Reher-Morrison Racing Engines' David Reher and Darin Morgan answer your questions about cylinder heads or anything else concerning your racing engine building problems. Remember who you're are dealing with so no soft-ball questions.

03/08/07

My 15-year-old son (Sam) and I are building our first engine. All of the engine parts were given to us by a friend. We have a 454 bb with 427 crank. We had the block checked by a machine shop and they said it was ok. The head had been re-worked and milled. The piston & rings are all new. The cam is a speed-pro 5000 240 deg @.50 with new lifters and rockers. I'm no expert (just know the basic of engine re-building). The problem we have is the Edelbrock aluminum intake maniflod will not fit. It's sitting to high in the v and the bolt holes won't line up, off 1/8 inch. My son said we need to mill intake manifold down to fit. I think the heads have been milled too many times. What does the expert say? Thanks, Tim and Sam. Tim Hartsfield, Yoakum, TX 77995

Tim and Sam,

Your heads could have been milled down to reduce the chamber volume which is not a bad idea but they may very well have been milled to much. If you are not familiar with the heads and dont know there history, you should take them to an engine builder and have him inspected. If the heads have been milled properly and the milling has resulted in the manifold sitting to high, its not a big deal. I see this all the time. Take the manifold to an engine builder in your area and have him mill it so it fits. Make sure to measure your end rail clearance prior to machining. If you machine the intake flanges it will reduce the clearance on the end rails so you may end up machining that as well. If you are unsure of the procedure, take the heads and intake to an engine builder and have him mock them up on a block. He then has an exact measurement to go by and this will insure a perfect fit after machining. Other wise you will end up running back and forth from your garage to the engine builder.

David Reher asked Darin Morgan to answer this question because it is his area of expertise.

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Arlington Texas 76001
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