Joe
I have never seen a head on a 289 with 351 cast into it. Back in the day, the Ford Muscle Parts catalog told you how to put 351 heads on a 289 or 302. One thing they sold was a head bolt that had a thicker shaft (to fit the opening in the 351 head) and then necked down to a smaller diameter to fit the block. I suppose you could pull a head bolt and see if that is what you have. I also saw people using washers on original size bolts, but it always looked sketchy to me.
So you think its most likely a 351 block then?
Let’s see a picture of the engine bay from the front where we can see the entire engine.
Back in the day I did what the Muscle Parts catalog said. The results were underwhelming because I didn’t change the pistons to regain the lost compression ratio, which would have been counterproductive in 1975 with the declining availability of leaded premium at that particular time. So in my case I lost a point or two of compression, but got bigger valves. It didn’t run a whole lot differently than it did prior to the swap.
From what little I can see it sure looks like you have a 289 or 302 with 351 heads. The 351 heads have slightly better exhaust ports and bigger valves.
If the width of the intake manifold is narrow (less than 10") you have either a 289 or 302 with 351 Windsor heads. A 351 Windsor will have a larger width as the block is taller and that moves the heads farther apart. As posted above it was an old school way to get a set of larger valved heads for a 289-302 with marginally better flowing heads. This was an economical way to go way back when, as there wasn’t a whole lot of alum. head options for any Ford motor till the late '80’s early '90’s when the 5.0 mustangs came out. There’s a couple ways to tell if you have a 289 or 302. The first way would involve pulling the intake manifold to see if there’s a “289” or “302” cast in the lifter valley. Another way would be to look at the casting numbers and date codes, but this is sometimes not as accurate, as one could install a 302 crank in a 289 when rebuilding it for more cubic inches. But you may be able to at least confirm if the motor started out as a 289 or 302. Studying the pictures and seeing roller rockers and the 351 heads, I would wager that someone has been inside this motor and has perhaps made some enhancements for performance and it may only be a matching numbers 298 block in your car and not a complete, unmolested original parts, 289 motor in the car.
351W heads. I don’t see anything in the picture with the roller tip rockers that would maintain rocker arm alignment, no guide plates and no “rail” on the valve tip side. You may want to look into that. Chuck
I’ve got 351W heads on my 289. It looks like those have been converted to screw in studs, but they didn’t convert to guide plates. The rockers look like the Comp Cams (rail style) roller rockers that I just converted mine over to. As others have said, the 351 heads mess with the compression ratio. I’ve got flat tops that keep the compression ratio up a little over 9:1, but if it’s done “right” then someone may have put pop-up pistons in them to get it a little higher. A low compression 289 2V piston would end up being well under 9:1 compression ratio. I’ve been told that unless other modifications are made (like pistons), the improvements in airflow are pretty much offset by the loss in compression ratio.
As far as the head bolt size, I ran the original head bolts on this setup for quite a while with no issues. The dowels lined everything up and nothing ever shifted to where I had any issues. I pulled the engine apart this past summer (for other issues) to do a quick rebuild and I ended up going back together with the adapter spacers just to be sure.
Is that an aftermarket aluminum intake in the picture? Looks like classic 70s-80s small block mods. Those appear to be the old Racing Head Service/Comp roller tip rockers, also very popular in that time, which claimed to be “self-aligning” (small rail at end), which they were, until your adjustment backed off.
The smallest common “WF” 351 head would have been 60cc, with others after 1974 69-ish
Thanks for all the responses! I have a lot to learn. I will get some more pictures that will hopefully help. I’m a little nervous about this setup now.
I ran the 351 70 D0OE heads on my 1968 289 coupe in high school. Ford offered a special bolt which they called anti-brinelling.
The rockers would be correct on small block but a 289 HIPO and a Boss 302. The pushrod guides are with cast as slots as part of the pushrod hole though the head on 289 HIPOs, as they have mechanical tappets. No need for alarm on the rockers. They are rail rockers for non-adjustable valve trains. The 351 Windsor heads have a 1/2" head bolt hole, the 289 was 7/16" if memory serves me correctly. This is why they required the “special bolts”.
