| wilmalcolm | -- 11-12-2011 @ 9:27 AM |
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Hi, I have a '36 LB engine which I am rebuilding to stock appearance. It came with flat topped pistons and a cast iron head. The heads have no markings other than "Ford" on them. They do have some other id numbers which I would believe are mold numbers. The heads have been painted silver to make them appear to be aluminum which they are not. I have 2nd set of cast iron heads with the "68-6050-B" marking which I rescued from another '36 LB engine. My question is. are these both LB heads and if so, is one for dome topped pistons and the other for flat topped? It may be a bit hard to see that one head's combustion chamber is flat and the other is domed. I assume that the domed head is for domed pistons-is that correct?: Which type piston is better to use when I replace the pistons-flat topped or domed? The engine is definitely an LB engine in that the main journals bolts are 3 1/4" apart. I guess I can post only one image. The one that shows is the "Ford" marking on the flat combustion chamber head. I have others if that would be helpful, Thanks Will This message was edited by wilmalcolm on 11-12-11 @ 9:40 AM
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| supereal | -- 11-12-2011 @ 3:22 PM |
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The '36 engines were made with both flat and domed pistons. The correct heads must be used for these. All Ford heads carry the basic number of 6050. The prefix is the determining factor. The suffix tells you whether iron or aluminum heads were used. The 40-A heads were for flat pistons, aluminum heads. The 40-B were for the flat pistons, iron heads. 68-A is for domes, alum heads, 68-B for domed, iron heads. You will find all of these varieties on page 228 of the "green book". 1936 was a transition year in many respects. Ford seemed to eventually settle on iron heads and domed aluminum pistons. I prefer iron heads, as they are usually much easier to remove, and less likely to erode internally, and the later style domed pistons, if you have the correct heads. This message was edited by supereal on 11-12-11 @ 3:25 PM
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| 37RAGTOPMAN | -- 11-12-2011 @ 4:01 PM |
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A friend of mine had a set of iron heads,sprayed with aluminum,and other then the part number it was hard to tell, this is if you want the aluminum look, I prefer the iron heads with green paint, my 3 cents 37RAGTOPMAN
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| wilmalcolm | -- 11-13-2011 @ 7:01 AM |
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The Green Book-of course! I should have looked there. Thanks for that complete reply. I assume that there is little difference in using the flat topped pistons or the domed as long as you use the correct head-is that correct? Are the domed topped preferred? One other question. Are the numbers on the castings date numbers? On one of the heads the number 1-31-41 appears-January 31, 1941? This message was edited by wilmalcolm on 11-13-11 @ 7:09 AM
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| supereal | -- 11-13-2011 @ 10:07 AM |
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Yes, the heads must match the piston type. I doubt that the numbers indicate a date, as Ford commonly used a different system, with a letter denoting the year, and I've never seen a casting date on a Ford part. That doesn't mean they never did it, just that in over a half century working on old cars, it would be new to me. Even date codes on such things as glass are in the letter code, but indicate when the piece was made, usually weeks of months prior to the assembly of the vehicle.
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| wilmalcolm | -- 11-13-2011 @ 6:52 PM |
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Here are the numbers which to me look like dates on two different pairs of heads. They are, I believe, '36 heads from LB blocks. If they are dates, what do they signify? If the date of manufacture, it would seem odd that both pairs are dates a while after the manufacture of the auto or are both pairs replacements heads? Or did they belong to replacement engines? Odd. Has anyone else seen these markings? They are located near where the water pump bolts to the head, but are not so obvious when the head is attached to the block. This message was edited by wilmalcolm on 11-13-11 @ 6:54 PM
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