April 1968 Mark III new owner introduction

[Jberger501]

I took a look and I have DOVE C heads.

[Dan Szwarc]

JUst to be clear, the O in DOVE is actually a zero.

D for 70s
0 for zero

D0 = 1970

From this you can (typically) determine the first year a component was used or redesigned, etc.

[Jberger501]

Got it.

[1Bad55Chevy]

Sounds like either the heads have been swapped or the the motor had been swapped.

[Lee]

Useful head link
http://www.reincarnation-automotive.com ... index.html

[Jberger501]

Are there dare codes on head castings?

[1Bad55Chevy]

Are there dare codes on head castings?

The D0VE is the date code.

C= 1960s
D= 1970s
E= 1980s

The "0" in D0VE is the year it was made.

D0=1970
D1=1971
D2=1972

The factory heads on you vehicle should be dated.
C8=1968

Here is a listing of all the ford cylinder heads and the specs associated with them.
https://www.enginelabs.com/engine-tech/ ... g-numbers/

[Dan Szwarc]

Are there dare codes on head castings?

The D0VE is the date code.

C= 1960s
D= 1970s
E= 1980s

The "0" in D0VE is the year it was made.

D0=1970
D1=1971
D2=1972

The factory heads on you vehicle should be dated.
C8=1968

Here is a listing of all the ford cylinder heads and the specs associated with them.
https://www.enginelabs.com/engine-tech/ ... g-numbers/

And the VE is the Vehicle LIne (V=Lincoln) and the E is ENGINE.

If you see C9VY, That's 1969 (C9), Lincoln (V), and I forget what the Y is.

Somewhere there may be a thread on interpreting Part number codes.
You can ask the internet and there are many sites that have a lot of breakdown.

[frasern]

Well I checked my horde of 460s today, my 68 Lincoln heads are C8VE-E, 71 heads are D0VE-C, 79 F250 has D3VE A2A. These are not part numbers, but casting numbers, so its common for them to not match the year, however they can't be made earlier, so D0 are not original.

[1Bad55Chevy]

Well I checked my horde of 460s today, my 68 Lincoln heads are C8VE-E, 71 heads are D0VE-C, 79 F250 has D3VE A2A. These are not part numbers, but casting numbers, so its common for them to not match the year, however they can't be made earlier, so D0 are not original.

Are you sure the 79 has the original heads? It seems odd a set of heads would have been sitting on the floor of the factory for 6 years before being bolted to something.

[1Bad55Chevy]

I was going to add that the D0VE head has the smog ports in the cylinder head. You need to at least look to see how they have been closed off.

This pic is off Nick's car with the D0VE heads. (I circled the smog tube)

The correct way to block that off is to remove the head and use a freeze plug. On my Wife's Mark I temporarily blocked them by cutting the ends off the tube and welding them shut.

[LithiumCobalt]

Or, you can leave it the way it is and run the pump since it really does not hurt anything. Don’t understand the mentality of emissions equipment = bad. The early system on the Mark is so simple. The shop that I had redo my heads blocked those off when I had the valve work done. I didn’t think to check for that until I already had the heads back on the block. Luckily I hadn’t bolted them down yet. So I had to hoist those beasts back out just so that I could remove the freeze plugs that were installed.

[LithiumCobalt]

Well I checked my horde of 460s today, my 68 Lincoln heads are C8VE-E, 71 heads are D0VE-C, 79 F250 has D3VE A2A. These are not part numbers, but casting numbers, so its common for them to not match the year, however they can't be made earlier, so D0 are not original.

Are you sure the 79 has the original heads? It seems odd a set of heads would have been sitting on the floor of the factory for 6 years before being bolted to something.

It’s quite possible the D3 heads were the last iteration for that particular application and could have been manufactured anywhere between 73 and 79. D3 doesn’t mean they were only manufactured in ‘73.

[frasern]

I am pretty sure that '79 is original, the 3 digit suffix would suggest it went through a lot of updates, but the basic casting was retained. As for the air pump port, that may have been the difference between C8 and D0 heads, I will look closer next time I'm out there.
I know 462s have different heads with or without thermactor, so could this be the case with 460s? If so, the casting prefix and basic part # would be the same, presumably a different suffix.

[Lee]

Don’t understand the mentality of emissions equipment = bad.

It's like teaching ancient history now, but if you were a gearhead in the 70's, and trying to run a small repair shop out of your garage, you'd better understand.

First, government-mandated emissions control wasn't just the hang-on pollution controls. Reducing oxides of nitrogen and reducing hydrocarbon output required fairly drastic compression ratio reduction, as well as a reduction in camshaft duration and overlap...exactly the things that build power output. Ignition curves were no longer based on power and efficiency, but on reducing Nox. Carburetion was no longer based on smooth operation, but on minimum HC...the government even mandated little limiter caps on the idle mixture. Just in case you were a scofflaw tempted to satisfy your customer with a smoother running engine. By the late 70's, that mandate began to affect reduced engine displacement and vehicle weight, which for example, is why the 460 disappeared in '79, and we got the unlamented Versailles in exchange. God help us.

The hang-on stuff like EGR, spark control, and Thermactor air injection in the 70s were just not ready for prime time, and suffered from a lack of engineering. The vacuum controls, like spark delay valves, and mechanical systems, for example where spark advance was reduced until the car was in high gear, were just very unreliable.

As fuel injection, and computer engine controls began to come on the scene, it greatly improved drivability and efficiency while continuing to reduce emissions. But for a relatively short time span, we had to deal with bastardizations like the Variable Venturi carburetor.

Today, with engine computers and valve train controls so fast and efficient and reliable, enough to even allow production of an emissions-legal 1000+hp Dodge, you'd never know that there was a period of time that control of emissions practically killed the auto industry. I just happened to see a lot of it up close and personal.