Hey ya'll, where are the head casting serial numbers on my 86 460 located?
I am wanting to put get some better heads for a winter project....
1. And I was thinking that I would try some D3VE's they seem more common than Dove's or C9's. I am a member of in-carnation, so I think I read that D3's flow pretty decently. I want to make some suggested improvements. How much should be milled of the heads to run on 93 octane? OR.... How much performance can be gained simply by going to the D3's?I I mean if I am going to the trouble of a new set of heads why not grab whatever performance gains I can get. (within reason of course, (doesnt that always mean "within budget" hah))
2.What is my stock compression Ratio?
3.And do all D3VE'S already have the hardened valve seats?
I'll be putting in a decent cam, and 70's timing set too...
Thanks, Barca.
p.s. Hope everyone is doing good....

 

if you engine is a carbed engine then it should already have D3 heads on it. Yes they should have induction hardened seats in them already. you could do some minor porting work on them, the exhaust is the more restrictive side, and could use the most work. I believe (but not sure) that it's about .008 of milling to reduce 1cc of chamber, if it was me I would deck the block to get the pistons to zero deck which will both increase compression, and improve the quench thus reducing the tendancy to ping on pump gas and allow higher compression. I would definatly replace the valves the stock valves are not that good (most are a 2 piece design) you can buy ferrera 1 piece stainless valves for under $140 for a complete set, and are a good upgrade. You could then also upgrade to 2.19/1.71" valves at the same time then just do some bowl blending to improve flow numbers.

 

monsterbaby: You are definitely one of the most knowledgeable persons I know here on the 385 board. I appreciate your willingness to freely share what you know, and you have helped me avoid several pitfalls.
I just finished a 460 - C6 combo swap into my '66 F-100 - and learned a few things. (Now my '66 truck has a D-9 block bored 60 over, with E-5 heads, Edlebrock intake, Edelbrock 1411 750 CFM electric choke carb, OEM exhaust manifolds, plain jane dual exhaust and a C-6 with a Doug Nash overdrive behind it.)

I initially bought a '77 F-250 460/C-6 combo, but it was too far gone to rebuild. It had the D-3 heads.
I used a carbed engine from an '86 F-250, and the C-6 transmission out of a carbed '83 F-350.
It is with great reluctance I contradict you therefore!
Some of the '80s engines won't have D-3 heads.
The '86 engine had E-5 heads and the '83 engine had E-2 heads indicating '85 and '82 design numbers. The casting number is underneath, not on the front.
They can be seen if you pull the intake manifiold, and use a small mirror to see them on the underside of the lip just under the intake ports.

I have seen D-3 heads (remanufactured) on later engines, so they appear to fit just fine, but I do not know anything about performance issues such as valves or chamber size or design.

Hope this helps!

 

Thanks Monster!!! and Mr. Picker...
So I am still at the point of not knowing what type of heads I have on my truck though.
There are lots of sets-o-heads on ebay, and I was going to pick up a set, really, without knowing what are on mine. If mine flow as well as D3's, i would just as soon save the cash, and put it towards roller rockers and valves. And I didnt know that the stock valves were funky, so that was good to hear. And you also recomended going to the bigger size too?
Monster, I wasnt gonna pull my motor, so I would choose to have the heads milled. And as Banjo said, you have helped me on several occasions, so thanks for helping the knowledge pool get a little deeper. Barca...

 

banjopicker, don't ever be reluctant to counterdict me if I am wrong, I don't get mad, I go searching and that is always a good thing because that is how we all learn. In this case I learned that there was indeed some E? casting numbers other than the E7s. Now what I have been able to establish thus far is that for the most part up until the FI heads (which have a different intake bolt pattern and are not interchangable) most of these are interchangable with the D3 heads, and are hard to distinguish from them with one exception some of the 370s (which was the most common to have a e? number but not hte only ones) had a smaller valve but I wasn't able to find out what size they were infact (so if someone knows please post it, and expand all of our knowledge base) according to what I found the E6 heads you mentioned should have the same chamber size, valve size, and approximatly the same port volumes as D3 heads so if you have some of these heads go ahead, and use them as they shouldn't cause you any loss of power, and there is no sense spending money for no gain.
And barca if you take those off, and find a different casting number would you mind taking a picture of it and either posting it or emailing it to me so I can say I have atleast seen pictures of that casting number for future reference.
One thing I do know there are very few absolutes expecially when it comes to things that ford did, and the other thing I know is I am learning everyday, and when I quit learning I am probably dead.

 

Hey Monster, It will be a while, but I will follow up and take a foto of the heads and numbers. I never would have been able to come up with the info that you got. Thanks man...and out of blind ignorance I was going to get a set of heads, just like the ones that I am already using! I owe ya another one Monster....
Barca.