Head casting date?

[Hog54]

Is it possible to have a head with no casting date?I got a set of heads and the front one has 1-59 cast in the head and the rear one has nothing.

[Robert Luland]

Neather my 57 or 60 have a rear date code. Bob L

[Hog54]

Did they stop putting date codes on the rear head at one point?And how are you going to know thier matching or came with each other?

[Hog54]

Strange,I just found this 61 with code on the rear head?And the front head has one too.

[UPSROD]

My old 62 and my 65 have date codes on the rear head. The 58 does not.

[Mose]

One of my heads show a casting on the inside the Pan and the other shows it outside and underneath.
Front Head


Rear Head

[TimmyV]

interesting... BOTH of my '56 heads have the casting number inside the heads. Also worth noting...my front head has a different number than yours does. * As previously noted, date code on front head only on mine.

Front :



Rear :

[58flh]

MY 1958flh has date codes both heads!---Richie

[Mose]

One head has a casting number showing it's a 59 model head?



The other head has no such marking.

[Hog54]

One head has a casting number showing it's a 59 model head?



The other head has no such marking.

Mine is the opposite,my front head has 59 but my rear has nothing.That must be my rear head!

[TimmyV]

Interesting that my front head has a cast date of 10 7 which I always took to mean Oct 1957 & Mose head is marked 2 59, which I assume is Feb 1959. Odd how the year is denoted by a single number on mine & double digits on Mose.

You guys that been around these old Pans have probably seen this before...but I'm still learning...

[Speeding Big Twin]

One head has a casting number showing it's a 59 model head?



The other head has no such marking.

Mose, date code 2 59 indicates casting in Feb 1959 but that does not necessarily mean it is a 59 model head. Originally it could have been used on a 59 model bike but it could also have been used later (within reason) because Harley did not always use parts straight away. I do not know exactly when casting number 16701-56 first appeared but after its inception it was used through 1965 models even though the casting itself changed at times. I suspect the rear head you have is a type of casting that was used for 1958 models through mid-62 models.

Your 16704-56 front head may have six vertical ribs on top but I won’t be surprised if it has nine because I have seen both amounts of ribs on top of the corresponding rear head 16706-56. And part of the reason I say corresponding is because the CN for both heads is under the D-ring ledge and the suffix for both CNs includes a large rounded 6. Some heads in this set have date codes and some do not.

And the same thing about date codes applies for the later heads with CNs 16700-56 (front) and 16701-56 (rear): some have date codes and some do not.
Eric

[Speeding Big Twin]

Interesting that my front head has a cast date of 10 7 which I always took to mean Oct 1957 & Mose head is marked 2 59, which I assume is Feb 1959. Odd how the year is denoted by a single number on mine & double digits on Mose.

Tim, I can’t explain why the format changed from time to time and on occasion you will find two formats in the one year (1959) and even two formats in the one month (December 1949).

Date codes I know of under the D-ring ledge of Panhead front heads: J 7, K 7, L 7, A 8, B 8, C 8, D 8, E8, F 8, H8, J8, K8, L8, A9, E9, F9, G9, K9, L9, M9, 3 0, 5 0, 7 0, 90, 110, 120, 1-1, 2-1, 5-1, 5 2, 7 2, 8 2, 11 2, 2 3, 5 3, 7 3, 9-3, 11-3, 12-3, 2-4, 5-4, 8 4, 10 4, 12 4, 1 5, 4 5, 5 5, 10 5, 6 6.

Date codes I know of on top of Panhead front heads: 7-7, 10-7, 7 58, 8 58, 1 59, 3 59, 8 59, 10 9, 3 60, 8-60, 1-61, 2 62, 1 63, 6 63, 7 63, 8 63.

Date codes I know of under the D-ring ledge of Panhead rear heads: J 7, K 7, A 8, C 8, E 8, H8, J8, K8, L8, B 9, C 9, E 9, F 9, G 9, L 9, 12 9, 1 0, 2 0, 4 0, 5 0, 6 0, 100, 120, 2-1, 4-1, 5 2, 7 2, 9 2, 112, 12 2, 3 3, 4 3, 7 3, 11-3, 1-4, 5-4, 8 4, 11 4, 1 5, 10 5, 1 6, 6 6.

Date codes I know of on top of Panhead rear heads: 5 58, 8 58, 2 59, 3 59, 4 59, 3 60, 6 60, 10 60, 1-61, 4 61, 4 62, 2 63, 3 63, 6 63, 8 63, 10 63.

Month characters were sometimes spaced from year characters but not always and an example of no spacing would be date code 110 (November 1950 casting). Notice on occasion a hyphen was present but usually not. In 1959 the year was sometimes indicated by two characters but sometimes only by one and I have seen the same thing with BT trans cases and BT crankcases cast that year (1959). And you’ll notice December 1949 used at least two formats for heads, with M9 on the front head but 12 9 on the rear head.

Also, the 10 60 (October 1960) rear head is accompanied by number 3 33 raised and on a plate but I do not know what 3 33 indicates.

Some front and rear Panhead heads have 20373-48 and 20390-48 respectively and they are cast-in underneath the D-ring ledge. Both numbers are raised and on a plate but I cannot explain either of them yet. In my photo collection, date codes from May 1948 accompany both those numbers so if they are CNs then it would seem they were used in the same month as the more common CNs of 119 48 (front) and 119 482 (rear) employed at that time.
Eric

[TimmyV]

Thanks for the information Eric... I was hoping you might chime in as I always look forward to your posts. You really need to write a book one of these days.... I'd buy a copy, that's for sure !!

[Lynrd]

My STD heads have no casting date...