I have heads that are out of a 92 Caprice Cop Car. They have been decked, valves are 1.94/ 1.50 and machined and has springs to handle .500'' of lift. They are fairly built. What I need to know is, what kind of heads are these? They were on the car when I bought it. I have a Comp 280 H magnum cam I want to put in her today, and am not sure how these heads will do with it. I have a performer intake, edelbrock 650 carb, and headers with full exhaust, so I know everything is up to par, but maybe not the heads. Thanks for the help.

-Justin

 

Whats the casting number?

 

193 are the last 3 digits

 

Those are the imfamous swirl port heads. Do a search.

 

Don't use those heads for anthing resembling performance. Instead sell them to a 4X4 guy that wants some low-end power.

 

i hear they make good boat anchors.

 

I have an 88 caprice cop car. Let's put it this way. I'm saving up for new heads.

 

...As long as they are clean. You don't want the DNR or EPA all over you for dumping greasy stuff in the lake.

Actually, if you find a BFH and crack the rocker studs out of them, they make decent 23° wheel chocks.

Just because they came from a car that was sold to the cops, they aren't necessarily any different parts than those sold to your grandmother. The "Police Interceptor" packages haven't been any different than anything else since at least the '80s, and probably before. The engines, transmissons, etc, are no better than any other car. They sometimes have a little heavier frame (like the 9C1 Caprice), and likely a larger alternator, oil cooler, trans cooler, donut holder, and cheap interior, but essentially are no different except for the plastic "Police Interceptor" tag. Oddly, only Ford uses that designation any more, and those are among the slug-like, battleship-nimble vehicles on the road, more dangerous at pursuit speeds than nost of the things they might happen to be chasing.

Dump the heads, the cam, the exhaust, the TBI, the programming, and rear gears, and you may have something.

 

well they already have the machine work, bowl porting, the roller rockers, and can handle the 280 H cam. So, I guess I'll just deal with them for now. Thanks for the info

 

Well were the little swirl tabs, or whatever the technical term is, ground down at least?

 

where would those be at? I got the car apart right now, in the middle of the cam swap actually.

 

This image was posted a bit ago by AJ, i hope he doesnt mind me reposting for him.

The arrows indicate the swirl direction implied upon the air flow by the tabs. The circle simply shows the 193 casting.

 

yeah, its smooth right there. well not completly smooth but pretty close to it. Does that give me anything better to work with?

 

Anything that is done to reduce the protrusions on the intake port increases flow. The only way to verify how MUCH it increases is by having them flow tested. So it will be better than before, how MUCH better, only a flowbench can tell.

 

If your heads have been bowl ported, the ramps may have been cut down enough to help the flow. It all depends on how much the bowls were opened, and how well the transition between the valve bowls and port runners was done. The top of this example shows stock "swirl" ports and partially cut down ports":



If yours were cut at least this much (preferably more) you may have decent flow. Another consideration is the chamber volume and piston design. Keep tabs on your final static compression and your goal.

 

Yeah, mine looks like that second picture you posted. I have flat top pistons and the compression is right about 10.5 :1. I just want these to be able to handle 350hp around 5200 rpm, and around 350 tq from about 2500 to 5000.