VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 1941 Special Deluxe 216 cylinder head questions

I have a 1941 Chevrolet Special Deluxe Coupe with it's original 216 Engine. I found the cylinder head is cracked in several places evidently from running hot. Been searching online for another head and find much confusion on what cylinder head will work on this engine. I've seen everything from a 216 or 235 as long as its a 15 bolt head to many other answers. I'm looking for a replacement head but with all this confusing information I am getting, I am reluctant to purchase one not knowing if it will actually work on my block. I found one head for a 216 with a casting number of 3835517 but the seller says it for 48-52 216 and won't work on my 41. Can anyone give me a solid, correct answer on what head I can use? I would sure appreciate some information and help with this. Thanks!

Any 1941-1953 216 head will work. If you purchased a new head from Chevrolet for your 1941 in 1953 you would get a 1953 216 head.
Any head from 1949 and up will used the larger 14 MM spark plugs.
If you get a complete head with valves and it is from a 1948 and up the valve stems will have the extra grove for the O ring seal. If from 1950 and up the exhaust valves will be 45 (seats) degress and also slightly larger.
The 3835517 head will work fine. Just use the 1950 and up exhaust valves (and intakes if required) and get a set of todays 14 MM AC R45 spark plugs.
Gaskets will be the same and you will also gain a sligtly higher compression ratio and two more horse power.

I forgot to say

Thanks Chev Nut, This project is getting deeper then I expected. Ha.

What casting number are you looking for?

Brian

I will have to get the casting number off the head. Let you know.

There is more than one cylinder head casting number that is correct for a 1941.
839401, 3835409, and 3835517 are all correct.

Hi Ed,

I had a problem replacing a head on my 41 216 5 years ago, and want to caution you about purchasing a replacement head. It is not uncommon to find replacement heads that are cracked. The best practice is probably to have any head you wish to purchase tested for cracks before making the purchase. It might be best to pay in advance for a test (about $100 which should include "hot-tanking" to clean out the coolant system of the head) before settling on a price and paying for transportation costs to get it to you. Once you learn how to do a SEARCH of our old posts you will find a wealth of info to help you with your questions and repairs. Here is a post to get you thinking some more about head work.

Engine rebuild kit

Good luck, Mike

"There is more than one cylinder head casting number that is correct for a 1941.
839401, 3835409, and 3835517 are all correct."


Gene,

Your statement above may be misleading and not quite what you intended.


Seems to me that "correct" and "will work" are two different things when considering what exactly came on the 1941 216 engines.

The 839401 is the correct head for 1941.

The other two heads you mentioned will merely "work" while not being "correct."

Am I wrong?

Charlie

You are correct there but the average person May never find a 1941-1948 head, especially one in good condition. If it were my engine I would prefer to have the 1950-1953 head with its greater availablility and general advantages.
Beggers can't always be chosers in this case.