What do I do with the rest of the parts?

[oldguy668]

I bought a 289 engine just to get the block. When I started disassembly, I noticed that everything inside was in terrific shape. All the pistons were clean, all the wristpins tight, no end play on the crank, no real slop anywhere. The bores look good, with minimal scuffing and no ridge at the top. The heads, crank, block and intake manifold all carry date codes consistent with being original for the car the engine came out of.

My question, since i have never taken an engine down this far before, is if this stuff has any value at all or if it is just junk. Basically, I have an entire engine less the block. Is it worth posting it on one of the Mustang forums? craigslist?

[Dan Babb]

I'd say it would probably be worth more to sell the whole thing complete to someone that's building up a mustang from that period. Maybe put up a post on some of the mustang resto forums to see if anyone needs those parts though.

[michael everson]

Curious why you wouldn't just put the whole rotating assembly etc back in and use as is? New heads etc and your good to go.
Mike

[Avalanche325]

Curious why you wouldn't just put the whole rotating assembly etc back in and use as is? New heads etc and your good to go.
Mike

I agree with Mike, unless you are going to stroke it. You can save some serious $$$ and get some really nice heads and a custom grind cam. You should be able to hit your HP target easily.

[oldguy668]

So....new pistons, wristpins, rings and bearings would do the bottom? New heads and a better cam for the top? and maybe use the money I saved for the dual quad setup that just appeared on the other forum...;)

Or, should I have the heads reworked and just use them?

[michael everson]

Why new pistons and wrist pins? I would reuse the rings if you have not removed them. New bearings and that's it.
Mike

[Jeff Kleiner]

It all depends on how "right" you want to do it Joe. If you're going to stay with the 289's 2.87 stroke then yes you could reuse the crank and rods if they check out. My recipe for "right" is at a minimum to have the crank journals checked for size and polished. For the rods you can have the big ends resized and fitted with good ARP bolts (the OEM bolts are torque to yield; one time use). From there you could have the block decked and bored minimally (probably .030"; .020" if possible). New pistons and pins then go onto your reconditioned rods. Select pistons based on what heads you plan to use so that the valve reliefs match; hypereutectic would be fine if you don't ever plan to go to forced induction. Although doing all of this would make a nice little 289 (actually at .030" over it would be a 293) in the end you'd probably be getting close to the same money as if you went with an off the shelf 331/347 rotating assembly kit and could offset some of the difference by selling the vintage parts to a rabid, date code obsessed Mustang restorer.

Jeff