Engine - 3.8L & 4.2L | Forum profile

You are either: 1.circulating an air bubble which could be caused by blown head gaskets or anything else that lowers the coolant level. 2. You have a bad temp sender. Mine just went out in the bird a couple of months ago. It is a cheap part and can cause all sorts of erratic gauge movements depending on how it fails. Mine would fluctuate between full cold and normal, after replacement, my gauge is rock solid in one spot after warming up. -Rob

Actually, just came in, its 5 am, been working on it since I posted, 2 pots of coffee and sea foam, and a smokey garage, its running like new.

Ive been thinking about the 1:80 bolt on rockers, But how do I install the roller rockers? Do I have to adjsut anything for the bolt on ones? Or do I jsut pull out the old rockers and jsut install these in their place? Do I need to rotate each cyl to TDC and then bolt them on, or just bolt them on then put the covers on and go? I understand the stock ones at 1:73 so these 1:80 rollers would be like installing a slightly larger cam correct? Do...

You can just bolt them down and go, just make sure the push rod and pedestal are lined up correctly and don't run em on with air tools. But if you want to check the preload on the lifter, the lifter will need to be on the base circle of the cam. Most likely you'll be ok just bolting on.

Bolt-on rockers may not have the correct preload right out of the box. In this case, the pedestals may need to be shimmed or shaved depending on whether the preload is too little or too great. But to install them you want the lifters riding on the base of the cam. No, you will not gain 20 hp from this. And you won't keep up with Mustangs either. The T-Bird has like 300-400 pounds on the Mustang.

300k, congrats! Heads original? Might be time for a valve job. Joe