66 head numbers???

[Kevin N.]

hi guys...i have a numbers dilemma...my new toy is a 66 roadster. 300 hp california car. as the story is told by it's only 3 owner's it's ALL original and looks like it, too. the build date on the trim tag is june 24. according to the ncrs birthday book it's actually july 5. now that that's established...the block casting # is a 174. the casting date is F66 (june 6,1966) the assembly date is F0610HH. (june 10 300hp mt ar) O.K. now the dilemma...the heads castings are 462's (1967) with a date of F18 & 28. (june 18 & 28) being that this is a very late car could it have 1967 head casting numbers? what about the dates on the heads being after the engine assembly date? could something have happened on the line where the engine was pulled because of a head problem and refitted with ones dated after the engine assembly date but before the car assembly date? the easiest explanation is the car isn't as original as expected. the 67 heads were put on 1 year after the car was made. maybe at the dealer because of a problem? what do you guys think? thanks in advance.

[Joe R.]

Re: 66 head numbers???

hi guys...i have a numbers dilemma...my new toy is a 66 roadster. 300 hp california car. as the story is told by it's only 3 owner's it's ALL original and looks like it, too. the build date on the trim tag is june 24. according to the ncrs birthday book it's actually july 5. now that that's established...the block casting # is a 174. the casting date is F66 (june 6,1966) the assembly date is F0610HH. (june 10 300hp mt ar) O.K. now the dilemma...the heads castings are 462's (1967) with a date of F18 & 28. (june 18 & 28) being that this is a very late car could it have 1967 head casting numbers? what about the dates on the heads being after the engine assembly date? could something have happened on the line where the engine was pulled because of a head problem and refitted with ones dated after the engine assembly date but before the car assembly date? the easiest explanation is the car isn't as original as expected. the 67 heads were put on 1 year after the car was made. maybe at the dealer because of a problem? what do you guys think? thanks in advance.

Kevin,

I don't see how the date on the heads could be after the engine assembly date. But I sure don't know everything.

Joe

[Tom H.]

Re: 66 head numbers???

I'd say the heads have surely been replaced at some point.

[Peter J.]

Re: 66 head numbers???

I have a June 66, L-79 car with 462 heads a week or so head of build date.
Pete

[Kevin N.]

Re: 66 head numbers???

I have a June 66, L-79 car with 462 heads a week or so head of build date.
Pete

that would be almost exactly like mine, except my engine assembly date is 2 weeks before the head dates.

[Duke W.]

Re: 66 head numbers???

hi guys...i have a numbers dilemma...my new toy is a 66 roadster. 300 hp california car. as the story is told by it's only 3 owner's it's ALL original and looks like it, too. the build date on the trim tag is june 24. according to the ncrs birthday book it's actually july 5. now that that's established...the block casting # is a 174. the casting date is F66 (june 6,1966) the assembly date is F0610HH. (june 10 300hp mt ar) O.K. now the dilemma...the heads castings are 462's (1967) with a date of F18 & 28. (june 18 & 28) being that this is a very late car could it have 1967 head casting numbers? what about the dates on the heads being after the engine assembly date? could something have happened on the line where the engine was pulled because of a head problem and refitted with ones dated after the engine assembly date but before the car assembly date? the easiest explanation is the car isn't as original as expected. the 67 heads were put on 1 year after the car was made. maybe at the dealer because of a problem? what do you guys think? thanks in advance.

Get a set of feeler gages and measure the head gasket thickness at the front corners of the block-head interface to the nearest thou.

Tell us what it is and we can probably tell you to a high degree of certainty whether the original Flint-installed heads were ever removed.

Duke

[Peter J.]

Re: 66 head numbers???

kevin,
Just curious about your car, is it a 4 spd and if so is the shifter mounted to the Muncie itself or the cross member? I wouldn't worry about the "462 heads" there are plenty of very late 327s with these heads. When I first got my car I went through the wrong heads and wrong shifter location (mine is cross member mounted like a -67) speculation you are.

[Joseph S.]

