Help me out here please. I am going to rebuild my 1972 302 this spring. I want to put better heads on and I need to do it economically. Any suggestions? I've seen that earlier 302's had a higher hp rating....I know where I can get a 1968 302 will this be a better motor....or better heads??? I thought they were all the same (302's). Will 351W heads fit? What about 289 heads...more compression??? Would I just be better off to keep what I have? Will those GT40 heads bolt right on???? Help me out guys. Thanks.....D Ray........(soon to be club member)
all 302 heads are basically the same. Even the 351w heads are real close behind, none of them (IMO) are "performance" oriented. I'd check Ebay for some GT40's or even the "p" heads. Usually, you can get 'em pretty cheap.
D Ray, when I first put the 302 in my Mav I had little cash. I bouht a set of 1965 289 heads with the 1.94/1.60 vlaves in them. My dad helped me port them and they got me into the 12's. Now I know they do NOT flow like the newer heads available but the set cost me $400.00 (or so) from PAW, and they worked., Still running them today although the call of aluminum is upon me.... soon, REAL SOON!!!!! Scotty P
My first experience with high(er) performance heads were with a set of 63' 289 HI PO heads. I took them to a REPUTABLE machine shop and had them cleaned, checked for cracks, new guides, new heavy duty stainless valves, 3-angle valve job, machined for guide plates and screw in studs, ported in the bowl area and transition area, the exhaust side was HOGGED out. I had a total of about $1200 in these heads. They did OK.....I later bought a set of assembled Victor Jr.'s for $1300 and then added about $700 of CNC portwork to them. Let's just say that i'll never fix up a set of old ford heads, unless a customer insists on it. Now days your probably better off starting with a good set of aftermarket heads unless you can do most of the work yourself ie. portwork, valve work, etc....
COmet, I agree IF YOU HAVE THE MONEY! I did not!! Wasn't 1965 the first year for a 289? And '68 for the 302? There was no high-performance Ford car (Mustang till 1965) Just curious..Scotty P (FWWI...you can now get the heads that you put 1200 into for a ittle ove 400 from PAW, 1965 289 1.94/1.6 ported, guideplates etc.. At least one thing got cheaper!)
If I read your post right, you are wanting to to just try to replace your heads with a set that will improve power in the short term. From the charts, here is what you could do. On your 72 motor, the following will be the result for compression from your present 9 to 1 ratio and 63 cc chambers. 302 4v at 10.1 to 1 , 53.5 cc. 65 HP 289 at 10.7 and 49.2 cc. Going above this compression is not advisable on the gas you have to use. Based on compression alone for the power increase does not mean the airflow is better so be awhere is this fact. If you have no cam to raise to power level, the increase in compression is fine as you get a bit better fuel milage from this change with it. If you are looking to improve airflow, the very least factory heads to use are the 351W 69/70 casting from a 4 barrel car. They aiflow a lot more and can be ported to do very well. The later e7 heads requie different push rods and rocker to fit your engine. Going beyond starts with CNC porting E7 at about $700 and go up from there to Windso Jr. and on up the line in cost and flow with alum heads tending to cost more as well as being lighter at 25 lbs apeice. If your going with a 4 barrel and cam, headers etc then you need the higher flowing heads to alow the carb and cam to have air to use at all rpm levels. Another note on you stock heads is that the valve seats should have hard seats installed for longer life. These heads can be bowl ported and the exhaust runner taken out to good improvement in flow and have them milled .020 to .030 to increase compression. When milling the larger amount, the intake may need to be milled some due to the change in angles and bolt hole location displacement that takes place. The shop should know about this. Good luck.
You know, now that I think about it, I never ran the numbers on the heads but the buy I bought them from said they came out of a 63 galaxie that had a 289 Hi Po motor in it. I took his word for it but they may be a different year model. Honestly, I don't care much for that PAW stuff, my valves were almost $200 from Summit, there's no way there stuff is anywhere near the quality of what I did with my 289 heads. If I had it to do over again, I would just save my money for a good set of aftermarket heads. But anyway, the 289 heads are still running strong....I put them on a 351W w/ fuel injection and put it into my 3/4 ton F250.
For the money a set of windsor180 by world on a mild build up. Cheaper than redoing an older set of heads. Good enough to get you 300 to 350 hp. Still a low to mid 13 car. If you took the time to polish and port match you would have a great head with little money invested. I bought the Roush 200s World heads 750.00 fully loaded locally a few years back. I bought another set 8 mths ago for 830.00.
You're right MaxPower. Although no Hi-Po was available till the 1965 289, intil then the hoprsepower was 221. Scotty P
Rebuilding stock heads for more performance can be very costly. I needed new heads for my boat. I thought about purchasing new bare castings $850, I ended up purchasing some used heads for $50 and rebuilding those. It cost so much to rebuild those heads. I just should have purchased new castings, by the time I added new guids and hardened valve seats, etc. it would have cost me only $75 more to have had the new castings and at least 50 more hp. Factory Ford small block heads dont offer much performance, not compaired to any of the new aftermarket heads. If you had the money AFR's would be the trick way to go. But if you dont check E bay. I have seen good deals on World Products iron heads and other brands also.
Thanks for all the input guys....it is obvious you guys are very knowlegable and experienced at this. You gave me alot to think about. As a matter of fact I just got back from my buddies 'back yard garage', and one of his friends (a local mountain boy) said his neighbor had an older factory 289 4v stored away in the barn which he had for sale some time back for 500 bucks....500 dollars around these parts to some is a fortune....I asked him to see if he still had it, so I could come up and check some numbers....man it would be nice if it was one of those 271hp stock motors!!! Just dreaming here, maybe. Anyone know a good website for which I can decode the motor?????????? Thanks again everyone.......................D Ray
It could be a 289 4V but NOT a Hipo.....those were made as well. I seem to recall a 289 Hipo having a 289 cast into the top of the head with two "dots" over the 8.
Thanks for the info on the 289....I talked to the owner on the phone this afternoon, turns out it isn't even a 4 barrel...it's a 289 2 barrel out of a 65 Falcon......i'm a little disappointed. However, didn't they still have 200 hp stock, and the 4V's 225hp? Does anyone know exactly WHY they have so much more hp than my 1972 302? Does anyone think it would better to buy and rebuild the 1965 289, or just rebuild my 302???? Are the heads different?............thanks-- D Ray
If it's a '65 engine then it has the old "5-bolt" block, there are 5 bolts holding the bellhousing instead of 6 like they started using in '66. Tough (expensive) to find bellhousings if you need to.
