200 head swap, silly thought

[Adams]

Hello All, I have a hypothetical for you (unless you've actually done this!)---would putting a 200 head on a 144 motor do anything good? I've been reading, and the 200 has larger valves (intake and exhaust) and also uses a larger exhaust manifold. The chamber volume is a bit larger, which would lower compression, but milling the head about .060 would correct both that and the thickness of a modern head gasket. It seems the increased and better flow through the head would be good, but on the other hand, maybe 144 cubes can't do much with the extra flow anyway. Thanks for your thoughts---yes, I have a rebuildable 200 on hand, but a head would be so much easier and less expensive!

[popscomet]

THIS is my thoughts only;;;;! Be fore I'd go thru all the work and money and still have a 144 bottom end,,I would put my money and work into the better and more sturdyier 200 and install it,,,you'd be more pleased in my book....JMO POP(more bang for the buck)

[lavron]

Yes the head would help, but the 200 is a better engine and is physically the same size as the 144.

Suggestion, maybe do the head now and then rebuild the engine and add later, just be sure too keep the rocker arms off the 144 and put on the 200 so you can have the adjustable rockers. You have to use the push rods from the 144 too.

Also depending on what year head you have some are better than others, the later the engine the better the valve sizing, basically.

See Ya,
Mike

[Adams]

Thanks for the replies. It's interesting to get different points of view. Of course, the best thing is to go 200 all the way, no question, but price may preclude that for now. I'm not right on the verge of swapping heads, but I was curious if that was viable, and would bump h.p. just a bit so the car would survive in traffic a bit better. The 200 I have is actually an early 65, and while it does have 7 main bearings, it still has adjustable rocker arms.