Any difference in the ford 460 d0ve c and d0ve a heads?


Chris

Nothing.... Pretty much the same

C8VE-A, C9VE-A, D0VE-A, and D0VE-C heads are so alike that you can pretty much run any of those castings on one cylinder bank and a different casting revision on the opposite bank, such as a C8VE on the driver's side and a D0VE-C on the passenger's side...from both being in a state of as-cast to fully-ported.

What's important to remember is that when it comes to D0VE-A and D0VE-C heads, the D0VE engineering revision heads might be or might not be drilled for Thermactor (emmissions air pump), and so it's a good idea to have a matched pair as far as whether they are drilled or not.  This is not a do-or-die critical difference and one of each type of D0VE head (Thermactor/no Thermactor) can be run together in some cases after a little prep work so as to make them both more or less equalized.

LO

p.s.: C8VE-A and C9VE-A heads are never drilled for Thermactor.

Therin lies the push on these BBF heads. I always hear "you need D0VE", or "I have D0VE"........ There ARE variances you need to be aware of! Thanks Paul for eloquently illustrating that! 

What also needs to be understood is that all those heads Paul mentioned, C8, C9, and D0, are all supposed to be somewhere around 75cc Chambers. Most I've seen and measured  have been at around 67-69cc, so this will affect final, actual, compression ratio depending on deck height, gasket, etc. Same thing on D3's, etc that are supposed to be 97-100+ cc, most are really at 92-98cc. So measurement is critical, maybe, depending on the sophistication of the build. The only ones different than these, that I'm aware of, are the D2OE's, and I've only had mine to measure, but they came right in at 88cc's, close to where they're supposed to.

Just match the heads as best you can. 

Ray

That was kinda what I was saying. Everyone has D0VE on the brain. I think it stems from the days of old before good aftermarket parts were available for the 429/460. One way to ramp up power is increase compression, and that's a quick, easy, way to do it on a bone stock engine!

Today there's a plethora of aftermarket pistons to choose from, and even customs that don't cost 2 mortgage payments, for whatever heads you wanna run. Your D3's are really no different, other than chamber volume, than a thermactor boss equipped D0VE.  Intake ports are ever so slightly smaller, but if porting them? Who cares? As long as the pistons you're using end up at the final compression ratio you desire using the D3's larger volume. All can be converted easily to screw in rocker studs, if not already equipped, so there's no down side, really.

I ran my pretty heavily ported D2OE's on Moo with TRW L2443NF Pistons (Domes milled completely off......). Final compression was dangerously close to 12:1, and not quite where I envisoned it. It worked, and worked well, others I have put together used the same pistons with D3's (still well over 11:1, more like 11.5:1 or so) have run fine on GOOD GAS. Engine I'm doing right now I had .020 milled off the domes (Same pistons.........Paul and I must have found the same sale on the old TRW's..........) and have a set of D3's fresh from porting going on it for the Yellow Submarine. Hoping for a flat 11:1..........

But Port away, bud! Nothing wrong with your heads!

Ray