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By grovedawg - 15 Years Ago
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Hey everyone. I'm new to the forum and excited to get my project underway. I found you through the jalopy journal, and I think some of you are over there as well. I'm converting a 55 Ford F350 to an F100 and would love to bore my 292, and use 312 heads.
There are two up on eBay right now, and I'm not sure if the price is right. Any suggestions on a guidline for buying used 312 heads. They're both asking 350. Thanks for helping a new guy out with a basic question. Grovedawg
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By Oldmics - 15 Years Ago
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$350.00 sounds a bit high but it depends on what it is. Post up the auction number and lets see what is being sold so that we can advise you properly. The best to start off with are the ECZ G heads. Oldmics
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By grovedawg - 15 Years Ago
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http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200425890808&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT
They are the ECG heads. I don't know from what year of thunderbird. He also says they've been magnafluxed to check for cracks, and they're still good. What'd y'all think?
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By charliemccraney - 15 Years Ago
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Sounds high to me. Will they have to be shipped, too? The G head is not specific to the 312. They were installed on most '57 Y-Blocks. Don't pay more because they are advertised as 312 and Thunderbird heads.
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By grovedawg - 15 Years Ago
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How can I tell what it's from? Are there other casting numbers that will identify it as a Thunderbird 312 head? Or am I SOL?
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By aussiebill - 15 Years Ago
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Grovedawg, go to john mummerts site, ford-y-block.com, the Tec section has all the head info and more..
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By 55Birdman - 15 Years Ago
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I bought a pair of 113 heads for $75 last year. With the machne work total cost was 390.00. I paid 200.00 for a set of finished ECZ-G heads complete with rockers. Lucky find there. $ 350 is a bit much. me thinks
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By Hoosier Hurricane - 15 Years Ago
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ECG heads are '55, and there were no 312s in '55. I'll sell you a pair of ECG for a LOT less than $350.
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By Oldmics - 15 Years Ago
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After taking a gander at the auction,I think that those heads are not Thunderbird specific. T Bird heads have a larger casting size of the ECZ-G.Those appear to be the smaller casting. They would be for pretty much any 1957 Ford "Y" block engine. They are compleate and magnafluxed so its not an unreasonable price tag. But once you add shipping and machine work to get them up to snuff its a considerable chunk of change. I would either make the seller an offer  ($250.00) or keep looking. Oldmics
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By mctim64 - 15 Years Ago
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You may have to be a little patient but I have come across "G" heads for $150 in good shape, just hit the swap meets and LOOK. '57 F-100s with 272s often have "G" heads, so don't jump at the first ones you see. Also watch for cracks across the combustion chamber into an intake port, very common. Oh, and the smaller lettering (ecz-g) is a Dearborn casting so they wont be posted, not bad heads but not worth a premium price. IMHO
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By Hoosier Hurricane - 15 Years Ago
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Tim: To add to your post, there were never any "T-Bird Specific" heads. Any heads found on a Bird could be found somewhere in the passenger and truck lines. Back in the day, obtaining a pair of '55 T-Bird heads was desired, but the '55 passenger 4 barrel engines used the same heads. !.78 valves and more compression than 2 barrel heads.
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By Oldmics - 15 Years Ago
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Hoosier Your correct about there never was a specific head manufactured for T Birds but the large casting letters were the only heads installed onto T Bird engines. These large casting ECZ-G letters style head were installed onto other engines not slated for Thunderbirds.But T Birds always got the big casting style if they were 57 ECZ-G. Oldmics
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By Hoosier Hurricane - 15 Years Ago
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Oldmics: Thanks for that information. I never knew that. John
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By 46yblock - 15 Years Ago
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Oldmics (1/15/2010)
Hoosier Your correct about there never was a specific head manufactured for T Birds but the large casting letters were the only heads installed onto T Bird engines. These large casting ECZ-G letters style head were installed onto other engines not slated for Thunderbirds.But T Birds always got the big casting style if they were 57 ECZ-G. Oldmics Oldmics, can you please describe what you mean by large casting letters? Would the letters be larger than say 113 numbers. Am curious whether my G heads MAY have come from a T bird.
