I just found the B code on my heads can you tell me what all the letters mean and what are B heads. I seem to have a ticking some times from the front left side but it runs good AND DOESN'T SMOKE yea 425CI 1966 Delta 88 2dr ht. thanks for the info WEBBISH

 

b heads i believe stand for body style of car. the large body olds are known as "b" body and the cutlass are known as "a" body. as far as your ticking. sounds like you have a lifter sticking. chris

 

Incorrect... the B is like a casting number. Different years used different letter codes and in come cases different performance levels got different letters. If they are on a big car you should have small valve B heads. A 66 442 used the B head with the more desireable big valves.

 

Olds big block heads use letter codes like B, C, D, etc. Small block heads use number codes like 5, 5A, 6 etc. If you hear a ticking sound intermittently from one side it is probably valve train wear due to age. If it does not affect the drive ability of the car just let it go until you decide to do some engine work on it. Rebuilding the heads may help but with an engine that old a complete rebuild is probably what you need sooner or later.

edit: Richard beat me to the answer, I always take to long to compose a reply....

 

If you are driving a Delta 88 then B heads will be fine for a rebuild unless you want to go "all out." The BB heads you want to stay away from are the J heads. Those weren't available until the 70s though.

 

B heads were used on 400 (Cutlass) and 425 (big cars) engines, in the '65 and '66 model years.

Norm

 

"B" heads are actually pretty good and getting a little bit more rare

 

Thanks for all the info I will be doing a complete rebuild soon on the whole drive train because it is # matching i bought it from the original owner he bought it in Dec.65 and sold it to me 3 months ago. it needs paint and interior but runs good 73K when I got her but all orig.

 

Olds didn't start stamping the VIN derivative on the block until the 1968 model year, so exactly what numbers "match"? I'm sorry, but this is one of the most mis-used terms in the automotive hobby. This is certainly the correct motor for that car, and it may even be the original motor, but there are no numbers on it that match anything else. Starting in the 1968 model year, the block and trans will have a VIN derivative stamping that DOES match the VIN of the car, hence the term "numbers matching". Prior years have no such stamping.

 

Learning every day I guess the correct terminalogy would be all original engine trans and rear end all came in the car from the factory nothing has ever been changed or removed. Better!!!