I have 2 quick questions

1. what would be the most common head for a 76 360 out of a truck?

I converted to a 390 and still am using the heads that were on the truck before the upgrade.
although i did have a valve job and mild porting done to them.

Im going to the pick-n-part this sat. and I know of 3 thunderbirds there and 2 for sure have 390's in them.
There is a 66- 67 and im not sure about the third.
So my second question would be.

2. What heads should i look out for and exactly how are they identified?

I have been reading many of the threads on here about port and polishing heads ( couldnt do anything but read .... 10 day suspension ...no posting aahhh was driving me nuts ...lmao)
but i figure ill give it a whirl over the cold months here and while im saving up to take them to the shop..
any help appreciated

 

1976 360 heads? D2TE-AA. Good heads. The fact that they started life on a 360 means absolutely nothing.

I dont think you're going to get anything changing out heads. Port the ones you got. The earlier heads do not have hardened exhaust valve seats, so you'd have to get those put in. Then you'd need to make sure the machinist gets the installed height exactly correct or you could have valvetrain problems. That is, unless you've invested in adjustable rockers.

There is a small chance that the 1966 heads will have the larger earlier intake ports. If this is the case, they flow slightly better than the later heads.

If you're looking for larger port heads, you want C6AE or earlier heads. If you really dont want to get dirty and have a choice, stick to 1965 and earlier heads. I'm not 100% sure about the C6AE's. The part number is between the center two spark plugs. Cant miss it. Well, scrape away the crusted on oil goo, then you cant miss it.

Here's some examples:
C6AE = 1966 automotive
D2TE = 1972 truck

Where C = 1960's, D = 1970's, and the number indicates the year that particular casting came out.

Now you know how to look for something 1966 or earlier.

 

D2 heads are real common in 70's Ford Trucks. They have harden seats and may be the cheapest route to go! If you do an of the other heads, then you might have to put in harden seats (not cheap).

C8AE-H , C6AE-R, C4AE-G are very common heads that stick out in my mind. There are a few more heads out there that you will run into. JMO

 

My vote goes to the D2TE also.

Daaayummm! Get there early enough to pull an engine, check the strokes to be sure you aren't passing up a 428.

Here's a couple pics, I couldn't get the thumbnail images to enlarge:
Here is a C6AE-R. This is one way the suffix (R) was cast in.


On this C4AE head, the suffix (G) is cast after the 6090 identifier. Glenn, Russ, and Carl might chime in with casting numbers to watch for. I think they have them tattoed under their eyelids.LOL You could also try ford fe dot com; their search function works.


Here is a side by side of the C4 and C8 intake ports:

I understand working something up before you R&R. The next question is what is "better"? The older heads with larger ports also have larger combustion chambers. You'll lose some compression, which, may or may not be a good thing. That just depends on your build and what you want from it. You might be happier with hogging out another set of C8/D2 heads.

 

The C4AE 6090G heads (427 LR) cast chambers will have 1.34 x 2.34 ports with app 75-78cc chambers. A great addition to a 410 build to lower the 10.5 CR to todays pump gas for pulling a trailer or boat while retaining a tight quench. Add hard seat inserts, mild port clean up, gasket or port match intake and call it good unless maximum hp and flow are you objective.
Careful and have them checked for cracks.
They have a venturi ring under the intake to increase fuel mix velocity enhancing lowend torque.
Strange thing is the MR heads have 1.34 x 1.94 ports and flow the same as
the 6090G heads but with machined combustion chambers and the valves spaced farther apart with 88cc chambers.
These would help lower the compression on a 468 or 482 build for pump gas,
again looking at quench but they will not bolt up on a small bore motor without
hitting the bore.

 

Thanks for all the ID info so far guys...this site rules!!!!!!

So assuming these are D2t's what is the chamber volume and valve size?

Im going to look today over my lunch break to ID the heads i have ...but i seem to remember the guy at the machine shop telling me they would need hardened seats...ill look at my recepit to see if that was actually done...cant remember everything done to them...
So that makes me think they are earlier heads and prob not original
also when i pulled them off before the rebuild 2 of the exhaust valves were burnt so bad the were countersunk a good 1/16 to 1/32 of an inch and litterally had pizza shaped peices missing from the valve. ( I have seen pics in someones gallery here that look exactly how mine did) so if the valves were counter sunk (only 2 of them) would i be correct in assuming they are the erlier heads without the hardened seats?

 

If they're D2TE heads, they'll supposedly have a chamber CC of about 68-72. Although I have a set of D2TE-AA heads that measured 73. Valve sizes on all the heads we're talking about here is 2.02" intake and 1.55" exhaust.

I have also noticed that the earlier heads have a smaller quench area than the later D2TE types, with the C8AE and D2TE type heads having more of a closed chamber. Wouldn't this offset the lower compression you'd get with the earlier heads?

 

The truck will not be used for towing or off roading just for mild street and scarring myself...lol and its not that im dissatisfied with the heads i have...it actually runs quite well considering i went into the build with no knowledge at all of FE's but i had access to a garage and THIS SITE and thats all that got me through i just wasnt sure if there was a coveted set of heads out there for a 390...
Dont take lunch till 3 havnt had a chance to ID mine yet but i will post shortly after 4 what they are....thanks for the help guys