slickman

many people say no way, I agree with Marlan Davis and say "YES WAY".. My new 289 setup that should be in my hands by end of next weekend is close to this setup in specs.. Check it out -> http://www.mustangandfords.com/techarticles/28898/

THUMPIN455

the head article says he can supply a set for $800, $400 more and you can get some lighter more detonation resistant AFR heads. But a competent machine shop should be able to do the valve work they mention, and chevy valves are cheap and easy to come by.

So if you want to do some homework, buy a die grinder and bits, you could port your own heads. Its is really easy to screw them up though, the first set of 5.0 heads I did only worked decent above 4000 rpm, and they wouldnt work with EFI no matter what we did. A carb was passable, but only with gears and a manual or high stall.

The cam doesnt make much bottom end, so you wont be able to run an AOD with it, a 5 speed would buck and jerk around under 3000 rpm too. If you are building a light weight ride like a 64-66 stang or a Falcon it would work and get you deep in the 12s with a 4.11 gear. But it wouldnt be a daily driver and would suck a bit of gas.

It does show what a stock early head is capable of, and it is great food for thought. A nice inexpensive combo for a street strip ride, something a first timer could come close to and afford over a bit of time. If I were doing it I would spring for the AFR head and use an XE cam instead for better street manners. It would still make over 350hp like that and be able to use an AOD.. Might do that rather than the 351C 4V in the Cougar...

Scott H.

Thanks for posting that Slickman. I really like articles that aren't trying to "sell you the farm" for sake of making advertisers happy.

Good article. Thumpin also has good input here (IMO).
What I like about these type articles is if you pay attention you pick up a lot of "side bar" tips that when put together with other "sidebar" tips adds up to good cheap power and efficiency. He also gives you the cons to turning the rod-piston backwards (that is rare!).
In this article he talked about "seudo knife edging" the crank, polishing the rods, and staying away from "overbuilding". All these things are what the top builders do to extract maximum power.
For instance the weight savings of the I-beam rods and Hyperetics directly affects horsepower and torque. There was another great article where the builder was saying not to go with a high pressure or volume pump if you are building to blue print standards. The stock pump properly blue printed is plenty good enough, and uses less power.
When you start putting all these little things together, you develope a lot of useful power at a substantially reduced cost.

Cool factor of 9.5!

slickman

Thanks to you and THUMPIN455, it has allot of great info and some things I was already doing to my new 289 build. The only deference is I got Edelbrock 1.90 heads, Comp Cam XE262H-10 and Crane roller rockers.. Also went with an Edelbrock Performer RPM intake. There other do dad's I added just because like high volume oil and water pump and a MSD all in one Dizzy. The pistons are Keith Black hypereutectic pistons and I had the crank and rods polished. The builder said I should have about 9.6:1 compression. I posted at one point that my combo should be around 350HP with 380 FT of TQ.. I was Po Po'ed in that a 289 would NEVER put out that kind of power. If Marlan Davis can get 400hp out a slightly worked 289 like the article talked about, I should not have any problems getting what I stated.

Scott H.

Any chance you can get your engine on a dyno. It would be nice to show what a little work into a 289 will do.
You should have a nice drivable combination there as well.
If not, at least try for a chassis dyno, and have them extrapolate a graph to flywheel numbers.
The only scary part of the 302 crank is the short skirts, but between the hyperetics and a reasonable redline there is no reason not to get a good life span.
Besides, short skirts sounds sexy, on anything but Opra. [sm=noooo.gif]

earlymustang

sorry but i will believe it when i see it.

Soaring

Why in hell are you DA's trying to produce that much HP from a 289? Especially in a vintage Mustang that has 40 year old body stress factors. If you want a hotrod, get a newer Mustang that is set up for that kind of power from the front to the rear with the modern technological systems.

slickman

You're showing you're age Glen, as usual.

slickman

I'm using the 289 crank not the 302 crank, I went that way cause of the shorter through. There is a place about 20min from me that has chassis dyno that I will be making an appointment with after everything is all done.

rmodel65

cobra automotive has something like 550hp 289s