Hello all! I am helping a friend with his 1966 Ford mustang convertible witha 289 2v engine.
question1
1. how do i check to make sure that the block matches the car. If it doesnt match, then i am going to convince him to put in a newer 302 roller motor.
2. What color is the original engine suppose to be? His is painted ford light blue all over, but i read in a book last night that the early 289 2v engines should be black, including the intake, with the air cleaner and valve covers painted gold(with the exception of the heat riser on the air cleaner)
3. Will an 87-93 302 bolt up to the stock automatic bellhousing?

I know these are some ture beginer questions and i really appreciate the help. I just dont know that much about mustang correctness.
Thanks
Chris

 

By the numbers:
1. The only mis-match I can think of for small blocks is that Ford used 5 bolt attaching engines for early 65 and back; and 6 bolt after that thru the 302 and 5.0 engines. And a 'roller' motor is?
2. Correct, black engine, gold air cleaner, gold valve covers, black 'snorkle' and pre-heat tube (all are semi-gloss).
3. See 1.
Jim

 

Thanks for the quick reply.
A roller motor is a motor with roller lifters like the 302 engines used in 87-95 mustangs.

So, how do i check to see if his engine numbers match the car?? This book i have is full of info, but lacking specifics.
Thanks again!

 

The easy way is to count the number of bolt that attach the bell housing to the engine. The other was is to pull the starter to see what the casting number is on the engine.
Jim

 

There is a general discussion about how to determine numbers matching. But for your 65, the easiest thing to do is as mentioned. Check to see the number of bolts for the transmission, if 5 than the motor is most likley close to numbers matching (motors and vehicles can be built at separate times, so minus a few weeks to months on the casting numbers is about as good as you can get). If on the other hand you have 6 bolts to the bellhousing then the motor was probably replaced.

I do not know whether 6 bolt 289s found their way into any 65s at all.

hope this helps

 

Are there not numbers on the engine block that match the VIN.I am mostly accustomed to working on chevy engines. I know they have a stamp pad on the front that is stamped with a number that matches part of the VIN. On the most recent 302 i built there was a stamp on the back of the engine right above where the bellhousing mates that was stamped with a VIN or something similiar. However, i did not find anything like that on the 289. IS there a tag or something or a place where the VIN might be stamped on the engine??
Thanks

 

Again, there are no numbers matching (VIN car to VIN motor). The casting numbers will give the year and month of the motor casting. If that month is a little before, the build date on the mustang, then most people would conisder it numbers matching.

As stated in previous posts, the easiest way to check if you are close is to count the number of bolts used to hold the engine to the bellhousing 5=number matching, 6- drop in the biggest and baddest motor you can find (unless you are from alaska ;>, and are still waiting for your motor)!!!

 

Great advise and info-thanks so much! Sorry to be a little slow. I will get the owner to check the bellhousing tonight.

 

no problem. You have to stop thinking bow ties and think about the blue oval !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hey, just out of curiosity, which 289 engines were painted all blue?? This engine is blue from top to bottom, so i wonder if it was a replacement engine. Color doesnt really mean much, but it could.
Here is a pic of the engine:



And just forfun, here are some pics of the last 302 i built ended up with 320rwhp