[transam1972]

thanks 71WARBIRD..I am guessing you can read the cast # in the photo?...I know nothing regarding numbers and how things worked..another member said he would not call them SR heads..but what would you call them?..obviously I know 100% it is a SR block from 1973..but the heads are 1972...I am now only guessing that they were all put together at the time of the new block install....o.k., so the block cast date is J053 or oct. 5th 1973...the heads are a year and a half earlier than the block...obviously the block cannot be installed until Oct. 1973, at the earliest....the dealer would not stock H.O. heads?...if the dealer ordered heads at the same time of the engine, would they get a set made a 1 1/2 year earlier?...the heads are 5 months older than the build date of the car..and does not a cast number of D132 mean they are SR ?...and do the heads come fully assembled, ready to bolt on...so strange??...can anyone make any sense out of this?...thanks!

[rexs73gto]

If the guy worked for the dealer in question anything could have been done. When I bought my 85 vette it had some engine problems & I knew the service mgr. at the chevy dealer I bought it from. I asked him to do a few EXTRA things to the block before he put it back in the car. My vette got back with a 30 over bore & some forged pistons in it & the heads got some extra work done to. Being a service mgr. at a different dealer we were able to pull some tricks to engines for the cars we owned all under warr. So if the guy worked for the dealer he could have asked the service mgr to do some extra thing in his favor under warr. to , so thats could account fro the different heads & the extra parts in the trunk to. When you work for a dealer you can do a lot of SPECIAL things if you want to. It's just another stroke of the pen. We also would charge parts off to other cars so warr. would pay for it to. It all just being able to play the game just right to get what you want & have GM pay for all of it. Creative writing is what some would call it.

[1971WARBIRD]

D132, just means it was cast on (D)April (13)13th (2)1972. doesn't have to mean they were SR, could have been sold over the counter, or rebuilt used?

[transam1972]

thanks REX, I realize were talking 40 years ago,but 12 years earlier than I got it..I should be thankful that it was dealer maintained and that all of these SR parts were GM 455 H.O...actually it was the N.J.Turnpike test drive and how powerful the engine was as to why I handed her the cash and called it a day....1971 WARBIRD what would the original heads been like..do they look the same, just a different cast date?...actually now I think I understand...I was led to believe that D132 is a SR head..so all 72 455 H.O. heads have the same raised casting number, just different dates...so those numbers changed daily?.....one other question...am I to understand that there are no Left or Right heads on the H.O.?..one head that fits both sides?..thanks!

[1971WARBIRD]

yes, just one head, they just added the fitting for the heater on the passenger side once they decided which head would go there.
yes the dates changed every day, which caused some interesting things. I have a couple 1968 number 62 heads that the casting numbers and dates are up side down.
only difference I know of, is the earlier heads the intake ports were different. instead of being flush with the side where the intake bolted on, they were cast with a depression so the air could pass between ports. as I recall, that ended about the time the A series (January) heads were cast. it has been talked about on here, but I can't remember what they decided it was suppose to do.