[jpowel4]

Does anyone know if 88 heads will work with the new 96 jugs and pistons? Thanks in advance.

[ReeseSS]

The jugs and pistons of a 96 are the same bore size of the 88 (3.75) How the 96 gets it's cubes is the stroke of the crank has been increased from 4.00 to 4.38. The pistons will have shorter skirts for the extra clearence needed from the increased stroke and the wrist pins will be closer to the top of piston. So the round about is there is no reason that the heads on a 96 are any different then the 88 but I have not tried swapping the heads, there would not be any benefit.

[jpowel4]

I was just thinking of buying the 96 jugs and pistons, and having my 88 heads ported instead of buying a new set.

[ReeseSS]

There would be no benefit to using the cylinders from a 96, they are the same bore size you have now in a 88, you would be wasting your money. The aftermarket upgrade kits for a 88 to a 95 has larger bore and pistons, the bore is 3.85 instead of 3.75 to get the extra cubes and that would be a performance upgrade. You can also buy the 3.85 pistons and have your current cyclinders bored to 3.85 and save some money. The cyclinders on a 96 are the same bore as you have now and will not do a thing for you performance wise, again the extra cubes of a 96 were derived from increasing the stroke of the crank, the cylinders and pistons are the same bore size.

[hotroadking]

Thats correct find a good shop to bore the cyl and set the pistons in for you, and get the heads done, find a cam to match up and make some power.

www.bishopsperformance.com does a great job on these setups, call and talk with Bill tell him I sent you

[kenfuzed]

Also, you can't use the pistons from the 96" on a pre-07 model. In fact unless they came from the same engine I wouldn't consider using someone elses used pistons unless I had to. If you are boring out cyclinders then it doesn't matter since those haven't changed (the jugs that is).

There have been some very slight changes made to the heads starting in 2005. I saw a report soemwhere about the 05 heads were slightly harder when it comes to the material. Also there were many who reported that the 05-06 heads had intake ports that didn't line up with earlier manifolds. I recall Dewey talking about the newer heads having a more refined port design.

Stick with your own parts and having them worked by a qualified shop, you can't go wrong.

[fxrsrules]

Kenfuzed. I'm glad you said that. I was just wondering. I have a set of 06 stock heads, if I was to rework and use them I would have to use a 05/06 manifold just so they will line up? Pluss if I were to sell them I would be liable if I did not tell them about it.

[ReeseSS]

To add to what Ken is reffering to is up to and including 05 the exhaust flanges were marked F and R because the studs in the heads for the exhaust were always slightly off. In 06 they corrected that and the flanges are exactly the same for front or rear cylinder, but again on anything up to 05 make sure you get the right flanges (pre 06) and they are marked R and F.