Question about cyl head

[mcglsr2]

hey everyone, i picked up a head off a car in the yard a little before christmas as a candidate for a porting job. the car i got it from was a TBI shadow. as for year, i thought 90's or later. i need to head back to the yard to get the VIN from the vehicle so i can be sure. anyway, here's why i'm confused:

the head was clean looking, so i figured it was the one for me. as i said, it came out of a TBI car with a roller cam. since the head was post 89 (i thought), i wouldn't be able to use my slider since the cam tower caps wouldn't have the oil squirters machined into them. also, the head should be a non-tapered shroud head (since it wasn't a turbo).

well, i took the head in to get it disassembled so i can get it ported, and i was looking it over here before i sent it off. i looked at the cam tower caps, and what do you know, it's got oil squirters. i scratched my head on that. i checked my info on donovan's site regarding the years - that means (assuming the tower caps weren't swapped) that this head is 88 or earlier...??? also, there's a "TS" stamped by cylinder #1 (NOT by cylinder #4 where thedodgegarage shows it) - so i'm wondering if this head is indeed a TS head...? for what it's worth, the valve cover was sealed with RTV AND a cork something-or-other, which i have been told comes that way from the factory. i personally have never used anything other then RTV (and the VC end seals) on the valve cover.

so what gives with this head? it did look super clean on the car. and i am making an assumption that the car was a 90's or later, i don't know for sure. i took some pics:

the stamped "TS" - does this mean tapered shroud? note the location, the VC bolt hole right by the A/C bolt hole:
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l248/mcglsr2/Shelby/Engine%20Bay/Head/03portedhead.jpg

here's a picture of the valve seat area, i don't know what a TS head looks like, i'm sure several of you guys do though...
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l248/mcglsr2/Shelby/Engine%20Bay/Head/04portedhead.jpg

and lastly, the oil squirters on the cam tower caps:
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l248/mcglsr2/Shelby/Engine%20Bay/Head/05portedhead.jpg

so what do you guys think? what's going on here?

[tvanlant]

The dodge garage is quite wrong on most of the head casting info.
Most of the roller cam head castings still had oil squirters.
The TS stamp on your head is actually a more common location than on the side of the head.
Even some of the heads that had the TS stamp were NOT tapered.
Even some of the heads that did not have the TS stamp WERE tapered.
Yes, that head does have a tapered shroud.
That head is a 93 casting.
One thing to check on the 1993 castings.... does it have two holes on the driver's side of the thermostat housing? On earlier castings, there are two holes, one is for the heater, one is for the turbo coolant. For TBI heads, the factory just used a plug in the hole for the turbo line. However, in 93, some of the castings no longer had the hole for the turbo, just the one for the heater.

[turbovanman²]

Wow, thats a nice clean casting, :thumb:

The squirters are a tough call as Dodge still had to make heads for older cars aswell, so its really potluck on what go what and to make matters worse, most mechanics, head repair shops just mix and match as they have no idea about turbo heads, TS etc. :(

[mcglsr2]

However, in 93, some of the castings no longer had the hole for the turbo, just the one for the heater.

good catch, it just has the one hole. does that mean i am screwed, or is it easy enough to have a hole drilled and tapped? is it as simple as that? i can have my machinist do that if necessary.

so i assume then that the cam i have is also a 93 roller. that also means this car had a TBI with a tapered shroud. hmm. despite the TS, i can assume that it did not have turbo springs and exhaust valves then, correct?


Wow, thats a nice clean casting, :thumb:


yah no joke. granted it got cleaned up when it was hot tanked, but the color didn't change much - meaning it didn't go from dirty grime to pretty silver. it was mostly pretty silver to start with. that's what drew me to it in the yard. :)

thanks for your help guys! :D

[tvanlant]

good catch, it just has the one hole. does that mean i am screwed, or is it easy enough to have a hole drilled and tapped? is it as simple as that? i can have my machinist do that if necessary.

so i assume then that the cam i have is also a 93 roller. that also means this car had a TBI with a tapered shroud. hmm. despite the TS, i can assume that it did not have turbo springs and exhaust valves then, correct?


Yep, just drill and tap a hold in the proper location and you're fine. Hopefully you have another head around that you can get an exact location from.

Like I said, don't consider the dodge garage's info to be entirely accurate. TS and being a turbo head really doesn't have any connection, like the garage says, so don't think too hard about that. Also, as the garage is wrong, on the newer heads, there is usually no difference between turbo and NA springs and valves. You are probably correct that the cam is a 93 TBI cam, which is actually a pretty good cam.

[mcglsr2]

Yep, just drill and tap a hold in the proper location and you're fine. Hopefully you have another head around that you can get an exact location from.

Like I said, don't consider the dodge garage's info to be entirely accurate. TS and being a turbo head really doesn't have any connection, like the garage says, so don't think too hard about that. Also, as the garage is wrong, on the newer heads, there is usually no difference between turbo and NA springs and valves. You are probably correct that the cam is a 93 TBI cam, which is actually a pretty good cam.

excellent, thanks for the info on the cam. this is the one i will end up running in the head after i get it ported (i believe this cam is a 236/232 with an overlap of 8).

i can use the current head in the car for reference, or another option is my machinist has quiet a few 2.2s that he's building up, so i'm sure he can use those for reference.

hmm, not sure what to do about the springs and valves. i know i can get turbo valves from the machinist, i was planning on getting new springs. i guess i will go ahead and do that, better safe then sorry. at least i'll know for sure. the springs don't have a part number cast into them, do they?

also, anyone have any thoughts on the #4 coolant mod? is that something i should really look into?

[turbovanman²]

excellent, thanks for the info on the cam. this is the one i will end up running in the head after i get it ported (i believe this cam is a 236/232 with an overlap of 8).

i can use the current head in the car for reference, or another option is my machinist has quiet a few 2.2s that he's building up, so i'm sure he can use those for reference.

hmm, not sure what to do about the springs and valves. i know i can get turbo valves from the machinist, i was planning on getting new springs. i guess i will go ahead and do that, better safe then sorry. at least i'll know for sure. the springs don't have a part number cast into them, do they?

also, anyone have any thoughts on the #4 coolant mod? is that something i should really look into?

The hole is easily done.

As for springs, your machinist should be able to check your springs very easily. I do sell a comp cams replacement, 115 closed, 284 open, $70

As for valves, new ones are cheap, why risk it and if your porting it, you should step up to +1mm stainless anyhow.

The #4 mod is a good upgrade.