[kzoo67fastback]

I am looking to build an original 289 to make my 67 fastback more driveable and cheaper to operate (enjoy).

A little story. My father spent 5 years purchasing the proper parts to rebuild an original 69' Boss 302. Once his work was completed, it found a home in his 67 fastback. A couple of months after putting the Boss into the fastback he suffered some major health issues which led to him losing a leg (no gas pedal action there).

Needless to say the car was not driven in close to 3 years by him or me for that matter. Kind of hard to see someone taking care of your baby right and I felt guilty. I kept it warm and made sure the fluids were ok.

He passed away earlier this year and my Mom gave me the fastback. My dad had this thing for about 22 years and it brought me alot of joy to have the keys.

One problem though...the Boss 14 to 1 compression and only runs on 110 and higher. When you only get 4 miles to the gallon anyway you don't spend much time cruising when the fuel is $6-7/gal.

My solution is this: unload the Boss on someone who is looking for an ORIGINAL 69' Boss motor; spend the proceeds building a hot 289.

Can a 289 be built to 400+ hp?

Thanks.

Sorry for rambling. SMB

[Jonk67]

I read an article on the '67 TransAm series Coupes and they (Shelby Team) cranked the 289 out to 390-410HP can't remember exactly. I believe you would have to wind it up around 8K to get that HP though so it still wouldn't be a streetable motor (hard to idle,low vac., etc.) and I'm sure your mileage wouldn't approach double digits either.
I'm stroking my 289 to 331 just to be on the conservative side and get some mpg, have no idea what the HP will be at but adding AFR alum. heads.
If you stay all stock and stroke to 347 your stock heads would probably need some serious professional work in order to flow, ford heads are very restrictive, that's why the Boss got the large valve 351C heads.

Keep us updated on what route you go and the HP/TQ #'s you get. After my rebuild I want to dyno mine just for curiousity.
Jon

[blea9082]

A 289 certainly can put out >400hp, but like jonk67 says, it would not be a good motor for street driving. What you really want to have are good torque numbers, at as low an rpm as you can get. Torque is what you feel on the street, makes the car seem powerful. That is why a stroked or stroked and bored motor is recommended because with higher cubic inch displacement you usually get higher torque.

By the way, you might want to "post" the B302 engine for sale on www.boss302.com. Somebody there will want it for sure. But don't describe it as "original". A stock B302 had 10.7:1 compression, so if yours has 14:1, it has been modified and certainly not original any more.

Good luck!

[Rejoin the Herd]

To make 400 hp with a 289 you will need at least 10 to 1 compression and peak power at about 7800 rpm. To do this would take race quality engine parts (meaning all forged internals, race prepped after market heads, roller cam, etc. Two big problems with such an engine, will be almost impossible to drive on the street, but bigger problem is the 289 block will not last long turning the rpm needed to produce 400 hp.

Also due to short cylinder bore (the cylinder bores do not reach down into the block far enough to support the pistons when stroked), a 289 is not a good block to stroke.

You may want to consider a 302 crate engine stroked to 331 or 347. With good heads, cam, intake, and headers many crate engines are close to 400 hp.

Google crate engine. There are many companies that sell them.

[Dustysdawg]

You can get 302's crate motors with 460 HP and 400 ft/lbs of torque from Motorsport or Roush. They are not exactly 302's because they are stroker 347's, but it is the same block. They both have catalogs that you can download with all different variation of these motors.

Motorsport uses a new boss 302 with 4 bolt mains. The Roush uses 302's with 2 bolt mains. Both run about 9:1 or 9.5:1 compression and made to run on pump gas. Both max out at under 6000 rpm.

Another interesting site to learn about this stuff is FordStrokers.com 331-347-393-408-418-427 stroker kits and ford parts.

DD

[Buckhunter]

stroke it to a 347 ...........

[kzoo67fastback]

Thanks for the input everyone. I am definately not looking to put together a race motor and had thought it may be easier to put a crate 302 in the car. My thought is if I change the motor on this car again, I am not going smaller than what it currently has, and it will be the last time.

Well it looks like I got some options and can't do anything until the snows leaves us for the year.

Its nice to have a place to go for engine info. I am a body/resto man and while I know how an engine works, the techinical things are beyond me.

Thanks again.

[67frankenstang]

once i get my 289 properly tuned dyno'd, ill post up the numbers. this probably wont be untill it gets alittle nicer outside. i have forged pistons, balanced crank, extremely worked heads, a decent sized cam, 10.5 / 1 compression, its .30 over, edelbrock 6500 rmp intake and a 750 carb. when i had the car open headers, it sounded like a full out race car, and with the full exhaust it sounds like a nasty street car. i cant wait to get the numbers.

[paul289]

Sounds similar to mine. Got the 1.94/1.6 valves and all, put out 180 hp using a Comp Cams XE250H camshaft (250 degrees duration, 206 @ .05" lift). Don't get your hopes too high.