Valve Covers in a Box w/ 351W

[packman]

Are the stock valve covers the only ones that will fit under the wiper motor cover? It looks like once I get under the wiper motor, the plastic cover that it mounts to becomes an issue. I have to mess with it some. Has anybody run a taller-than-stock VC with a 1.7 rocker arm ratio? If so, what brand (part#)?

[packman]

Just thought about something (yes, it happens every once in a while); what is underneath the black plastic cover that the wiper motor mounts to? I'm wondering if I can take a heat gun, heat the bottom of that cover, and press it upwards a little to create a dome for clearance.

[gadget73]

The crank arm on the wiper motor itself is right there, along with the linkage rods. Push into that too much and the wiper transmission will not be able to move.

I don't remember what Phayzer was running on his, but I'm reasonably sure it still had a wiper motor in it. They were not factory valve covers but thats all I remember.

[86VickyLX]

I'm pretty sure the 351 valve covers on the police cars were taller than that of the SEFI covers.

[gadget73]

I think you may be right on that. They look a lot like the CFI stamped steel covers, which I think are taller than SEFI stamped. Those boring old SEFI covers have a lot of available space inside, so you may be OK for clearance. I'm running 1985 stock aluminum Mustang covers with 1.7 Scorpion rockers and it works. Possible there is only the thickness of a sheet of paper in there, but nothing hits and it hasn't broken the valve cover yet.

[knucklehead0202]

On my edelbrock performer heads with the stud-mount conversion kit it makes the rocker setup really tall. When i did the top-end on the other car i had to get tall motorsport valve covers to clear all the shit. If you're running pedestal rockers on stock or pedestal heads, you shouldn't need a very tall cover.

[packman]

Thanks guys. I will mess with it over the weekend and see what can be done. I got FMS valve covers at a swap meet and it just might be them being super tall.

[86VickyLX]

On my edelbrock performer heads with the stud-mount conversion kit it makes the rocker setup really tall. When i did the top-end on the other car i had to get tall motorsport valve covers to clear all the shit. If you're running pedestal rockers on stock or pedestal heads, you shouldn't need a very tall cover.

Some of the aftermarket heads have a taller valve cover mating surface than factory production ford heads. So a shorter valve cover may be able to be used. However in some cases, the additional height there may cause clearance issues. Then again, I don't know exactly how much taller those ones are. I believe the Trickflow heads have raised valve cover surface.

[knucklehead0202]

Some of the aftermarket heads have a taller valve cover mating surface than factory production ford heads. So a shorter valve cover may be able to be used. However in some cases, the additional height there may cause clearance issues. Then again, I don't know exactly how much taller those ones are. I believe the Trickflow heads have raised valve cover surface.

Yeah the problem i think was that they were pedestal-mount heads with the conversion, so the rocker mounting surface ends up a lot higher, creating clearance problems. Same shit is going on my 347 since i already have the valve covers and stuff anyway. Unless of course i score a set of afr's in the meantime for a great deal.

[phayzer5]

The ones I'm running were a set of cheap chrome clad ones from a Ford Racing appearance kit i got way back in the day. I've only had them installed on my 408, and that had stud mounted 1.72 scorpion roller rockers. Never took the covers off with the engine in the car, only on a stand outside. They do in fact make it a bitch to reinstall engine/trans at the same time, but my 7qt oil pan probably deserves more of the blame for that

edit: here's a pic

[packman]

I have a 7qt Canton pan myself. Even with my engine mounted, it's still a tight fit. Fighting with the valve cover studs that came with the valve covers. The shop either torqued them down; and/or used Lock-Tite. I will double jam nut the studs and get them off; then see if I can get the valve cover back on and see what I have to work with.

[gadget73]

skip the valve cover studs, there isn't enough room. I've got a set that I tried using but I couldn't get the valve covers in position. 1/4-20 stainless hardware works though, can go with socket key cap screws if you want something a little fancier looking.

[87gtVIC]

I use two studs strictly for aligning the covers and gaskets back in place.

[gadget73]

They work for that but having studs permanently under that wiper box would make removing the valve covers a huge PITA. The alignment studs I use for the intake are awful handy too but it would make removing the lower intake a huge PITA if they lived there full time.

[87gtVIC]

Agreed. Studs for install reasons only. Otherwise removing things become an absolute chore/impossible.