11-2-07: CC'd the heads

In order to ensure that the combustion chambers are all exactly the same size, the heads need to be CC'd.  In order to do that, you need to ensure that the head is held upside-down and level so the combustion chambers can be filled with a metered amount of liquid.  So a jig must be made to hold the head upside down and it must be able to be adjusted to make the head level.

Now you will need a kit to CC each combustion chamber.  Here is the list of what you will need:

-A 60cc graduated horse medicine syringe, available at most feed stores.
-A 4" Plexiglas disk, available at Tap Plastics.  Drill a hole just large enough to get the horse syringe tip in the center of the disk.  Drill a small hole nearer the edge as I did to let the air our of the combustion chamber as the alcohol goes in.

-A bottle of isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol.  Put a few drops of food coloring in the alcohol to make it easier to see.
-A small amount of grease

Before you start, make sure the spark plugs are all fully installed or you will get a bad reading of the volume, and you will have to re-measure that particular combustion chamber. Ensure the cams are rotated so that two of the cylinders have their valves closed.  I rotate the cams counterclockwise because the shop manual recommends rotating the crankshaft counterclockwise.  I think this ensures that you don't screw up the chain tensioners.

Put a ring of grease around the first combustion chamber to be CC'd.

Put the Plexiglas disk over the combustion chamber, and push it down into the grease to seal it.

Fill the syringe to exactly 60CCs.  Make sure there is no air in the syringe.  Insert the syringe into the center hole and start slowly filling the combustion chamber with colored alcohol.

When it gets close to filling up, go very slowly, and carefully rotate the Plexiglas disk to ensure the air hole stays over the remaining air bubble.  Very slowly fill the combustion chamber until it is completely full.

Read where the plunger is on the syringe and subtract that number from 60CCs to get the volume of the combustion chamber.

Use the syringe to extract as much of the alcohol as you can. Remove the Plexiglas disk and clean it off. Extract as much of the remaining alcohol as you can and then wipe the remaining alcohol and grease off with a paper towel. Repeat for the other 7 combustion chambers, rotating the cams when needed to ensure each combustion chamber's valves are sealed when you do it.

I am very impressed with Ford's manufacturing.  All 8 of my combustion chambers were so close to 52CCs each (per spec) that I could not distinguish any difference between any of them.  Had there been any difference, I would have had to grind away volume in the smaller combustion chambers to match that of the largest combustion chamber.