Estimation for road domination

probly take about 2 or 3 weeks (mabey 4) of hard work to put it back on the road(including time to order various parts), a motor swap should only take a day to a weekend if you got everything ready..... the proper replacement parts,tools,people,shop,etc......
i'd opt for the 289 over the cleveland motor........for the same price of the 351C you can find a good running 302 or 351w that you would be much more happier with
what tranny does it have in it? doesnt the cleveland only accept certain bolt patterns? that is something esle to think about, the 289, 302, and 351w are pretty universal in a sense when it comes to the drivetrain......parts are much cheaper also, plus everybody and their mother knows how to work on them
one option is a latemodel running 302 or 351 for a few hundred, here you can find them all day long for 300 dollars in salvage yards out of wrecked 5.0's and f-150s. Call up mustangs plus and get the proper stuff to convert over to the early model driveline. Thats what i did however i used a gt-40x crate motor in carburated form with old style pullyes and front dress. Roller motors are the way to go. However if the guy is giving you a 289 save some money and use it.
Good luck with it. Davo
by the way if you decide to convert to roller motor let me know and i will be glad to help ya out, i've gone throug it several times.

IMO, clevelands are great motors...really more a detuned race motor than anything else. Out of the box in mostly stock condition they will run circles around most other motors. Years ago, you went with clevelands because the aftermarket was fairly limited. I mean when was the last time you heard of someone putting a 351w head on a 289/302? The aftermarket has really caught up. What will happen is that you will have to pay more for a 351c up front and then everytime you buy speed parts for it. 302/351w are cheap and the aftermarket is reasonable. When it comes down to it, I believe you could build comporable power for cheaper with a 351w. Just my opinion.

Windsor stuff may be cheaper, but with a Cleveland you don't have to buy heads to get high performance. However, it's probably easier to build a Windsor, because there are a lot more of them. The knowledge on how to build one is more common.

I'm putting a Cleveland in my car, because I want a Cleveland. To me the rarity is cool, I like the "factory race engine" part of it.. to me it's better in every way. I guess it's part of the fun for me being able to make the car exactly what I want. I mean, getting high performance out of a 30 year old car is not the most logical, easiest thing. We all have old cars because we love the old cars, not because it's the cheapest way to go.

BTW, the transmission bolt pattern is the same between the Cleveland and the Ford small blocks. The Cleveland is a little larger than a 351W, due to the canted valves. In stock form, it weighs about 25 pounds more than a 351W.

the really fun thing here is if you have the 250 six, the cleveland will bolt to the bellhousing. if you have the 200 six it wont.