I'm out looking for a 302 for my 70 Maverick, but have a concern. In all those past years, people here and there, replaced engines with different ones, and when the engine is all greasy & instaled on the engine bay, one can barely see any casting numbers. Is there a trusted way to spot a 302 from a 289? Right now I have all the parts for the Granada disc brake up grade, and the 8.8 Granada rear end. So that leaves me without a 302 and a V8 C4. I'm on the hunt for those two and don't want to make a mistake when purchasing. The tranny, well the tranny will be another story.
I got this off a Mustang website so I don't know if its correct but it was the best thing I could find. "The way to tell between the two; behind the intake on the 302 it will have a curve, on the 289 it is straight across". I'm trying to find a 289 to go in my Grabber. I figure the higher revs with the 5 speed should be alot of fun and sound good too with a nice little cam!
289 vs 302 Look at the harmonic balancer. 289's (except hipo) are about 1 inch thick. 302's are about 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 inch. Never heard about the intake thing. They both use the same manifold. I have 2 302's and 1 289 and they look the same back there. Steve
I have a 289 in my car and here is a easy way to tell the difference... the 289 has the oil dipstick in the timing cover while the 302 has it go into the block I think. you could also try pulling off the valve covers and take a look at the heads mine say 66 289 right on them. I hope this helps.
I currently have a 302 with the dipstick in the cover; it does have a block location, but I plugged it.
I've had 68, 74, and 78 302s, they all had the dipstick in the timing cover. The 78 may have actually had provisions for both, a hole in the timing cover and block (plugged). You never know for sure unless you look at the crank casting number. For a lot of years I ran 289 crank, rods, and pistons in a 302 block.
The 302 used a timing dipstick for many years. It didn't move till much later in life. There are no sure fire ways to tell them apart if they have been into. The block could have been fitted with the internals of the other, so even casting numbers may not help at times. They are just way too interchangeable. If you can be reasonably sure the engine hasn't been into, the best way to tell would be that all 289s used 3 bolt crank pulleys. The 302 only used 3 bolts for a very short time. So if the engine has a stock 4 bolt pulley, it is a 302. That being said, the pulleys and balancer all swap... I wouldn't worry about it myself. If you scare up a 302 block, and it turns out to have 289 internals, you can just swap it all straight up. Not a big deal. If an engine is that unidentifiable, you surely intend to rebuild it... Correct? Dave
I've been told the 302 has more bore dia. A close friend of mine is somewhat interested in my 65 Futura w/original 289 & tranny, but he wants it to make a 5.0 FI turbo project, so the engine will be spared. Well, I don't want to end up with a 289ci, when I may have access to one right in my back yard.
No. The blocks (and bores) are the same. It is the crank and rods that are different. And those can be swapped out... In the old days, the piston skirts were slightly different, but that has long since been ironed out. Edit: Watch out for early blocks! They have a different bellhousing pattern with only 5 bolts. Also, 221s and 260s have smaller bores...
Just look at the the front pully. A 289 has 3 bolt holes and a 302 has 4. That is the only way to tell from the outside of the engine. Even the 68 models where they made both 289 and 302 were different. otherwise you will need to take the engine apart to some extent to see what it is. Even looking at head casting #s wont give you the whole story because the 289 head swap was very popular in the late 70s and early 80s. Good luck on the search.
Nope - 68 and 69 302's that I have are both 3 bolt cranks. The only way to tell for sure is by the tag attached to the coil - providing it has not been lost or swapped for a different tag. Even the casting codes on the block will not tell you what it is for sure. Read on about casting codes: *************************************** Engine Block & Cylinder Head Casting Numbers221, 260, 289, 302 The 221, 260, 289 were originally designed for the Fairlane and produced only in the Cleveland engine plant from 1962-1965. The 1964 289 casting number for all 289s was C4OE-6015-C (later an F suffix). In 1965, this number was changed to C5AE-6015-E for the 289 2V, 4V and Hi-Po (note the change to full size Ford designation and 6 bolt bell housings). In mid-year 1966 the Windsor plant also began producing 289s. The casting numbers for these were (C6AE-6015-C with a "289" and "WF" in the lifter valley. In 1967 both Cleveland and Windsor produced 289s using earlier year casting numbers but with updated date codes. These two blocks were interchangeable, but there were probably some minor differences. Near the end of the 1967 production run, Cleveland ran out of 289 blocks and substituted their new 302 block, C8-OE-6015-A and marked with 302 in the lifter valleys. This block wasn't intended to see action until 1968. Note these 302 casting numbers returned to the intermediate size Ford or Fairlane lineage. Hence, a late model 289 coming from the Cleveland plant might have a 302 block with 289 innards. The Windsor plant had an abundance of 289 blocks for 1967. In 1968 Cleveland only made 302s, while Windsor continued with the 289s. It appears Windsor also tooled up for 302s but the plug was pulled before they got to make any. They did however, design and produce a 302 block that was used on 289s after the stock of 289 blocks was depleted. The number was C8AE-6015-B with 302 marking in the lifter valley. At the very end of the model year some additional 289 blocks must have been discovered as the older C6AE-6015-C blocks appeared again. In 1969 Cleveland continued with 302 production. Windsor dropped 289 production and took up the 351. In 1970 Cleveland came out with its newly designed 351. In short: C8AE-6015-B is a 302 block from the Windsor plant that was used in 1968 on a 289. C8OE-6015-A is a 302 block from Cleveland from a 1967 289 or a 1968 or later 302 (check date code). There is no code stamped n the block itself that can be used to identify the cubic inch displacement of the block. Casting numbers can be helpful, but some blocks used several different casting numbers, and in some cases, one casting is not interchangeable with the other. Engines are identified by a tag attached to the engine. This tag is used on all late 1964-1970 models and located under the coil attaching bolt. On the tag is the displacement, assembly plant, model year, change level, engine code (useful in identifying high performance engines) and date of production. This tag is easily lost or replaced with a fake tag, so don't rely solely on the tag for identification. ************************************************** "Never say always when it comes to FORD"
My opinion (for what it's worth), it doesn't matter if it's a 289 or 302. Either way, it's going to get a 302 crank & rods, maybe even a 331. Blocks are the same height, width, weight, etc...so why would you want less cubic inches? Higher RPM? A 302 will run about the same but with more bottom end & midrange power due to longer stroke. If I'm looking at a block and i'm sure it's a 289 or 302 block (4" bore) I'd get it and just drop in a 3" stroke stock 302 crank & be done with it. 289's were good engines but 2.87 stroke cranks are getting harder to find these days and so are the 5.155" rods.
289's are also for burning up piston rings due to it's shorter stroke. and if you're using a 289, i recommend better pistons are the stock/factory ones can't really hold up to the higher rpm's that people think they can. ive seen alot of them blwon because of this (and i have accounted for 2 blown myself, lol)