-Keith
Boss 302 didn’t have roller tip rocker arms.
Your Boss isn’t a Windsor, it’s in the Cleveland family. I also said RAIL, not roller. The OP’s post was clearly on a 221-302 Windsor small block. Your Boss is also a mechanical valve train which has guide plates to control push-rod location, as should the OP’s roller rockers.
-Keith
My understanding is that the BOSS 302 block is a member of the Windsor family with heads derived from the 335 family (Cleveland/Modified).
You can take a “normal” 302 Windsor short block and bolt all of the “other” parts from a BOSS 302 onto it with minimal issues. You can not take a “Cleveland” short block and bolt the “other” parts from a BOSS 302 onto it without many modifications.
“other” refers to heads, intake and exhaust manifolds and other components that are different between normal definitions of “short” and “long” blocks.
Interestingly enough the Boss 302 came out before the Cleveland 351. You could say the Cleveland was developed to use the Boss 302 heads. (Not exactly true but I think my point is in there some where).
Here are some more pics of the engine as is. I’m trying to decide if I should rebuild this or go with a turn key crate engine. I have no idea what HP this is putting out as is but would like 300 to 350hp. This engine runs great but it leaks oil pretty bad and smokes a bit on startup. I think it runs really rich. I’m sure headers would help quite a bit. What do you guys think?
It looks like a 289/302 by the width of the intake manifold. No way of telling displacement without measuring the stroke. It looks like a pretty standard 600cfm vacuum secondary Holley. I have Hedman headers on mine and have been happy with them. Some people don’t like long tube headers because they typically call for a power steering relocation bracket and the power steering hoses get awfully close to them. If you haven’t checked the float levels on the carburetor you might consider doing that. I’m sure there are lots of videos out there if you’re not familiar with the process. I doubt you’re at the 300hp level unless it’s been stroked to a larger displacement and has a decent cam in it. A new crate engine with aftermarket aluminum heads would definitely get you to the hp level you’re wanting.
As someone mentioned, a Boss 302 is essentially a Windsor block with Cleveland heads. I know of people that did a “Clevor” version of a 302 back in the '70’s and '80’s before they made good aftermarket heads for the Windsors. The Cleveland heads essentially bolt onto the Windsor block, but require a bit of rework on the water passages and a few other things. There are some articles out there that explain what all it takes. At this point it’s way easier to just get some aftermarket heads and be done with it.
No, but we can ascertain by the intake that it’s not a 351 Windsor because of width. Everything interchanges on the 289-302 but the crank. The stroke on the 302 is about 1/16 longer.
The common swap was the early 351W heads in the late 70’s early 80’s. It was popular enough that Ford offered the special head bolts through their parts division. The Cleveland head swap was more difficult as it required coolant passage changes. The Boss 302 parts were bolt-on.
Actually the head bolts recommended by Ford For installing the 351W heads on 289 / 302 engines was the factory set of Boss 302 bolts.
Depending on the year of those heads, they could be really good for your little Windsor. The '69 (C9) or '70 (D0) heads are especially desirable.
If getting your timing spot on, and then tuning the carb properly doesn’t fix your engine’s boorish tendencies, I would do a compression check. That will reveal problems with ring seal, or valve trouble.
Flat tappet engines have problems with modern oil. Increasing valve lift and spring rates to raise performance aggravates the trouble even more. You can use ZDDP additives or buy oil formulated just for these older motors, but for a car that is driven a lot, if your engine is really worn, you might consider finding a newer 5.0 roller-cam motor and having it gone through. You might find one for as little as $300 if you’re lucky. All of your existing engine’s stuff should bolt right up, creating minimal fuss. If your existing heads aren’t mid 70s/early 80s garbage, I’d probably use them! Just make sure that you put in new valve seals, and have them checked by a pro to ensure that they’ll last.
If that’s a Weiand Stealth intake, it’s a great choice for your engine, too.
