Ford Windsor Forums

i have a 302 i'm putting together. i have some later model 351 heads w/ the air flow for smog and i have access to some 66' 289 heads. what is the better option?

i think the 289 heads would be the best budget build. depending on what year the 351 heads are

 the 289 heads will bolt right on and have a smaller combustion chamber if you want or need more compression. the 69 thru 74 351 heads will have bigger valves the later model 351's have same size valves as the 289  but you gotta get either the head bolts that are stepped or the  stepped washers cause head bolt sizes are different. its up to you. hope your build goes well

my 67 289 heads for delivery to Georgia,( not california) had the emissions obstructions in the exhaust ports (even though they weren't used).  The labor spent screwing with these heads was not nearly worth the $ 800 to buy a new  set of Roush heads, or the $ 500 +- for a good pair of rebuilt iron heads that didn't have these obstructions. I don't know whether these started in 66 or 67 models, I don't think it was the car model date, but the date of production that was the determining factor.