Doug,
I hope you aren't completely regretting having brought this subject up. It
has been, for me, an interesting excursion and maybe helpful insofar as
bringing attention to some largely overlooked information, especially the
existence of the C4OE-A 260 heads used on at least some of the Tiger 260
engines. A possible explanation for the general lack of documentation of the
"A" heads is given by Mannel:
"So, when Ford geared up for 1964 production, it recast the 260 V8 heads to
take the 289 valves while keeping the chamber volume and shape the same as
on the 1962/63 260 heads. The 260 heads using the early 289 valves were
identified by the C4OE-A casting number. Unfortunately, Ford never made this
fact known through its shop manuals. It was only included in the master
parts catalogs where accuracy on interchangeability of service parts was
essential."
The lack of general availability of the correct casting number may explain
why this mistake in Monroe's book has propagated so widely without being
recognized. I don't think there is any question at this point of the
existence of the C4OE-A heads, so at the very least, Monroe's book has an
error of omission. And, until we have some strong evidence otherwise, I
think both the evidence and logic point to the C4OE-B heads being HiPo and
only HiPo heads. The problem with the description of your heads is that it
doesn't fit any documented heads, Monroe's or Mannel's. For example, neither
Monroe nor any other reference that I am aware of show 260 heads with a 289
combustion chamber profile. I'm also not sure in what regard you think that
Mannel is "incorrect", now that the information he presents has been
confirmed. On the other hand, although understandably skeptical, he is
willing to entertain the possibility that you have a set of heads that he
hasn't documented.
It would be nice to have some definitive resolution to this controversy.
Short of removing one of your heads, all I think you can do is look for
"289" cast on your heads, probably in two places: under the valve cover and
below the exhaust ports per Tom Brandt's posting. This, of course, wouldn't
be definitive, but would be very suggestive. When was your Tiger built?
Maybe later Tigers used different heads. I think it would be really cool to
find that at least some Tigers did have unique heads, but until we have some
harder evidence I remain unconvinced.
Bob Palmer
rpalmer@ucsd.edu
robertpalmer@paulhastings.com
rpalmerbob@adelphia.net
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