Re: 66 head numbers???

hi guys...i have a numbers dilemma...my new toy is a 66 roadster. 300 hp california car. as the story is told by it's only 3 owner's it's ALL original and looks like it, too. the build date on the trim tag is june 24. according to the ncrs birthday book it's actually july 5. now that that's established...the block casting # is a 174. the casting date is F66 (june 6,1966) the assembly date is F0610HH. (june 10 300hp mt ar) O.K. now the dilemma...the heads castings are 462's (1967) with a date of F18 & 28. (june 18 & 28) being that this is a very late car could it have 1967 head casting numbers? what about the dates on the heads being after the engine assembly date? could something have happened on the line where the engine was pulled because of a head problem and refitted with ones dated after the engine assembly date but before the car assembly date? the easiest explanation is the car isn't as original as expected. the 67 heads were put on 1 year after the car was made. maybe at the dealer because of a problem? what do you guys think? thanks in advance.

Kevin, Your head casting dates would indicate that the heads were cast in 1968, not 67. June 1st, 1968 and June 2nd, 1968.

Joe

[Kevin N.]

Re: 66 head numbers???

Kevin, Your head casting dates would indicate that the heads were cast in 1968, not 67. June 1st, 1968 and June 2nd, 1968.

Joe

mornin' joe,
i'll keep that info in mind, but i was thought to believe the head date was only for the month and day and the head casting number decided the year. besides, there are no 462's listed in any of my books for any year except 1967 cars. still...
kevin
ps. i'm still working on the feeler gauge trick.

[Kevin N.]

Re: 66 head numbers???

my bad, joe. i researched my books and it seems that you are right and i have been wrong ALL these years. upon further looking at the head casting dates with a magnifying glass...they are F16 and F26. without the magnifying glass the 6's look like 8's to me. that just leaves the 1967-462's instead of the 1966's-461's. i'm going with the late build date on the car explaination. when i tried to feeler gauge the gaskets, well, never mind. if the 6's looked like 8's there is no telling what the feeler gauge woud say. by the way, peter, mine has the cross member mounted linkage.

[Patrick B.]

Re: 66 head numbers???

Kevin: You don't have a problem regardless of whether the head gaskets have ever been changed. June 1 and June 2 heads are perfect for a June 10 engine build. The dates of your heads and some of belonging to other responders simply prove that the change in productiion from 461 heads to 462 heads occured before the end of the 66 model year. The same thing happened to the 67 351 blocks and 391 heads. Production changed to 321 blocks and 840 heads (without the temp sensor boss drilled) late in the 67 model year.

[Jim C.]

Re: 66 head numbers???

Kevin,

I have a VERY late 1966 small block 327/300. The body build date is K28 (July 28). My stamp pad assembly date code is F0726HE (July 26). The cylinder case casting date is G116 (July 11, 1966) and the casting number is 3892657 (this is the common 1967 number). My cylinder heads both have the 3890462 (1967 number) casting number. Their casting dates are F146 (June 14, 1966) and F86 (June 8, 1966).

I wouldn't worry about having cylinder heads with the 1967 casting number. My guess is that they're original to your car. As you can see from my "numbers", not only do my heads have 1967 numbers, but so does my block. I'm SURE my heads and block are original to my car. I'm confident that cars produced late in the 1966 model year were equipped with parts that bear 1967 casting numbers. It only makes sense that end of the year variations like this occurred.

Jim C.

[Joe R.]

Re: 66 head numbers???

Kevin,

I have a VERY late 1966 small block 327/300. The body build date is K28 (July 28). My stamp pad assembly date code is F0726HE (July 26). The cylinder case casting date is G116 (July 11, 1966) and the casting number is 3892657 (this is the common 1967 number). My cylinder heads both have the 3890462 (1967 number) casting number. Their casting dates are F146 (June 14, 1966) and F86 (June 8, 1966).

I wouldn't worry about having cylinder heads with the 1967 casting number. My guess is that they're original to your car. As you can see from my "numbers", not only do my heads have 1967 numbers, but so does my block. I'm SURE my heads and block are original to my car. I'm confident that cars produced late in the 1966 model year were equipped with parts that bear 1967 casting numbers. It only makes sense that end of the year variations like this occurred.

Jim C.

Jim,

I think you may be unintentionally misleading Kevin. Your dates makes sense, the head dates precede the engine assembly date. But Kevin's dates are the other way around. How could the heads be dated after the stamp pad date?

Joe

[Patrick B.]

Re: 66 head numbers???

Kevins heads are F1 anf F2 of 1966. They are certainly in order for a June 10 built engine.

[Joe R.]

Re: 66 head numbers???

Kevins heads are F1 anf F2 of 1966. They are certainly in order for a June 10 built engine.

Pat, Jim, Kevin,

Sorry, my bad, I missed Kevin's corrected dates for his heads. Never mind...

Joe