The 289 has shorter rods than the 302 allowing it to wind up faster. I'm not sure what the controversy is here. The 289 was only produced for a few years, and the 302 was put into thousands of Ford cars so is readily available at any junk yard.

 

the 289 is a good engine but u have to do so much to them to make them real fast it is not worth it u can spend the same money on a 351 and be a lot faster .u can run the 289 rods with a 302 crank and 302 pistons in a early block and gain some power this is called a lond rod 302 and u can turn your pistons around backwards and it will raise the pistons up in the block to gain some more compression.this only works with flat top or dished pistons because thethe 289 heads pin location is off centered.if u know what your are doing u can combine the two engines and gain some cheep performance.the 289 heads are a great up grade to a 302 they have a 55 cc chamber to gain compression u would need to put some larger valves and some port work and they ill out perform a lot of after market heads

 

Here is some info you guys may want to injest.
http://www.fordmuscle.com/archives/2...ker/index2.php

 

thanks for that.

 

man we are in the classic section and we get the fox guys now, i hate the fox body is such an ugly car it like an escort on steroids...i also don't like any mustang past 66. Why some people want to take a hipo and put it in fox is beyond me.....if you have a orginal hipo restore it the fox ain't a classic and imo never will be so take a 302 and leave the 289 were they belong.... ps i have a 65 with a 302 in...pot kettle black rearange might be appropriate

 

dont be mad because the classic granny cars cant keep up with the fox's

 

The classic mustangs drip over into the Fox bodies because that is just the history.
Even though they are weak, they are still our little brother.

 

i wasnt serious. i love all mustangs especially the old ones. even though some people hate fox's but to each their own everyone has their opinion, but when it comes down to it their ALL mustangs

 

eh, I dig the 289 because its year specific and a fun motor to build. I may not break any land speed records but it's sure fun to tear the asphalt up between the stop lights in town.

 

well if you wanna make some cool make a 289 Clevor engine