Why does one head have a blue stripe???

[pwildbil]

Does this mean I have the replacement head on my car or are all 03's like this...drivers side head has a blue stripe..pass side is plain????

 

[LTHL VNM]

it is the redesigned head

 

[Sniperfox]

the blue stripe is what you want. Earlier cobra's without it had problems and many had to have the head replaced.

 

[NC STANG GUY]

Both of mine have the blue stripe.... for whatever thats worth.

Billy

 

[HectorCobra03]

yep ,mine has the blue stripe also


my friend carlos has a 04 and his cobra dosen't have the stripe

what does that mean?

 

[pwildbil]

Thanks guys.....So I should not get the dreaded tick problem then!!! Great news for me!!!

 

[Top_Fuel]

Originally posted by pwildbil
...So I should not get the dreaded tick problem then!!!

I thought the consensus was that the blue stripe had absolutely nothing to do with the newer head casting, and that it was simply an assembly marking of some sort. As best I can recall (without the search working) having or not having a blue striped head doesn't mean anything as far as the tick is concerned.

We had lots of debate about this last year. Hopefully someone else who remembers the details can post more info.

-Greg

 

[Nicky Pass]

I think its the replacement head on the 03s that became standard on 04s.....hence no need for the blue strip.

 

[GA Terminator]

Blue Head Stripe

I have a family member who works at the Romeo engine plant and I checked with him before I bought my 03 and here is his take on the blue stripe on the heads:

The Cobra engines go through a small series of engine pre assembly's. The engines are then staged for final assembly. The date on your engine, drivers side, is the final assembly date for the engine. For those of us who have 03 cobras we may and should see the drivers side blue striped head after the Nov 02 event. These replacement heads should be on most 03 cobras. The 04 cobra engines are the same engine and some people may see a blue stripped head on an early production 04. This is based on engines that were staged during the head fix issue. Once these engines were cycled out of production the new production heads did not contain or have the blue stripe.

Hope this makes sense

 

[gduquett]

I am a new owner of a 2003 Cobra 10th AE (new, leftover from a dealers lot). Can anyone give me an idea of where I can find the engine build date or where to look for the blue stripe?

I was under the impression that the 10th AE's were made at the end of the run in 2003 (read it somewhere) so that might mean I am more likely to have the newer casting head?

Thanks.

Glenn

 

[Fast Willy]

I just bought my 03 from a dealer. it had 28,000 miles on it. should i be looking for a blue stripe or not. should i ask the dealership about this???

 

[GA Terminator]

Your engine build date will be on the drivers side just below the valve cover. If you have a replacement head, the driver side should be painted blue, you will see the blue paint below the valve cover. If not, your build date may be far enough in the build cycle that you have one of the newer casting head pairs.

 

[Sniperfox]

look on the top side of the head on the driver's side. The end that faces the blower. The side of the head has a blue stripe on it if it is the redesigned head.

 

[gduquett]

Thanks for those who answered. Found the engine build date (06-17-03) but no blue paint.

Only 200 miles, so I will be on the lookout for the 'tick'

 

[pwildbil]

thanks guys....

 

[brasil]

It has been discussed time after time, that the blue stipe has nothing to do with a revised head. I have spoken to several sources and have been told that the heads were never redesigned. I have an 04 CObra built on 02/04 that has the TICK.

 

[BLK_03]

Yeah, the blue stripe has nothing to do with revised heads or the potential for developing the tick...

The best way IMO to determine if you have the newest design Ford head is to count the threads for the spark plugs. My 03 had ~4 threads for the plugs. I had the driver's side head replaced with the updated ford head and it has ~8-9 threads for the pugs...

 

[CobraBob]

Ah, the blue stripe urban legend raises its ugly head again. All rumors and hearsay folks. Neither Ford nor SVT has ever stated what the blue stripe was for. I'm not even convinced they know. LOL! But it has absolutely nothing to do with new heads, old heads, tick issue, etc. We've see all kinds of scenarios where it has shown up. Advice: Just ignore it.

 

[MP3_Stang]

Postban and the Motor City Terminators (sounds like a band) toured the niche engine plant, asked someone there. Check this thread for the write up.

 

[frank3si]

Earlier this year I had the opportunity to follow a Terminator build from start to finish at Romeo. The colored marks are placed by the 2-man teams at various stages during the build to indicate completion of certain steps in the build process. It's a way to ensure that everything has been completed and checked during certain phases as the engine moves down the line. It's just a means of verification.

Frank