D1AE heads, when did they start producing them?

Frankenstang71 · Nov 8, 2024

Hello all. I am putting my 1971 M code 351c together and noticed my 4v closed chamber heads had the casting numbers of D1AE-GA so I felt they were probably replaced through the years. They have 0J4 and 0J8 date codes. Which if I am correct means 1970 Sept 4th and 8th. My question is were D1AE heads being produced in 1970? My car was assembled in October of 1970 so I wondered if they could be the original heads. I guess my thinking is they should be D0AE heads to be original. Can anyone educate me on what I have? Thanks in advance...Bryan

midlife · Nov 8, 2024

Production for 1971 vehicles ran roughly from August of 1970 through late July, 1971. What you describe sounds perfectly reasonable for original heads.

Stanglover · Nov 9, 2024

They will definitely be original heads.

Frankenstang71 · Nov 9, 2024

So the “1” in D1AE does not mean it was designed in 1971?

Hemikiller · Nov 9, 2024

Frankenstang71 said:
So the “1” in D1AE does not mean it was designed in 1971?

The D1 in the casting number indicates that they were initially designed for the 1971 model year. That is not a hard and fast rule, as there have been instances where the following model year's parts were put into production vehicles early.

Model year is not the same as calendar year. As Midlife noted, production of 1971 vehicles started in early August of 1970. The earliest D1AE-GA heads I have seen were cast in June 1970.

mach1sc · Nov 10, 2024

here is a nice page i found for figuring some date codes out if interested in learning https://www.mustangtek.com/FordDecodePlus.html

Stanglover · Nov 10, 2024

mach1sc said:
here is a nice page i found for figuring some date codes out if interested in learning https://www.mustangtek.com/FordDecodePlus.html

I use Mustangtek.com for most of my info. However there are incorrect numbers here and there. There are some other info pages available on the good ol' net.

Frankenstang71 · Nov 10, 2024

Thank you all for the info , glad my heads are correct..not that it matters as it has more replacement parts than original.

D1AE heads, when did they start producing them?

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