289 block

[Lukebryan]

Hi to everybody,
I am new to the forum and have just registered hoping to exchange info and pointers with like minded people.
I have a question regarding the mark 1 cars that used the ford 289 block.
Was it a standard block as used in the mustangs etc of the period or was there anything special about it.............my interest here is just the block itself and not what happened to it once stripped down etc.
Thanks in advance for feedback.
Fordfreak

 

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

The 289 block used in the MK I cars was special casing.

There are threads linked from this post: http://www.gt40s.com/forum/gt40-tec...-original-road-car-engine-specifications.html

 

[Charlie Farley]

It was an XE block, yes special casting.

 

[mahlon]

Was it just a standard k-code, 289/ 271 horsepower or in shelbys hands just over 300 horsepower, or was it something entirely by itself?

 

[Doc Watson]

C6FE-6010-A is a "heavy duty" two bolt main block that resembles a conventional 289HP block and caps. The cylinder walls are a bit thicker and the material has more nodularity (nickle) plus the main caps are cast steel rather than nodular iron like the HPs.

XE-136505 is a four bolt main 289 block. 6L10 is the casting date. In an attempt to cure bulkhead cracking in endurance applications (LeMans specifically) the main caps from the 255 Indy DOHC program were fitted to a modified 289 block casting hence the "X perimental E ngine" number cast into the block. This number was tied to the blueprint detailing all of the needed modifications. This block is the forunner of what became the Tunnel Port 302 block and later the Boss 302 block. It is a bit odd in that it used conventional pressed in freeze plugs.

Other special components included a mechanical (XF numbered)electronic distributor, C6FE numbered balancer, camshaft,rods, pistons, rings, bearings and XE numbered forged steel crank.

 

[Jim Rosenthal]

Doc, is there any modern equivalent to the XE block? (I may have asked this before, forgive me if I repeat myself, or anyone else)

The first block you mentioned, the two-bolt one, sounds a bit like the Mexico block that is mentioned in the Ford engine book that I have. I think that is what I used to build my GT40's engine- the high-nickel content iron block.

 

[mahlon]

Thanks Doc, I had also heard of the mexico block and of the higher nickel content in the hi-po blocks as well. I never new they went beyond that, are there any numbers of the amount they may have produced. If I remember they only made something like 175k k-codes. but that does sound like a lot I have two of them a very small %...............m

 

[Doc Watson]

Jim, im not sure if there is a modern equivalent. I would suggest that any 'new' design 302 SBF block will benifit from 50 years of engineering advances in material technology and casting. I did a quick search and found this.....

Bill Mitchell Hardcore Racing Products - MAN O'WAR 8.200" Deck Iron Block

I'm also using a Mexican block for my 289 build. My engine must be earlier than 1975 to allow a 'visible smoke test' rather than emissions testing for IVA test here in the UK.

Andy

 

[Mike Drew]

Jim, im not sure if there is a modern equivalent. I would suggest that any 'new' design 302 SBF block will benifit from 50 years of engineering advances in material technology and casting. I did a quick search and found this.....

Bill Mitchell Hardcore Racing Products - MAN O'WAR 8.200" Deck Iron Block

I'm also using a Mexican block for my 289 build. My engine must be earlier than 1975 to allow a 'visible smoke test' rather than emissions testing for IVA test here in the UK.

Andy

FWIW, after my drunk engine builder (who subsequently ran off with my money and then literally drank himself to death) bored my beautiful Mexico block .033 over (!), I opted for a new Ford Motorsport Boss 302 block for my GT350 engine build. Nice piece and priced reasonably...and it should go without saying that the engine was built by somebody else!

 

[Charlie Farley]

"FWIW, after my drunk engine builder (who subsequently ran off with my money and then literally drank himself to death"

Jesus Mike... how much money did you give him..
:laugh::laugh::shocked:

lucky he didn't turn it into a V16.....

 

[Rick Muck- Mark IV]

my drunk engine builder

Isn't that redundant? Aren't they all?

 

[Mike Drew]

This guy was a real piece of work. I didn't know he was a raging alcoholic when he did an excellent job building the 427 side-oiler in my Contemporary Cobra. Since he'd done so well the first time I didn't mind fronting him $6K for parts and labor to build me a 331 stroker on a Mexican block.

After two years of promises, dodging phone calls (I'm in California, he was in Detroit), all I got for my $6K was a Scat stroker kit, and a random cam that he had sitting on the shelf and was wholly inappropriate for my application.

I eventually gave up on him and counted myself lucky--I learned that he had swindled many other people, and in my small circle of Michigan Pantera buddies, he had racked up over $100K in money pocketed for engines that never materialized. The (new) stroker kit was then turned over to a legitimate engine builder, and installed in a new-production Boss 302 block, and fitted with heads, intake, etc. etc. to form the new engine, costing me another $6K or so.

The first guy eventually abandoned his shop, just walked away from it, and the landlord put all his parts and machines and tools (and dyno) out in the parking lot, and scavengers had it all within a matter of hours. He then parked himself in his ex-wife's basement, and literally drank non-stop for many months until eventually he died, aged 50-something.

Very sad--but I feel much worse for the people that he cheated. At least one guy had fronted him over $25K for a killer engine and didn't get so much as a spark plug....:veryangry:

 

[BenL]

Here are the numbers that the previous owner scribbled down when he tore the engine apart (hopefully someone here will understand what they mean).

Heads: 289.66 C7ZE (289 HP) 1967
ported. screw-in studs. cast spring pads.
triple springs. push rod guides. welded water cross over.

Rods: 289 HP type 3/8 rod bolts.

Crankshaft: 1 m. type 289 HP 2.87" stroke
High nodular iron Brinell tested.
Has independent removable counterweight between crankshaft & crank timing sprocket.

Block: Marked in valley "302" numbered "1030"
casting no. 7F23. C80E. 6015A.
4" bore thicker main bearing caps.
6 bolt mounting to gearbox.

C80E engines were used for Trans Am racing.
They have a thicker casting and made from 90% Nodular cast iron.
Few blocks were made for racing. Most have holes for air injection (emissions).

Distributor. C. 50 F [12134-B] Dual point mechanical advance.

Clutch: Dual plate, solid centre, 8 3/4"
Sintered iron facings

Weber: 48 IDA Carbs


7F23 C8OE 6015A
^^ ^ ^^ ^ ^^- A series
|| | || | \-- Engine block
|| | || \------- Application: OE: Fairlane
|| | ||
|| | |\--------- Model year (x8)
|| | \---------- Model year (6x) C8 = '68
|| |
|| \------------ Day of casting: 23rd
|\-------------- Month of casting: June
\--------------- Year of casting: '67 (Cast June 23rd, '67)

 

[Steve Wood (PANAVIA)]

I had an XE block , caps and balancer that I sold to Mr Ashe several years ago that was supposed to go back into a 40' - I need to check up on what happened to it - they were also sold at the time as an over the counter performance block from ford - but they were out of the range of your normal enthusiast.

If you can find a true Mexico 302 that would be close (ish) as the higher nickel content in the iron ( to combat poor environment controls in the foundry at the Mexico factory )

The modern BOSS 302 block I have been very happy with in my cobra - the o-ring seals are fiddly on the water jacket , but after you get it going it is a neat piece of equipment -

Steve