3919842 Heads

[Noel O.]

I have read articles written by Roger Gibson and Stan Falenski regarding these heads and have a question. Stan points out that starting in 69 the plug arangement on these heads became very inconsistent. If I undersatnd it correctly, there nay have been a plug at both ends one end or even none at all. My question is respect to the 68 heads as they would have appeared on an L-71 motor. Should all have these heads had plugs at both ends as the NCRS manual states or could it have been a situation akin to that of the 69 heads? My 68 L-89 has the plugs at both ends of both heads.

By the way for those who care, I went with the allens "offroad" aluminumized system and I am extremely happy with the look and sound. Thanks to all for the help!!

Noel

[Wayne M.]

Re: 3919842 Heads

Noel -- Stan may reply on this NDB, but my GUESS is that all '68 L88/L89 cars would have had plugs at both ends. This is the configuration of a very early set I have (June & Aug.'67). However a set in town, dated July '69, have NO plugs, and I had never seen this before. I have no proof that either set I describe were ever installed at the factory on a Corvette.

[George Daina]

The early build dates.....

have plugs. My 68 build date was Oct 18, and the heads have plugs on both ends.

[Tom B.]

Re: 3919842 Heads

Noel,

From what I remember about the assembly date of your engine, the 842 aluminum heads with plugs at each end are correct for the build date of your car. TBarr #24014

[Stan F.]

Re: 3919842 Heads

Noel,

The description of the cylinder heads on your 68 L-89 (one plug in each end of the head) is what I would expect for all 3919842 equipped 1968s and those 1969 cars built during calendar year 1968. These "two plug" heads appear to have been gradually phased out during the first half of 1969 and the "no plug" heads were used almost exclusively from July 1969 on. The "one plug" head mentioned in the JG appears to be a rare piece. The informal survey that I ran didn't turn up any of these heads and I have only seen two cars that had them installed.

I'm still very interested in gathering information on these 3919842 cylinder heads for my survey, especially those of the "one plug" variety. If you have any information, I'd really like to hear about it.

Regards,

Stan Falenski NCRS# 24272