4A-C block with 4A-FC head?

[AE86DailyDriver]

Anyone know much about throwing a 4AFC head onto a 4AC block?
Seems like it might be simpler than the GE head mated to the 4AC block, but I don't really have anything to go on.
Is it more of a plug and play type thing compared to the GE head swap?...rather than having to work out piston sizes, shave the head, etc to get the CR and all that jazz right

Really this is just to get my car running and hopefully squeeze a little more power and (hopefully even more so, a little better range) out of the 4AC. And since I need to pull the head off anyways (need to checked for a cracked head or blown gasket), I wouldn't mind playing around a bit with such a set-up.

A full engine swap is out of the question at the moment until I do my research on what all I would need. A swap will eventually happen, so I don't want to throw much more than a few hundred into the 4AC engine. I think I'd like to keep this one Carbureted (another reason to not use the 4AGE or even 4AFE head) and learn from it for awhile. And I know I want to keep it NA.

Here are my hopes on how it goes 4A-C bottom end all stock internals; 4A-FC head no modifications needed to itself or to the firewall to fit; complete head gasket kit for 4A-F; hopefully the OEM 4A-F timing belt work just fine, and all of the OEM drive/accessory belts work from the 4A-C. Then Ill work on other basic tune up parts, plugs, distributor cap/rotor button, maybe the leads (assuming that at the autoparts store, I would be looking up these parts under a 4A-F as opposed to looking them up as a the 4A-C). And I'd also like to get the Weber Carburetor kit that everyone recommends for the 4A-C engine (same exact kit for the 4A-FC) and probably change the fuel filter and check vacuum lines at that point.
All of these tuneup ideas were from reading on the forums...Im pretty ignorant so far when it comes to most car stuff, one reason I bought an AE86 was to learn it. So if anyone has any other recommendations that I ought to do, then feel free to chime in...headers and exhaust would be nice, but I think Ill hold out on exhaust work until I decide on which engine I want to eventually through in her. And a full bottom end rebuild would be great as well, but I don't think I want to spend that much money on this engine, and don't trust the cheap rebuild kits.

So am I just dreaming here? Is there a lot more that will be involved in this head swap than I can ever imagine?

[Rogue-AE95]

It's just called a 4A-F, not a 4A-FC, the lack of an E means it's carbed. The E designation at the end means it's fuel injected.

I'm pretty sure the 4A-C pistons won't be a good match to the 4A-F head. The 4A-C being 8 valve and 4A-F being 16. I could be wrong though, it depends on the topography of the C pistons. I know if I stuck 4A-GE 9.4:1 pistons under my 4A-FE head, I'd have 10.6:1 (or something) CR, according to some people who helped me work that out. The 4A-F combustion chambers are... flatter? I don't know the term, the angle of the valves inside is much less steep than the 4A-GE.

4A-F distributor hangs off the back of the head, above the transmission on the exhaust cam, much like the 20v 4A-GE dizzy. That might be a problem with your firewall since you have an AE86. 4A-Fs were all in FWD Corollas.

4A-F was only available in '88-'89 FWD Corollas, so you would need a custom exhaust manifold for RWD. I imagine you could have the stock manifold modified to work.

[AE86DailyDriver]

Thanks for the reply Rogue. Yeah, I just see and use the 4A-FC used often due to the fact that most people seem to assume you mean the 4A-FE if you just put '4A-F'.

Yeah, the top of the pistons would be different for sure...Still would drive, but ought to lower the CR, how much lower?...I have no idea...Would have to be a trial and error type thing I guess. Or I just might try tinkering with the bottom end as well and run 4A-F pistons.

And yeah, I had not taken the Dizzy location into consideration. On the upside if I do decide to go this route and pound/cut out a portion of the firewall to leave the Dizzy unmolested, then when I end up ready for a 20 valve 4A-GE swap maybe i'd be lucky enough that It would match up with the modification to the firewall and so that would be already done. I have such an adversion to pounding out or cutting the firewall though. The body and chassis seam pretty straight and rustfree from what I can tell, but I hate of the idea of damaging the body. :/ And Im not too sold on the coil-pack route either, more research is needed on this for me.

Yeah, I would probably try to use the stock 4A-F manifold and have a mechanic buddy of mine work out how to pipe the exhaust to fit.

Now I know there won't be much of a change in this...The only thing I'd be hopign to see is a VERY slight power increase, and hopefully a noticable increase in the RPM range. Will it be a great deal more?...No. Would a 4A-GE swap be easier and make more sense?...Oh yeah. But really I am only thinking about doing this as a learning experience. I do not have any real experience with engine work at all really, so I figure doing something like this, on and engine that I'm not gonna go all suicidal if I blow it (lmao) might be a good place to get a better understanding of it. Hell, just for the time I spent this week dismantling the engine a bit, was quite a learning experience.

So we will see. I have the 4A-C head being cleaned and tested as we speak, and gonna work on checking out the block this upcoming week. If it all seems good, then I may just assemble the 4A-C with it's stock head just to get it running again, then I can go with my original plans of working on the Suspension, Brakes, tires and wheels first, THEN figure out what I want to do with the powertrain.

[Gino1X1]

Keep the 4AC and just regrind the stock cam. I used 2T valve springs (of course I had to make them fit), install new rockers and rockershaft, check around for a Weber 38/38 carb (I ordered HKS's Mikuni 40PHH sidedraught setup) to use and fab up a 2.25" exhaust tube into 2" tubing into a single "turbo style" muffler system. This will give better result than just slap on an "F" head