383 castings intake and heads

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Terdu
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383 castings intake and heads

Post by Terdu »

Hi guys,

I'm busy gathering (and reconditioning) original parts for my 383, for a 1967 Interceptor.
I've ordered the books from Calver, and maybe the info is in there, but i'm hoping to get some input from the hive-mind of the Jensen community here.
Does anyone know what exact head castings were original for the 1967 383's? Same for the intake manifold?

I did figure out the 4131s carb, but can't find anything on the forum on the heads and intake. Also the pictures of the vignale and sincars available don't seem to give me much clarity yet.
Found a Vignale built LHD MK1 in South Africa, Sincar #15, chassis 117/2592.
On a long and winding road to restore it back to original condition. :shock:
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johnw
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Re: 383 castings intake and heads

Post by johnw »

913 castings for the heads. You might get them from a CV8 owner who has swapped their heads to alloy.
Have you seen our stolen Jensen FF 119/011 https://twitter.com/jensenffdotcom
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Terdu
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Re: 383 castings intake and heads

Post by Terdu »

awesome, thanks. i was reading alot on 906's, but they appeared to be later models only.
Any idea about the intake maybe as well? :roll:

Edit: Based on your heads casting nr, and some hefty google use, I found a spreadsheet with all casting numbers of Chrysler used in the 60s, and corresponding heads used, long/short block assembly codes etc.
From that document though, I looked up my block number (highlighted in yellow). The table suggests that 906 heads were used on that block casting nr, but also 516&780 in earlier years.

The heads number you were pointing out, seems to only be related to 413 blocks.

Is there some mix-up happening you think? Or did the Jensen blocks come custom built/assembled by chrysler, and were mixed/matched differently from their OEM usages?
Block heads.PNG
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Block heads 2.PNG
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Last edited by Terdu on Wed Apr 07, 2021 9:07 am, edited 2 times in total.
Found a Vignale built LHD MK1 in South Africa, Sincar #15, chassis 117/2592.
On a long and winding road to restore it back to original condition. :shock:
RichardGibson
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Re: 383 castings intake and heads

Post by RichardGibson »

Hi Terdu
I have the original cast iron intake manifold from my mk2 Interceptor 383 motor. I swapped it out for a cast aluminium intake manifold when I discovered that a previous owner had installed an Edelbrock Webber carb.
It leaks exhaust gas from a blanking plate due to corrosion but should be repairable.
If you are interested please let me know.
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Richard
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johnw
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Re: 383 castings intake and heads

Post by johnw »

Hmm. I think I should have said 915 heads. That is the 1967 only year according to Google, closed chamber head with small valves.

They do give the engine a particularly crisp feel, and a nice exhaust note that makes Ferrari owner jealous!
Have you seen our stolen Jensen FF 119/011 https://twitter.com/jensenffdotcom
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Terdu
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Re: 383 castings intake and heads

Post by Terdu »

Thanks John, that helps. Is the 2780915 the heads you'd like to use on a 67, and period correct? Or the heads that were supplied originally?

Reason I'm asking is that there were plenty heads produced in parallels in those years, and I can't seem to find any examples that the 915 were supplied with 383's. (only 440) I'll keep digging, thanks!
Found a Vignale built LHD MK1 in South Africa, Sincar #15, chassis 117/2592.
On a long and winding road to restore it back to original condition. :shock:
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Chris_R
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Re: 383 castings intake and heads

Post by Chris_R »

Jensen bought complete engine and transmission assemblies from Chrysler. They actually came from Chrysler in Canada rather than the USA for import duty reasons, Canada being part of the Commonwealth. David Millard (Service Manager & Director of JML) once told me they were the 330bhp Police spec engines from either the Dodge Coronet or Dodge Dart. Yours is a "B" series Chrysler engine made between about September 1965 and September 1966, that's the "B" in your engine number. Chrysler model years ran from around September to September and "B" is the code for the 1966 model year starting September 1965. As you've found there are tables out there which detail casting codes and the years they apply to.
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FFPL
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Re: 383 castings intake and heads

Post by FFPL »

Terdu wrote: Wed Apr 07, 2021 9:30 am Thanks John, that helps. Is the 2780915 the heads you'd like to use on a 67, and period correct? Or the heads that were supplied originally?

