Hey Guys
The tickford xr6 engine in my ef2 Fairmont Ghia died today. I've found myself another engine with very low ks, But its the standard 4.0l i6

I'm thinking of giving a some mods while I have it out to give it a bit more spark.
There was a post somewhere with ideas of mods for these engines, but my google'ing skills failed to find it

I was thinking of getting a wade cam, But I have no idea which one to go for and what else i might need to use this?

I'm wanting to get it up to go as good as my old engine, Or better if possible.
I'm not wanting to spend HUGE money and don't want to blow my fuel econ though the roof.

This has probably been covered 10000x before, so I apologise.

Thanks again


EDIT: I Think i found the answer... Haha.

ford-4l-and-6-cylinder-f1/best-suited-cam-for-el-tickford-engine-t103505.html

my bad.

I'd be pulling the tickford head off your old engine, getting it checked out, and putting it on the new engine, along with a mild cam, a set of extractors, high flow cat and a 2.5" exhaust and it should go good.

Gab

PS: Do not throw away your tickford head unless it is FUBAR.

This. Ticky heads sell for quite a bit of cash, so it's probably best to keep yours and put it onto the new engine, or as Gab said, keep it unless it is FUBAR.

As for the Wade cam, you will need shims to go with it if it's a regrind, someone was selling a set in the for sale department for 20 bucks (worth it, it took 3 trips into town to find them and 20 bucks to buy my shims). If it's an auto I've heard the Wade 1636 is a good choice, but someone with more experience can help you more than I can.

Shims? lol...

Reground cam's require extra shim's to compensate for the amount ground off the base circle of the cam so that your lifter to valve tip clearances are back within spec. The extra 'shim' sits inside the rocker arm bore above the lifter, EF/EL motors have a factory 1.9mm shim fitted, with the typical Wade regrind, an extra 1.9mm shim is required. i.e. 2 factory 1.9mm shim for each rocker arm.

By not running the correct amount of 'shim' with a reground cam, you're guarantee'd to have a noisy as fk valvetrain.

As stated above, for an otherwise stock motor and auto, the Wade 1636 will probably be the kind of cam you'd be after. Low-mid torque increase would make it good for day to day street driving.

If the old Tickford motor is coming out, pull the head off it and see what sort of condition it is in. Send it to a reconditioning place for pressure/crack testing and go from there. If all good, get the valve guides checked (renewed or relined where necessary) and have the stem seals renewed, valve seats re-cut, valves faced and lapped in, surface skimmed to ensure it's level/true etc. Will probably cost you a bit to have this work done but at least that way you'll know for sure the top end of the motor is nice and fresh. Porting is optional and will be an extra cost obviously, but for a near stock motor, I probably wouldn't bother.

I'd probably pull the replacement motor down to double check things before it goes in too. Take the time while the motor is out to change the headgasket for peace of mind and fit the freshened up Tickford head. Use an AU multi-layer steel headgasket (not the usual composite one's) for better reliability. Since you are in NZ, forget trying to buy one from Ford here unless you don't mind paying $300+ for one lol. Permaseal list a MLS gasket for the AU which is what I used, part number 'S2147SSX'.

Apart from that, just renew all the top end gaskets (intake manifold to head, exhaust manifold to head, rocker cover etc etc), change the oil + filter, coolant etc and renew any other parts that may need to be replaced.

Extra mod's you could do without going to far would be the basic extractors + 2.5" exhaust combo and some quick intake upgrade's to help the motor breathe easier.

Personally I'd chuck the working motor in the car so you have a car to get around in (assuming you don't have another to use hassle free). Then rebuild the Tickford motor to better standards. Get the head checked/cleaned/resurfaced and while you're at it, stem seals replaced. Since it is the Tickford head, the valve springs can handle the slightly lumpier cams. If you have an auto, Wade 1636 is a good cam, if you have an auto with a stally or a manual, the Wade 1673 would be good. As mentioned above, you will need a set of shims to go with a regrind camshaft, if it's a billet then don't worry about the shims, however billet camshafts are by far pricier. While the engine is out, you can replace many other items which will be a pain in the a*** if in an engine bay. Things such as welsh plugs, heater bypass piping (assuming yours is crap and about to fall apart), water pump, sump gasket etc.

If you do all this yourself with new gaskets, head bolts and other miscellaneous parts, you'd be looking at about $1000-$1500 or so (depending how well you can hunt for deals). I think I spent $1200 on my last lot.

It will be worth your while and when you're ready to swap the engines over again, you can either keep the standard engine or sell it and make some money back.

Anyways, good luck with it.

The reason I wanna mod the standard engine is coz its only done 40,000kms when my tickford has done very close to 280,000.
I don't wanna go spend massive money as this is only my daily and a toy until my v8 project is done.
I'm gonna just use the standard engine for a while, till I'm sure its running fine, Then might look at cam etc.

make sure you change some gasgets, my engine looked clean after sitting for 2 years and i dropped it in the car and it instantly started showing a leaking sump gasget and/or timing cover gasget, and now the motor has to come out to fix it all again

If that's the case, rip the Tickford head off, get it sent out to be checked, straightened etc and then put it on the standard block. Tickford and standard engines have the same block as far as I know. At least then you will know you have a low kilometer engine with a head gasket replacement and should last you for a fair few years. With the old block, you can get rid of it, or fix it up as a spare engine for later on.

I am going to disagree. Rip off standard head, take that to get ported and polished, valve springs, and get a 977B Cam and a J3 tune will net around 140-150rwkw.

but but but then you dont get the fancy T on the head?

yes, but that will cost you more than just getting a cam, shims, vernier cam gear.

If going to those extremes, might as well send the Tickford head out for port and polish...already have better valve springs.

Yeah I'm not wanting to spend huge money.

I was told today that removing head and messing with the engine will make it burn oil. Is this true?