Thread: 302 what heads 351w 289?

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I am going to put some heads on my 77 mustang II. I have done all the research on 351w heads and know good casting numbers D0oE-C or g and know the specs on them.

I know that they would probably give me some hp's but I also have read they are very hard to find. I do not know much about the 289 heads. I herd they are easier to find and have good compression. Thats about all I know

I am looking to do a budget build so I will be looking for used heads from a wrecker or at a swap meet.

Found a local wrecker that has a whole pile of them already off the cars/trucks haven't been there since I have got the casting numbers. He says he is selling them all for $60 a head.

So the question I want to know is. What would be the biggest bang for my buck 351 or 289 heads. And will my hedders and intake bolt up with them.?

The upgrades I have in my car are.
Cam, Im not too sure the specs' on it. I was told by a ford guy that it was the biggest I could go with out haveing problems running.

670 street avenger, 289 preformer intake. Long tube hedders. And some other small stuff that doesnt really matter.

The 69 351 W heads used to be the hot setup... so many good aftermarket heads now that are soooooooo much better then the old factory stuff... Don't spend a lot of money on old heads and reconditioning them, the good new heads will outperform a lot of the modified stock heads right out of the box!!!!

Basically what I wanted to do is get them outta the wrecker. Maybe get them shaved a few thousands and put them on my car. If my price calculations are correct I could do this for about $300. I havent seen any heads at any local shops that cheap. And Im not gonna buy anything from the internet. I wanna get the car going in a few weeks.

You're looking for C9OE or D0OE parts. '69 and '70 351 4bbl heads. I have 'em on a couple 351's and love them. Don't know what they do to the C.R. on a 302, but they do breathe better than any other stock head. Sure, Windsor Jr's are gonna be better, but the $$$$ worth....?

Last set i priced from a guy a few years back for 69 heads where $250 for the set they where redone but had been sitting up a few years . He did offer a good deal i should have bought them .

You might check the wrecking yard for the GT-40P heads off of the Late model Explorers with the 5.0. They are great heads.

i think probably a better route to go for the best bang on a stock head would be a small chamber 289 head the 58cc heads, those 351 heads are going to drop compression on you a bit..... the 289 heads will bump it up a little, then with a little port work you could get the breathing as well as those 351 heads.... that or i have some d0oe 302 heads that already had the works done to them ported out, hardened seats, titanium valves, roller rockers, guide plates, yada yada.... but i cant let those go for cheap..... i put a lot of money into them

I took my last set of D0OE heads to the dump for the reasons below.

There is a lot more to using these heads. First of all, they are most likely "worn out" and will probably need valve guides, new valves, springs, maybe retainers and locks. Add in 16 new seats for unleaded gas plus a set of rocker arms. Then a set of screw-in rocker studs. Then, if they have the infamous EGR bump in the exhaust runner, you (or someone) will need to spend a bunch of hours grinding it out. They will have to be tanked then milled for levelness. If you mill them more then just a few thousandths for clean up, then the intake will have to be milled as well. All this will be more then a set of after market heads - not cheap.

If you can find a set of low mileage GT40P heads, this is the cheap way out. If not, there are many reasonably priced OK to great aftermarket heads that are all better then the D0OE's.

289 (most are 52 to 55cc) heads may bring your compression ratio to well beyond what you really need for the street and today's gas, 10 to 1 or more