Help me identify these heads.

I need help identifying the heads on an engine at my local salvage yard.

See, I needed a new EGR tube because mine cracked and was leaking exhaust. I thought they might have one for cheap as the Ford dealer wanted $80 new.

I was led out to the engine storage shed and was shown a very clean 5.0 engine from a 1994. The gentleman got pretty excited when he showed me the engine. He said the wreck it came out of was nice and he heard it was a pretty fast engine but didn't know exactly what was done to it. He knew there was a cam and roller rockers, at least thats what it said on the printout he was holding. But I wanted to know if it had heads, he didn't know.

Here's the bad thing, I had to climb up three levels to get the part off that I wanted so there wasn't alot of room for examination. Also I don't know what to look for as my engine is bone stock and I've not much experience with engines. Im more knowledgeable about suspensions.

I can tell you one thing about the heads for certain, They had the letters "GT" on them in raised letters near the back of the engine and also they looked much cleaner than mine which have 160,000 miles on them. So they might be new. The engine also definitely had new valve cover gaskets so the engine has been apart just before it was put away.

Also it had the stock upper and lower intake manifold.

Are these heads anything special?

TrueBlue95GT said:

The "GT" means either GT40 or GT40P....I can't remember the difference.

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That's what I was hoping. Can anyone else tell me more about what to look for so I can be certain what I'm dealing with.

Like the angle of the spark plugs or any other casting marks I should look for when I go back?

I figured out they are iron GT-40 heads, Crane rockers, and an aftermarket cam. I'll be buying the whole engine within the week for $500. The engine has low miles on it (at least less than 160,000 like my current engine) My current engine is getting tired so now I have a new summer project. I'm gonna tear down the engine, put it back together, then when I'm done swap them.

Today I bought a package deal from a guy I know. 1993 Cobra upper and lower intake, Edelbrock 70mm TB, (8) 19lb injectors with matching MAF and aftermarket fuel rails, and a C&L cold air intake with a K&N all in good shape for $400.

$900 plus minor expenses on gaskets and assorted bolts, etc for a like new engine. Not a bad deal I think.

Let me expand a bit on what I wrote.

I don't know the history of the salvage yard engine. The only things I know for certain is it has H/C and Crane roller rockers. No Cobra intake or (It was bought by someone else) only the stock 94-95 ford (just laying on top not bolted down) But the engine is very clean and looks new.

Now, I baby my car. Every oil change I do myself and I take a little extra time cleaning under the engine bay. But as clean as I get it it still looks like its seen 13 years of use. The salvage yard engine looks to me like it has not had as much use as mine. At most it has a thorough coating of dust from sitting for a year or more in a enclosed storage shed. And a tiny bit of surface rust on a few spots that could be scrubbed off with a wire brush. I do live in Florida where there is high humidity.

As great an engine as I think it is, I'll never know what lurks underneath those heads until I take them off. What if the cylinder walls are damaged? What if the crank is scored. God forbid a crack. I don't trust an engine i cant see running, therefore I have to do an inspection. Tear down WAS probably too strong a word(s).

Also, while swapping out engines on a whim may be easy to you (which it very well may be, I don't know your level of skill) I've never done it myself on this car or any car before, only watched. But I am very mechanically inclined. I've had the entire interior and dash out more times than I can remember, installed a full Gtrac suspension, 13" F+R brakes, aluminum driveshaft, rewired the entire stereo, etc. I believe I'm definitely capable.

I want to do it once, and I want to do it right.

I won't be replacing the crank unless its bad, I don't plan on making a 500HP engine. I'll probably never even supercharge it. I'd Be happy with 300-350.

This is a budget build. I don't have thousands of dollars, but all the parts for a Cobra engine for under $1000? I just couldn't pass on these deals. Plus I can use quality Fel-Pro gaskets and have much more confidence than the stock Ford gaskets.

If all goes well I'll build the salvage yard engine to Cobra specs, Take a monday off of work just in case, start the engine removal on sat. and pray I can finish by monday

gcomfx.com said:

I would go through the engine as well. Your stock engine currently runs. So fix the one you aren't sure of, do it right. Then do the swap.

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I'm glad that someone agrees with what I said, gives me a bit more confidence.

I thought that seemed like the smarter of the two options. This way I can pop in the entire engine at once and only worry about tightening up the bolts from the header outlet to the X-pipe and the motor mounts then electrical and vacuum.

My other option was to install The H/C/I on the engine still in the car, but that started to worry me. I thought "What about the possibility of seized bolts?", "Boy, it's gonna be a bitch installing the shorty headers with the engine in the car!" and of course my engine has got a lot of miles on it.


Question: since I'll have the motor out, maybe I should get new motor mounts. Can anyone suggest a set? Low priced preferably and keep in mind this is my daily driver and though I like the suspension pretty stiff, I don't want to transfer too much vibration to the car.

I'm happy with my handling. I spent a buttload on the Steeda GTrac Suspension and Big Brakes. If money was no object............ but thanks for the input

It's definitely GT-40's. It has 3 vertical grooves. Also I took the valve covers off and it says GT underneath.