so i got my truck running drove it to school and back for a week and one day my head gasket blew so i descided while its apart i might a well put a cam in it maybe swap heads and maybe trying to get my compression up milling it down or thinner head gaskets i was looking at copper head gaskets what are peoples thoughts on these its for a non ho motor with tbi and duraspark 3

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If It Aint Broke You Didnt Drive It Hard Enough

why would bring compression up?
what's wrong with the cam
Why are you swapping the heads
What are you going to

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95 Ranger XLT 4x2 2.3 I4 5 speed 206,000 *dead*
96 Ranger XLT 4x4 4.0 V6 5 speed 173,000 *alive*
D35 front, 8.8 rear, 3.73 gears, limited slip rear diff

well im just trying to think of ways to get more power if i gotta take it apart i might as well improve it swapping to heads like gt 40s ive read are good and one of the main differences between a non ho and an ho are the cam and firing order

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If It Aint Broke You Didnt Drive It Hard Enough

so i found a forum for mercury cougars on doing an ho conversion they say that you need a
stock ho cam any higher your pistons will hit or you can get new pistons

heads you have your choice of gt40 gt40p and e7te

a different distributer gear i guess the materials important brass will work with all but isnt as durable

change to ho firing order

and should have dual exhuast

i found this info on http://www.coolcats.net/modifying/ho_conversion.html
does this information sound accurate has anyone done this

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If It Aint Broke You Didnt Drive It Hard Enough

going to be important to note whether your engine is roller or flat tappet cam. i have no idea what that vintage would be, you really don't see too many around from that era. if it has a roller cam, the distributor needs a steel gear. if it's flat tappet, then it needs a cast gear. IIRC the shafts were different sizes, e.g. you simply just can't change the gear. i just wouldn't even mess with the brass gear, but JMO.

the distributor is a moot point. if you have a flat tappet cam, you're going to have to stick with it. the roller lifter engines have 2 holes drilled and tapped in the lifter valley for the spider to keep the lifters from rotating. it's possible to drill and tap that, but i recall reading somewhere the lifter bores are different - for that you'd need a smaller base circle camshaft if converting to roller. you also can't use flat tappet lifters on a roller cam and vise versa.

if roller get an HO, if flat tappet talk to a cam grinder and have one custom ground to avoid hitting your pistons. always check piston to valve clearance either way you go.

e7te would be decent and cheap. gt40s are harder to come by, but no issues using them in place of e7s. gt40p heads have odd spark plug angles which may add a headache with exhaust and plug wires.

that article is accurate, for 86-88. yours is an '83, right? the reason that works so easily is because they had roller cams like the HO engine does. yours may not have roller lifters (I wouldn't count on it).