1989 Bridgeport cylinder head options

**BOWSER** · 02-18-2019, 03:01 PM

Hello everyone. I recently acquired a 1989 Bridgeport EFI with a bass boat attached to it. Long story short, it either went lean and ate a piston ring or had a locator pin issue. Cylinder #1 is toast as well as the head and cylinder, & #5 is down to 112psi. The rest of the motor is at 130-135#’s. I plan on steel sleeving the #1 and possibly #5 holes and replacing a piston and rings to get it back up to snuff but the port side head is chewed up pretty badly. Do the replacement cylinder heads have to be 2.4 Bridgeport EFI specific, or are there other options available for this motor that won’t break the bank? All help appreciated. This motor won’t live it’s life on the limiter, but I do want to have it’s potential still there just in case I need it lol. What would you guys do?

**Dave S** · 02-18-2019, 03:13 PM

here is a 2.4 Xr4 block on E bay... NOS ya best bet for best build......

**BOWSER** · 02-18-2019, 04:27 PM

So you’re saying to get away from the BP altogether?

**rock** · 02-18-2019, 04:49 PM

Bridgeports are good motors especially on light boats. Almost any head with correct bolt pattern will work. It's all about the cc. I would measure what ya got and proceed from there. The xr4 is also a good bet.

Rock

**BOWSER** · 02-18-2019, 04:55 PM

Thank you. So are the 2.5 heads the same? Bolt pattern is very similar and that was my question, honestly. There’s an abundance of 2.5 heads where I’m at.

**Dave S** · 02-18-2019, 05:33 PM

2.5 heads....not PHs I posted a good deal....block... just add rings... steelbore... needs difrings...Hic

**rock** · 02-18-2019, 06:02 PM

The Bridgeport is a 2.4 motor. 2.5 heads will work but will likely need the side of the head shaved a bit as the 2.5 head is wider than the 2.4 head. And no they are not all the same. Different applications will have different cc needs. Bolt pattern is the same

Rock

**BOWSER** · 02-18-2019, 11:40 PM

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Here is the cylinder head in question. It’s not completely obliterated or anything, do you think it’ll be good to run if I dig out all the ring pieces embedded in the cast and smooth it out a bit? Also, the cylinder head is marked with .080. Surely it’s not a shaved head?

**BOWSER** · 02-18-2019, 11:52 PM

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The other side of the equation faired a little worse. To say the least lol

**Dave S** · 02-19-2019, 09:58 AM

looks like a mess....you need help...look at 2.4 block... cheeper....

**rock** · 02-19-2019, 11:11 AM

Would not even consider running a cylinder head in that condition. Every spot currently occupied by debris once said debris is removed will create hot spots. Sharp edges heat up fast.

Rock

**SS Minnow** · 02-19-2019, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by rock

Would not even consider running a cylinder head in that condition. Every spot currently occupied by debris once said debris is removed will create hot spots. Sharp edges heat up fast.

Rock

^^^^^ What he said. I would not even consider running something like that. Paper weight.

**BOWSER** · 02-19-2019, 02:18 PM

Alright, that’ll work for me. So find a 2.4l short block and some 20cc heads. Reassemble everything and back on the water. What am I losing in the process of doing this? HP? RPM? Is the fishing motor gonna hold up if I spin it hard every now and then?