289 hipo heads off ebay - are they worth it?

[68RustBucket]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=34202&item=2461481330

i was wondering 2 things:
1) would they fit my 68 289?
2) are they worth buying vs. porting and rebuilding my original 289 heads?

i think the only reason i'd rather not machine my original heads is to keep them all original and such, but it's not a huge concern cause i don't exactly think 289 heads are all the craze in the world of classic mustangs. so ... would these heads be worth the purchase, or should i wait out and buy some AFR 165's instead?

also ... how can the seller give such a wide range of compression? i guess it depends on the pistons used but 1.5 seems like a significantly wide range

 

[67stangvert]

For that amount you can buy a set of 66 289 Powerheads for $895, ported with oversized valves. The AFRs would blow both away but just depends on how long you wnat to wait.

 

[mp67]

I can't see what the price is cause I'm at work, but from the other post I assume they are in the $800 dollar range. 289 hi-po's are great if you are restoring a 289 hipo engine. While they do net some performance gains over stock 289 heads, a few hundred more dollars buys you a set of aluminum heads with better performance.

 

[Bad Snake II]

Holy crap! This summer i bought a 289 engine at a swapmeet here in nebraska for $40 it was a 289 rotating assy but the block turned out to be a 79 302 block, thats besids what i am saying. the old guy i bought it from was an old ford engine specialist in HP motors. The guy had a set of 289 heads he said he would let go for $20, he said they were rebuilt over 15 years ago but they had screw in studs, the top of the heads were the valves are was packed with cosmoline grease so i could only make out the 289 and that they where the ones with cast in pushrod guides. I gave him $60 for the whole thing minus the oil pan and the upper assy. Got it home cleaned off all the grease and found they had a HP in the valve body didnt think any thing of it, took the valves out and they are larger than normal. So what it seams to be i got a set of these HP heads for 20 bucks and i can run them, they were rebuilt.
Sweet.
For that much as the auction is going for i would put alluminum heads on.

 

[hungrymonkey]

i found a set for $50 a couple of months ago.

they had a water jacket blown out then fixed. I wonder if that guy still has them.

 

[D.Hearne]

I can't see what the price is cause I'm at work, but from the other post I assume they are in the $800 dollar range. 289 hi-po's are great if you are restoring a 289 hipo engine. While they do net some performance gains over stock 289 heads, a few hundred more dollars buys you a set of aluminum heads with better performance.

Where exactly is the performance gain in the Hi-po heads over the std 289 heads? Other than the screw in studs and spring pockets?

 

[hungrymonkey]

Where exactly is the performance gain in the Hi-po heads over the std 289 heads? Other than the screw in studs and spring pockets?

Duh. they are hipo's


and they have stuff on them and stuff.

 

[D.Hearne]

Yea, just the Hi-po name is good for 30 hp

 

[Doc Voodoo]

From my research on the subject . Take it for what you will. The Hipo head were the same as any other 289 heads. The only diffrence was it would alow for the HIPO CAM with Mechanical Valve Train . You could get higher RPM out of it with no Valve Float. The Valves were the same in size as any 289. the extra power I think Came from the CAM with the ability to Go to higher RPM and the better exaust Manifolds. Other then that I am not sure what else was diffrent.

 

[fess40]

My GT's Hipo was gone long before I found her. But, I've still got the badges. That's good for at least,,,,what maybe 10-15hp?

 

[D.Hearne]

10-15 hp and an extra 5 grand on the price tag

 

[ashford]

$1500 buy it now my ass

 

[LMan]

Waste of $$. Recommend against this. Your stock heads with bigger valves and some light porting will do all any Hi-Po heads can do and more.

 

[mp67]

Where exactly is the performance gain in the Hi-po heads over the std 289 heads? Other than the screw in studs and spring pockets?

Its like hungrymonkey said, they are hipo's. Anything with hipo, HO, superduty, etc.. has to be better right? Seriously, I thought they had smaller combustion chambers for better compression, but I looked it up and I was wrong. Oh well, for that money I would still go with aluminum. But if someone was restoring to concours or something, I guess they might pay those prices.

 

[D.Hearne]

Its like hungrymonkey said, they are hipo's. Anything with hipo, HO, superduty, etc.. has to be better right? Seriously, I thought they had smaller combustion chambers for better compression, but I looked it up and I was wrong. Oh well, for that money I would still go with aluminum. But if someone was restoring to concours or something, I guess they might pay those prices.

Ok, just checking to see if you've done your homework. Far too many people, buy into the myth that the Hi-po heads are better performers than the std 289 heads, when in fact they're basically the same head as the std 289 head. The only thing different about them, that can't easily be done to the std heads to make them equal to the hi-po's are the cast in spring pockets.

 

[Kman]

Absolutley correct that there is no increase in flow with the HiPo head, they have the same port dimensions and valve size as any other 289 head. The cast in valve spring seat pockets, double valve springs and screw in studs added high rpm stability for the higher winding K motor. If you want a good set of heads to really improve the performance of your car you are much better off going for any of the many aftermarket or Ford performance heads as you will get much more performance for the same price as a pair of HiPo heads. HiPo heads with the correct casting numbers and date codes are gold to a HiPo owner who is doing a correct restoration on his car and with there not being a huge number of these heads avaliable, that is where their market value comes from. You will pay the same price for a good set of freshened HiPo heads as you would for a new set of Edelbrock or AFR's.