Hey All:

I would first like to say that I am brand new here so please forgive me if I am a bit slow on things. First off, I bought my vintage 'stang off of my G'ma after my Pop died. It needs to be completely restored from the frame up. I have noticed that the front left frame where the bumper bolts to has rusted away and another piece right in front of the floor pan (I think it's called the torque box) has been flaking away for some time. My repairs for that will come in time. I pulled the engine, which I thought was a 289, and I noticed it had 302 heads. The block is a 289. Is this a normal thing? If I start to buy replacement engine parts, which do I buy, parts for the 302 or 289? Any info would be great.

67owner

 

289/302 - all the same.

 

Unless you're going internal, they're the same...

 

What do you mean by internal? Pistons, cam, lifters and such? That's what I'm going to be changing.

 

Crank. The bore is the same...the cams are the same. Stroke is 3.00" for a 302 and 2.87" for a 289. Don't recall rod length for a 289, but a 302 is just over 5" (5.04 or 5.09).

 

Well, I had the same issue with my '66 when I bought it. There were a couple of reasons why mine was that way. First, I live in California and not too long ago, '66 and newer cars had to pass smog (emissions) test. The 302 newer 302 heads had the smog pipes connected to the back of the heads. These had the correct holes for that. The other reason was because, other than a slight compression difference (depending on what the heads came out of), they were cheaper and easier to find. The fact that they were cheaper and interchangable made them more desirable. A "quick and cheaper fix", if you will. I am certain that there are other reasons for using them on a 289 block, but these were mine. If you are buying parts for the heads, most of them are the same as on the 289 heads. I would just specify that they are 289 heads and it would be nice if you could find out what they were from. For the block, you will buy for the 289 that it is. Although almost all parts are the same for these engines, the year of vehicle that they came out of might make a difference in which parts might work. Most parts will work though. Hope this gives you a start. Good luck with the project!