Were 14102187 heads ever used on a productin TPI 5.0 Lb9 motor? I know that TPI 5.0 Lb9's got 14101081 heads. A shop mechanic in my town who is rebuilding my motor has put 14102187 heads on there and has told me that they are production replacement heads and the differences is the casting date. I know this is absolutely false and made up. That they are the same exact head.

He refuses to put them on, unless I pay him to put them back on. Eventhough he is rebuilding to stock specifications, but the heads are not TPI spec.

 

Nope, never were. He's wrong, and had better make it right.

Why didn't he rebuild your original heads and put them back on? Could it be that he knows 081's are the better head, and wants yours for himself (or a favorite customer)? Could it be he's a crook?

 

I am not even familiar with what a 187 head even is. To my knowledge all the TPI 305s got 081s or 416s. Is a 187 a TBI head or an early 305 head from the late 70s?

 

looking it up they're swirlies

 

so they are the TBI heads and you want to get as far away from them as you can.

 

Same heads my 88 IROC had, only it WAS a 350. Makes no sense.... Car came with it all but it still pull like no other. Guess that is why the rear sway bar was broken and the rear end made a loud clank when shifting the car left and right.

 

Well, the mechanic agreed with me when I showed him a bunch of printed out internet sites. So they are removing the 187's and putting in my old 081's. Whew!!!

I hate shops!!

 

It's 083's that were put in.

 

I'd take the stock 187s over stock 081s anyday of the week.

 

Well...that about says it all

You've got to be confused

 

Maybe not. Perhaps he's going fishing in a muddy bottom river, and needs the extra iron for the disposable anchors. iunno...

 

I still say the mechanic is being truthful. They are a perfectly suitable replacement for your TPI. They have the same bolt pattern, same valve size, same combustion chamber CC, similar flow numbers, etc.

I actually put a pair of 083s on a TBI 350 truck in the shop, per the owners request. He later mentioned that it ran better with the 193s. I had to bump the timing to 6* and the fuel pressure up to 14 just so that it would run correctly and not bog off-idle. FWIW, I used WinALDL and logged it, the BLMs were pretty close after the fuel pressure increase and there were NO knock counts to speak of).

Notice that I put emphasis on STOCK. The stock 187s per Dewey 316s testing and for that fact MINE have made more HP and TQ from idle-4,500 on engines with stock/mild cams than the 081 style ones have, while using less fuel. Combine that with the stock TPI intake, stock cam specs, and stockish exhaust and you still come out ahead IMO. Now if you are trying to break 300 FWHP with a 305, port some 601s and put them on. The 601s are better than the 081s as far as power goes. If you read "How to Build Max Performance Small-Blocks", David Vizard's experience shows a 20-30 ft/lbs gain through-out the powerband with the 601s closed chamber style combustion chamber, the 416/081/187s lack this as well.