers with oem

the other variable is OEM vs Boundary oil pump - My concern is it may not be ready in time for your build. furthermore it's experimental and obviously unproven so I'm using that to pace my engine build. Overall keep it simple and get things buttoned up addressing the main issues

we’re hosting a dinner party, and my lovely bride expects me to actually be there to help her entertain the guests! LoL I want to turn the after dinner entertainment into a wrenching session…we’ll see how that goes

had to laugh at this, my wife told me everytime we have a dinner party i disappear to work on a project...

@full-race geoff I’m leaning towards just doing a simple rebuild, but curious about the Gen 3 crank. What’s so special about the Gen3 crank vs the Gen2? More important question for me is: Do you know if that Gen3 crank will work in my Gen2 block? And if I’m doing that, what about rods and pistons?

gen3 crank is a better material with improved heat treatment. ie: it doesn't crack. I believe the gen 2 crank has been completely discontinued at this point and the part number superceded. Rods and pistons are generally JE (boostline is their connecting rod). Im waiting to hear back from our machinist friend on what he thinks is the right call. Regardless - it doesnt have to be crazy expensive to do this well.

Also, does anyone know if anyone makes a good aluminum valve cover for this motor?

Nope. There are cast aluminum valve covers available for the Gen 1 3.5L but they are machined improperly and leak worse than stock. Ford actually has a lot going on with these parts an I think its best to replace with OEM. Did you happen to ID where the crack is exactly?

only had one bolt head strip when removing the cams; gonna use all new ones when I get the heads back from Headgames anyway:

definitely worthwhile to replace the OEM head bolts with ARP head studs! the oem fasteners are not the best

Only part that gave me trouble today was one of the bolts holding on the oil filter housing/heat exchanger unit. Again, I want to nut punch the Ford engineer who though placing a bolt here was a good idea!

View attachment 486027

fyi - theres a much easier solution: use a 14mm(?) hex socket to go into the oil filter threads. this will allow the oil to Water heat exchanger to unbolt and then you can easily remove the oil filter housing bolt from the block. Im planning to delete this heat exchanger altogether and go to an air-to-oil heat exchanger in the OEM intercooler location (and repurposing the oem intercooler fan on the oil cooler)

anyone who has done work on these heads: How hard is it to pull the spark plug guide tubes?

definitely do not remove them! there is no need to touch them at all, keep in place

 

[dillard09]

Just North of New Braunfels, heading towards Canyon Lake on 46.

Gotcha! Been over in the late area a bit. My buddy lives there. He is the owner of Exodus 4x4 right there on the 35 just north of New Braunfels. He has converted over to the go fast side after rock crawling. He has a badass Ranger Raptor.

 

[91Eunos]

Swing by for a beer or a bourbon next time you’re in town… seriously. Just shoot me a PM prior so we can get ya gate access.