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By aussiebill - 15 Years Ago
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46yblock, If i remember correctly, the small letter ECZ heads were cast in Dearborn, noted with DIF casting mark and the large letters were cast in Canada noted by CF mark. Regards bill.
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By BIGREDTODD - 15 Years Ago
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To reply to the original subject, you'll probably be able to find your heads for much less cost by finding a complete engine in a '57-59 car or truck... Another point about buying heads that are "done". Without receipts from a reputable machinist, I won't throw anything on an engine. When it comes to machine work, I want to do it once. This means I probably overspend compared to what I really need, but I really like good baselines for reference. "G" heads really seem relatively common. Sometimes the seller is just really proud of them, even though they could have as likely come from a '57 F-250 or a taxi cab as a 'Bird...
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By Oldmics - 15 Years Ago
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I knew you guys were gonna make me go out and measure those castings.  Bird Head  measurements are .440-.450 on the letters. Dont know the size of the 113 cast.Please be good enough to measure and post it up. Large casting ECZ-G were cast at Cleveland (hello Cleveland  ) Small casting ECZ-G came from Detroit Iron Foundry. Oldmics
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By grovedawg - 15 Years Ago
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Thanks so much for the info. I think I'm going to try to salvage a pair locally. It's more fun to scavange a little anyway! Thanks again.
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By 46yblock - 15 Years Ago
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Oldmics (1/15/2010)
I knew you guys were gonna make me go out and measure those castings. Bird Head measurements are .440-.450 on the letters. Dont know the size of the 113 cast.Please be good enough to measure and post it up. Large casting ECZ-G were cast at Cleveland (hello Cleveland ) Small casting ECZ-G came from Detroit Iron Foundry. Oldmics The 113 numbers are .40 in. tall. Checked the heads today. Thought I had done it before, but apparently looked at the ID on the same head twice. Disappointed in finding one Bird G head and a C head. The G has 1.78 intakes. Both heads otherwise seem very good and have been thoroughly worked over.
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By NoShortcuts - 15 Years Ago
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Tim on Jan. 15th, 2010 says:
Oh, and the smaller lettering (ecz-g) is a Dearborn casting so they wont be posted, not bad heads but not worth a premium price. IMHO
In my geographic area, (New York state) it seems that I see more large letter 'G' heads than the small letter ones. I like the positioning of the bowl relative to the intake valve on the small letter heads compared to the large letter 'G' heads. From my inspection of small letter and large letter 'G' heads, the cores were different for both the intake and exhaust passageways although the combustion chambers are the same.
Were the small letter Dearborn casting 'G' heads most often used on a particular engine designation, like a '57 272 truck engine. Or, were they used most often by a particular assembly plant?
Thanks for any info. on this topic. 
Regards,
NoShortcuts
Syracuse, New York
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By Glen Henderson - 15 Years Ago
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Mike, look again at the head that you think is a G, some times the C's look like G's. I don't think they (Ford) ever made a G head with 1.78" intakes. Sounds as if you have a pair of C's. For anyone going to Columbus and want to compare the heads side by side, I am bringing big letter G's, small letter G's, early and late C's and an odd 113 along with a set of B9TE service replacement heads. The B9TE's were replacements for the 471's.
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By Y block Billy - 15 Years Ago
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The small letter ECZ-G are Dearborn Indistrial Foundry (not Detroit) DIF designation. Sometimes the casting of the letters ECZ-G is upsidedown. (I have a set like this) I do beleive they are Posted since they are later dated heads. According to JM the exhaust flowed a little better on the small letter Dearborn G's than the large letter G's. I read on one post he has gotten the most HP out of small letter G's. The large letter are Cleveland Foundry, CF in the circle (Not Canada) Small letter feel more stout to me, I wonder if somebody could do some sonic testing and see if there are any areas of significant differences, thicker chamber roofs??? would be interesting to know.
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