Federal cars got a non intergrated head in 79. I have seen a couple of nova's with this engine. 5 more rated HP also. California engines for 79 wrer still intergrated. Pick up trucks and vans got the "new" 2bbl head that was intergrated. I have often wondered why the change was made. Anyone know? Hope this helps. Jay
The only thing I can think of is what you mentioned, warranty repairs on cracked heads. Since they were still making the 2nd version Monojet integrated head for California....or maybe that was just leftover stock to clear out inventory. Continuing to use that head in California probably was due to keeping costs of certifying the six for Cali again. I would think it would cost them less to use the same engine as passed in '77 and '78 again in '79. They only had one year and two cars for the inline left, so they probably wanted to keep '79 costs to a minimum before the across the car line V6 in '80.
