All Small Six 1963 144 Head Identification

[Rheacox]

I've been working on the assumption that the head on my 144 is the one that's been on it since it rolled off the line but now I'm wondering if it's been swapped.

Rebuilt the engine 3000 miles ago and been very happy with it. I think it has plenty of power, runs smooth, etc. I decided to do a compression test just to make sure everything is even and it is... at 105psi on each cylinder +/-2ish psi. So that works out to a whopping 7.5:1 compression.

Code on the head is C3DE-6090-G. This is a 63 144 with a block code of C3DE-6015-E. I figured this is the right head based on the codes but was I wrong? I know these had a steel shim head gasket originally and the new ones are thicker but would that really drop the comp. ratio from 8.7 to 7.5? I'm guessing this is probably what's going on but I'm surprised it changed this much. The head was decked enough to flatten it out and the block was bored .040 over, deck wasn't touched.

I also know the shop manual states these came in low compression variants (my vin tag says this should be an 8.7 head though), what was the compression ratio with the low comp. head?

Anyway, the car runs too nice to do anything about it now, this is really just to satisfy my own curiosity.

 

[powerband]

".. happy with it. I think it has plenty of power, runs smooth, etc. I decided to do a compression test j"

can't get too optimistic with the 144 but be sure your testing methods are verifiable. Static test of cyl compression at 105psi each would have noticeable drivability problems I think '.

have fun

 

[bubba22349]

To know if you have an original 144 Six Block and Head you could locate the Casting Date Codes (See The Below Picture for what they look like) they will have two to three numbers and one Letter and these will tell you the exact day that Ford Cast those parts at the Ford Engine Foundry.

X2 Wow have to agree with "powerband" I think you are giving up a lot of the 144's original stock power, torque, as well as the excellent economy they were know for, and they didn't have that much to spare! To get to 8.7 to Compression Ratio with a 144 Six using the late Style Composition Head Gasket's (the Head needs to have at least a .025 cut to compensate for that thicker head gasket. I don't suppose that you measured how far the pistons set below the block deck but my guess is that its at least .019 down and the rebuilder replacement Pistons don't match Ford's Pin Height Spec so that drops them down below the deck even more too. Your the Block Deck would need to be Zero Decked with a 144 head Combustion Chamber (C.B.) that measured in at 43 CC's. Or not knowing how far those replacement Pistons are setting below the block deck (my best guess is that they are at least at .030 down the hole) if they are left that way then the Head's C.B. CC's would need to be Milled down to 38 CC's to get you at 8.7 to 1 this would be a dramatic difference in your 144's performance and a good boost in its economy too. Best of luck

 

[Rheacox]

To know if you have an original 144 Six Block and Head you could locate the Casting Date Codes (See The Below Picture for what they look like) they will have two to three numbers and one Letter and these will tell you the exact day that Ford Cast those parts at the Ford Engine Foundry.

X2 Wow have to agree with "powerband" I think you are giving up a lot of the 144's original stock power, torque, as well as the excellent economy they were know for, and they didn't have that much to spare! To get to 8.7 to Compression Ratio with a 144 Six using the late Style Composition Head Gasket's (the Head needs to have at least a .025 cut to compensate for that thicker head gasket. I don't suppose that you measured how far the pistons set below the block deck but my guess is that its at least .019 down and the rebuilder replacement Pistons don't match Ford's Pin Height Spec so that drops them down below the deck even more too. Your the Block Deck would need to be Zero Decked with a 144 head Combustion Chamber (C.B.) that measured in at 43 CC's. Or not knowing how far those replacement Pistons are setting below the block deck (my best guess is that they are at least at .030 down the hole) if they are left that way then the Head's C.B. CC's would need to be Milled down to 38 CC's to get you at 8.7 to 1 this would be a dramatic difference in your 144's performance and a good boost in its economy too. Best of luck

For the casting date code, is there a reference book to see what was cast on what day?

As far as the pistons, they are NOS .040 Ford pistons so they should be right in spec. I can't remember how much he said he milled the head but I think it was around .010, obviously not enough to compensate for the thicker gasket (which I didn't know about at the time).

For the test result accuracy, I'm realizing now that I didn't have the throttle wedged open when I did my testing which would drop the numbers a bit. But also I'm wondering if the tester is accurate, it's a cheap amazon compression tester and I've only used it a couple times before on small engines.

I'm leaning more towards that now because it really does perform pretty damn well given what I've read about the 144. I'll have to do some 0-60 runs to see if it's in line with the period testing but she'll keep right up on the highway. Even on hills I can hold 70-75 and given enough courage she'll hit 95. Fuel economy is okay from what I have roughly measured, I'm in the mid 20's with mixed driving and my foot in it a lot of the time.

 

[bubba22349]

For the casting date code, is there a reference book to see what was cast on what day?

As far as the pistons, they are NOS .040 Ford pistons so they should be right in spec. I can't remember how much he said he milled the head but I think it was around .010, obviously not enough to compensate for the thicker gasket (which I didn't know about at the time).

For the test result accuracy, I'm realizing now that I didn't have the throttle wedged open when I did my testing which would drop the numbers a bit. But also I'm wondering if the tester is accurate, it's a cheap amazon compression tester and I've only used it a couple times before on small engines.

I'm leaning more towards that now because it really does perform pretty damn well given what I've read about the 144. I'll have to do some 0-60 runs to see if it's in line with the period testing but she'll keep right up on the highway. Even on hills I can hold 70-75 and given enough courage she'll hit 95. Fuel economy is okay from what I have roughly measured, I'm in the mid 20's with mixed driving and my foot in it a lot of the time.

I don't know about any reference books just on the Casting Date Codes but its in lots of books on Restoration or in the older Manuals. Its not very hard to decode it though things I learned from other old time Mechanics growing up and when working on the Ford Assembly Line in Southern California in my younger years as well as having a number of numbers matching cars over the years. For a 1963 Ford Year model the build dates can possibly range from Mid July 1962 to maybe end of June 1963 so a code could look like this 2 F or a T then 14 to 31 this decodes as G (First Year) or U (for Second Year) these would be for the Month of July then 14 to 31 for double digit Days and 2 for the year of 1962 like this 2F31 July 31, 1962 this would be for an early Model Year assembled car. A late Production 1963 Year Model could look something like this 3 E or S and a single digit 0 1 to 9 like 3E9 this would decode as May 9th, 1963.

 

[Rheacox]

Ah okay, I gotcha now. So if the numbers all jive it's a good assumption that the head is correct. So the head is 2L27 or 11/27/62 which fits perfectly with the 12/18/62 build date of the car so I'm more confident that this is the correct head and my test equipment just isn't accurate.

 

[bubba22349]

Yes exactly this varies some depending on how fast the assembly line is running. so back then if the casting numbers were within from approx. 3 to 5 weeks of the Car or Trucks Build date they are likely Original to the car.