Im fairly new to the ford camp. Im wanting to do a v8 swap soon. I know that a 289 and 302 are the same block and bore. But which one in your opinion would be better out of the box performance wise. Everyone I talk to really praise the 289 but im just not sure. On another note: A friend from work had his 302 long blocked at a local machine shop and when he got it back it was bored 60 thousandths. Isnt that really thin for a 302? Just curious.
i'd go 302, no sense in going backwards on the evolutionary chain, and if possible look for a roller engine to work with. and .060" overbore on a 302 is way too much IMHO, i'd never go past .030"
I will admit Im not an engine builder. Does the roller engine have more power? Thats exactly what I thought about my friends engine. I told him that I would be scared. Its going in his 70 fast back mustang that hes going to sell when restored. Hopefully it will last that long. A few people around here have told him that .060 is fine and shouldnt worry. But Im with you on this one.
I bored mine to .040 and it was too much when i lived in Arizona. It would over heat on almost every trip i took around town during the day or when i drove it to work everyday. Once i moved out to Iowa and put a better fan and shroud, etc.. it ran perfectly fine. and never went over 180 no matter what i was doing.
.060 is quite a bit of a SBF but if the block was sonic checked and had good thick walls it will provide no problems.Some blocks cylinder liners run thicker then others. For the 289 you give up a few foot lbs of torque down low in tradefor a small gain a little RPM range up top.If you had the 289 I would run it but if building from scratch I would build a 351W for the extra inches
I do not cut cranks more than .010 and blocks more than .030 ..... just my personal preferrences to avoid problems ......... There are so many motors out there to work with ..... if a block failed my standards I would just move on to another. Exception to this is to keep a numbers matching set up. As for the 289, I love them and think in a 60's car that originally had one, they are the only choice when staying period correct. For a Maverick, I would stay with the 302 as there are so many more options and choices for parts and builds. As was said - why go backwards ....
If your starting from scratch ... get a 302/351 roller motor. Now if your budget is minimal ... The only time a 289 would make sense to me is if it was free, or a good price on a hipo 289 (has good stock heads/compression) and will out perform garden variety 302s. This only makes sense if you have NO money for aftermarket parts and plan on running as is. Otherwise get that roller motor
302/5.0 all the way unless you wanna go fast...then 347 that baby!!! Gave my brother-in-law a Thanksgiving ride the other day! Wow! Almost forgot how fast that thing is!!!
