Would that work? Would there be any particular advantages/disadvantages to doing so? Gonna take the heads off my 289 and have work done on them, have seen some rebuilt 302 heads for sale (reasonably priced) and wondered if they'd work.
Any thoughts welcome!
It depends on the year. I have not heard of many people swapping heads from a 302. The most popular is the C9AE or D0OE heads off 351 Windsor. I would save your money and get a set of those if you want the most for your $$$.
I also agree, it depends on what heads you have now, vs what heads you're looking at. For instance, replacing C6OE 289 heads with their 54 cc chambers with D8OE 302 heads( 70 cc chambers) is a BAD idea. Huge loss in compression there. Just about any 302 head will net you a loss in comp ratio, with the exception being the so called "J" code 1968-302 heads, those are the only ones I can think of that have the same 54 cc chambers most 289 heads had.
How exactly do i know what heads i have?When we take them off are they stamped to tell me where they were made/what they came from?Car is a '67 according to ford, VIN started life as a 6 but got changed sometime before export to UK. The block is light blue which i think sugests earlier than the car but i can't tell if its original colour.
I put some E7's on my 289. My advantage was 1)fresh valve job, 2)fresh valve spring, 3)roller rockers, 4)porting. I did loose compression (54cc vs. 64cc) but the unshrouding of the valves allow for increased air flow. The only "REAL" gain would be to get some 58cc AFR 185's
I think that physically they'll all fit, but as mentioned above you may lose a little compression. You may also have to fill some emissions-related holes in the 302 heads. When I was back in college and had no time or money I swapped my 289 heads for a set of 5.0 HO heads to cure the receding valve seat problem. Bolted right in (plugging aforementioned holes) and I "sensed" a little better performance...but maybe I only imagined it, or maybe the old heads were just tired anyway. At any rate, they are still on there and will be until I do somethinge new to replace the 276,000 miles 289.