Ford small block 1968 engine-powertrain 289 cubic inch

thatmetalbox.com home page



The 1967 model year ran long, it was supposed to be the last year of the venerable 289 small block ford. In 1968 there was a period of time when the 289 engine was still being produced. More than that, some of the engines which were stamped "302" still vere 289 engines internally: that is, the crankshaft had 2.87" throws where the 302 has 3" throws. The rods on the 289 are 5.155" long, 302 (and 5.0 of course) rods are 5.09" long.


This engine has the benefits of longer piston skrits; therefore a 302 crank or stroker 331 or 347 cubic inch configurations are possible. I have read that the early 289 engines (63-66 or 67 even) have shorter piston skrits which would cause the piston to come out of the bore at bdc... bottom dead center; the lowest the piston is in the block.. The heads are great because they dont seem to have any smog junk; holes. My 1967 heads had holes drilled all the way through the head connecting each exhaust port. The early 289 heads have a large threaded hole drilled just above the exhaust port, possibly limiting exhaust header size... These '69 289 heads have the thermactor bumb in the exhaust port as usual, but they are solid, no holes; they can easliy be ported with no need to fill them. The head cc are small at 58cc. The setup is for std hydraulic flat tappet camshafts. That is the reason I want the early heads with the oval pushrod hole, I want to cheaply run a small solid camshaft. My car has pleanty of access for me to continusouly take the valve covers off and adjust the valves.