SgtLyles

I'm new to this forum discussion stuff and to the mustang world so please bear with me. I recently purchased a 65 convertible that was cloned after a 66 gt350. It came with a 65 289 with the cobra intake, dual point distributor and the holly 715 carburetor. It has a 4spd t-10 transmission that I think came out of a 64 Galaxy from what I can figure. The shift pattern is to the left and up for reverse. I recently found an excellent deal on an 87 302 that has been rebuilt and balanced. My question is it does not come with intake, heads, or distributer so I was wondering about using the stuff from the 289. I have read that possibly the gear on the distributer will need to be changed; I need to purchase the clutch pivot bracket for the newer motor. I need to know what clutch to run will the old three finger work or should I go with the new diaphragm style but then will the shift fork line up. Any advice or words of wisdom is desperately needed. I have not picked the motor up yet. I will pick it up in a week or so but wanted to know what else I needed to prepare for.

GT350R Klone

Sgt,

I've owned lots of 289's and my share of 5.0's. I have not mixed and matched parts between them, but let me share my thoughts. While I think it is possible to put the 289 heads on, I don't think it is a good idea. The 289 heads do not flow well at all. If you were to put some gt40 heads on the motor, you would see substantial performance improvement. You would need to worry about pushrods length and rocker arm type to make sure you accommodate the needs of the 289 heads. I believe the 289 combustion chambers are bigger, thus lowering the compression ratio and performance.

My thoughts....keep your old school drivetrain as is. Sounds like a good set up. Build the 5.0 and a T5 and then swap the complete engine/trans if that is what you want to do. Post some pics of the car!

Jonk67

Is there something wrong with the 289? Sounds like someone spent a lot of money to get it right the first time, I can't imagine they skimped on rebuilding the 289 with everything else they did to make it period correct (cobra intake, 715,etc.)? I don't imagine you will feel any difference in power between the 289 and 302, 13cc is not a big jump and depending on what cam is in the 289 you may actually be slower.
Jon