289 hi po motor

[TOM B]

A guy that lives a Mile down the road from me knocked on my door yestraday and offered me a 289 hi po motor complete from carb to pan. He said it sat in his garage for over 30 years when he pulled it out of his 65 mustang fastback.
I think I will go down and look at it. What is the best way to tell a hi po from the outside.

 

[dennis112]

A guy that lives a Mile down the road from me knocked on my door yestraday and offered me a 289 hi po motor complete from carb to pan. He said it sat in his garage for over 30 years when he pulled it out of his 65 mustang fastback.
I think I will go down and look at it. What is the best way to tell a hi po from the outside.

Lots of engines are "supposedly" hi-po engines and yet are not.

Of course it will have a 4 bbl carb, but so did the standard A code.

Look for NO vacuum advance canister on the dual point Ford distributor, special cast iron exhaust manifolds, and an extra wide balancer with an additional counterweight. A 65' will have had a manual transmission--no automatics so it should have a flywheel, not a flexplate.

If you can pull a valve cover (recommended) you will find screw-in studs with NO guide plates and the spring pockets are cast differently, not just machined. If the oil pan is off, you will see main caps that are thicker than the run of the mill 289/302. The camshaft is solid lifter.

If it is a Hi-Po, I recommend buying it cheap and selling it on ebay for big bucks.

 

[TOM B]

I do know about the main caps so I know what to look for there. The guy said I can have the engine free as he is cleaning up and got tired of walking around it.
Maybe i will just pic it up and look later.

 

[mstngjoe]

What to look for under the valve covers:

 

[65ShelbyClone]

The guy said I can have the engine free as he is cleaning up and got tired of walking around it.

Free is free, right? Just take it and see what you find. Even if it's not a k-code 289, it's worth picking up for free.

 

[danny clemens]

I would have been down there when he first told me before he gives it to somebody else. If it's not a hi-po you can always get rid of it.

 

[spirockp]

I don't think you should take that guys junk.

What's his number?

 

[BLK91LX1uponu]

The heads should have a number cast on the front between 19-21 to be a Hi-Po heads

 

[6r09k******]

Just watch out that he doesn't try to bash you over the back of the head when he tricks you to go and have a look at it in the back, dark corner of his garage!

Seriously, just look at the numbers on the ends of the heads, maybe also if he has the original exhaust manifolds on it (hipo specific) and look under the valve covers as some of the other guys have said.

 

[danny clemens]

A guy that lives a Mile down the road from me knocked on my door yestraday and offered me a 289 hi po motor complete from carb to pan. He said it sat in his garage for over 30 years when he pulled it out of his 65 mustang fastback.
I think I will go down and look at it. What is the best way to tell a hi po from the outside.

You've got to be one of luckiest guys that I know of. You find a Boss 302 block and heads in your basement and now your neighbor wants to give you a hi-po 289. I'm like the old Hee Haw song, If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all.

 

[Kman]

If it still has the original Autolite carb it be a 600 CFM unit with a 1.12" primary venturi and will have a manual choke setup on it. If the tag is on it ithe number will be either a C50F-L or a C50F-J. If the fan is there, it will be a 4 bladed unit with a stamped steel center and aluminum blades which was unique to the HiPo. One last thing to look for is a VIN stamped on the bottom of the block, just above the oil pan on the passenger side of the block. Most, but not all had the cars VIN stamped on both the block and the transmission. If it is a HiPo and you got it for free, it is indeed your lucky day!.