Reason I'm asking is that there were plenty heads produced in parallels in those years, and I can't seem to find any examples that the 915 were supplied with 383's. (only 440) I'll keep digging, thanks!
I have 915s on my 68 FF 383. This is a C series engine (67).
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Re: 383 castings intake and heads

Post by johnw »

FFPL wrote: Wed Apr 07, 2021 12:56 pm
Terdu wrote: Wed Apr 07, 2021 9:30 am Thanks John, that helps. Is the 2780915 the heads you'd like to use on a 67, and period correct? Or the heads that were supplied originally?
I can't seem to find any examples that the 915 were supplied with 383's. (only 440) I'll keep digging, thanks!
I have 915s on my 68 FF 383. This is a C series engine (67).
The 1967 Vignale FF I saw the 915 heads on was the GKN/FF development's Chairmans old car. It is an F reg, so late 67. It was back to the factory a lot according to the Chassis file. The engine number had something like 19B in it as I recall. He may well have had the heads changed then.
Have you seen our stolen Jensen FF 119/011 https://twitter.com/jensenffdotcom
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Re: 383 castings intake and heads

Post by Chris_R »

19B on an engine number simply means it was fitted in an FF (119 series chassis) and Chrysler B model year (1966). The first part of the engine number is simply Jensen's own sequence numbering and has no relationship to the chassis number or the car it was fitted to. Engines were not fitted in sequence.
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johnw
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Re: 383 castings intake and heads

Post by johnw »

Ha Terdu,

I found the link too... http://www.enginepartswarehouse.com/eng ... -DODGE.PDF
As a footnote it says, Standard performance engines only for 383-400 etc see page 101, which is not in the pdf!

The 915 casting is not listed as used on any 383 in that list. So it does seem to be a performance only (ie 4BBL carb) fit.

I believe the 915 was used on CV8's too. Zac was selling a set on ebay for £1. I bid them up to £50 as there we no serious bids and I didn't want anyone weighing them in for scrap!

Also, you have to check your starter motor and distributor date codes as well! I pulled our dead starter motor, and found the date code dead in range for an original! A small amount of soldering inside and it went back on working. It is so nice when you strip it down, to find part numbers and date codes correct!
Have you seen our stolen Jensen FF 119/011 https://twitter.com/jensenffdotcom
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Terdu
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Re: 383 castings intake and heads

Post by Terdu »

haha yes, that's one of the sources I found indeed. There's another list with less details that does indeed show the 915 castings, and used on 383s 4 barrels. However, again only for 1967-onwards (chrysler manufacturing date).
The original engine block date I have is actually a 1965 motor, which is not impossible. (built in november 1965, delivered to Jensen in 1966, installed in a Vignale that was finished in 1967)
I think the most likely candidate for my motor would be 516 heads, but i'll want to do a bit more digging. I know a nice Sincar with similar prodcution dates that is more original than mine that might be able to assist.

My dizzy and starter are definitly not original (either) so we'll have to do a whole lot of searching there too. All good fun to trace back!
Found a Vignale built LHD MK1 in South Africa, Sincar #15, chassis 117/2592.
On a long and winding road to restore it back to original condition. :shock:
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Chris_R
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Re: 383 castings intake and heads

Post by Chris_R »

November 1965 fits with the Chrysler 1966 dating code "B" model.
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cwaltke
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Re: 383 castings intake and heads

Post by cwaltke »

117/2609 was 1967 and had the 516 heads. Not sure about the engine number right now. I may have a look for the carb nr for you the next days.

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Richard Calver
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Re: 383 castings intake and heads

Post by Richard Calver »

Jasper, get a Year One reprint of the Mopar B-series book. The amount of information is huge, most of it irrelevant to a Jensen, but vital on both engine and transmission. People tend to think only of the motor when considering a model year but the gearboxes change every year too. For what you intend, you want only 1966 specific bits, unless they are carried forward unchanged to later model years, in which case you could consider C and D series, etc.
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