FE head question

[69rangerf100]

ok i have been doing some googling on the stock heads that i have the casting number on them are C6AE - R from what i have seen is that they are referred to as the poor mans cobra jet heads can anyone shed some light on this?

[JEF199]

you got it. They are as close to cj heads you can get. drill and tap the exh. bolt holes and larger valves, thats it. On a truck I don't know that they are nessasary, the larger ports and valves aren't going to do much below 4500 rpm

[hotrodfeguy]

I dont think the R heads are that wild that you would have to worry about bottom end power loss. Maybe on the original engine they came on and were designed for the 352. But not on a larger 390. I would agree they are prolly among the best std FE head. But then again its still a std head. The larger CJ vlaves help out all the heads across the board.

[69rangerf100]

to my knowledge these are the original heads for the engine has been in my family since it was new and my dad only changed the intake and carb.

[FORDification]

You didn't state what engine they're on, but those heads were never installed on a '67-newer truck engine.

[69rangerf100]

sorry it is a 390, the original engine that was in the truck was a 390 but all i know about that engine was that the block at some point cracked so my dad swapped the engine from the 69 LTD that he bought brand new and swapped all the truck parts over the LTD engine

[hotrodfeguy]

I have only seen R heads on 66 352's

[hazelnut]

C6AE-R these heads are 1966-67 352 engine only with 71-74cc chambers, Im thinking that these heads are not good performance heads because if they were they would have been used on other FE engines (390-428) but as being a 352 only in 1966-7. the "R" does not mean racing or high performance its just a casting number. The C6AE-RVL casting is a 1966 352-390 head meaning it has a better flow for larger C.I.D.i would buy a book that gives you casting numbers as you can see what you have and not spend your money on parts that are not what you are wanting to build.bad info could cost you lots of money in the long run."Ford engine parts interchange" by george reid, i think is a good book and will give you good info on ford parts and interchange.

[69rangerf100]

i appreciate the info guy. what is ya'lls take on the 390 gt heads and does anyone possible know the casting numbers on them

[JEF199]

From everything I have read the C6AE-R heads (I have 3 sets) are the best stock head to the CJ heads. And work great on a 428. The ports are the same as cj's and they can be drilled for mustang exh. But your heads intake and exh have to match the driving/hp that you want

[BobbyFord]

I just peeped at a set of GT heads on my shelf and they are C8AE-H with GT exhaust bolt pattern. I believe the heads on my Mustang are C7-something but I can't get to my car right now (my garage space sux).

[Hawkrod]

C8AE-H heads were used on all cars and trucks from 68-71 on 360 and 390's as well as low performance 428's and 428 PI's. They are all the same except for final machine work for exhaust bolts and assembly. GT heads have a 14 bolt exhaust bolt pattern while regular car and truck heads have an 8 bolt pattern. You can do some work and make 8 bolt heads fit the GT manifolds but it isn't as easy as you would expect because on the GT version the outer upper holes were drilled lower than on the 8 bolt heads (this is true of 66 and 67 GT heads as well). All came with the same size valves but the springs varied by application. The 67 GT heads were usually C7AE-A and were used on almost all 67 352, 390, 410 and 428's including the PI and Shelby GT500 and have the same story as the C8AE-H as far as fitment. There were some C6AE heads used in early 67 including the C6AE-R mentioned earlier but most 67's are C7AE-A. In 66 there were actually a bunch of heads and the ports varied a bit, it is almost as if that was the year that Ford was working heavily on head design for FE's! Hawkrod