Posts by bobmannel

K-code 1964 Comets are not 289 HiPo cars. If the Comet was special ordered with the 289 HiPo, all indications are that the engine will have a sequential number.

I have found engines with intake manifolds cast the day before the engine was assembled. It just depends. Routinely they can be within three days. But, I have also seen almost a year between a block casting date and its assembly date. I believe this is rare. In this particular engine, the lower half of the thrust bearing was missing. Perhaps the engine was sidelined, then later released. Who knows? The engine got close to 100,000 miles, but I could move the crankshaft almost 1/8". Must have made one heck of a lot of noise!

Anyway, I generally figure all the components will be within two months of the assembly date (two weeks to 3 days more common). Car scheduled date could be before or after the engine assembly date, but is generally before and within a week -- but not always.

The link did not work. I would call AMK and ask specifically about the part number I gave you. Max has it in his catalog, but I don't know if he carries it or not. If not, I would use a bolt from another engine.

Edited by - bobmannel on 03/05/2007 19:47:30

You are correct. I have heard of 289 production blocks cast in February. Have not confirmed any production blocks in January. There were prototype blocks before that. All 1963 production 289 blocks (regular or HiPo) are C3AE-6015-N. There were a few C4OE-6015-C blocks that got into very late (July 63) 1963 production Galaxies.

Ford listed the bolt as 377850-S (5/8"-18x2" hex-head). AMK lists this bolt in its catalog under Special Bolts with the same specs and says it is grade 8 (as was the original). Is this the bolt you were sent? I use the original bolts all the time, by the way.

It is a common casting used from 1963. My memory is not too precise in this area, but I think you can find them on any small block from about mid-63. Since they were balanced for the engine, one casting was good enough, I suppose. I know there was a C2OE in 1962. My 63 HiPo has the same C3OE casting.

There might be some confusion on terms and systems. First, some background. Since the 221 came out in late 1961 there have been road draft tubes and PCV systems at the same time. Both attached at the rear of the intake manifold, so this area was always machined. In 1964 Ford abandoned the road draft tube system and used the PCV that exited out the passenger's side valve cover. In May 1964, Ford revised the PCV systems. The 7-1-64 Mercury 1964 TSB #9B and 5-10-65 Ford TSB #15, Artcile 279, stated "Bascially, this revision involves the release of the 'Jiggle Pin' control valve for vehicles built or sold in California or New York, and the release of a road draft tube for the remaining vehicles."

This does not mean that all non-CA & NY vehicles got road draft tubes. It means it was released so that they could be used. Some got them and some did not. This affected the 64½ HiPo Mustang. When the road draft tube was installed, the intake manifold was machined as it had been in 1962-63. The tube attached there. This was done at the engine plant.

For 1965 production, Ford revised the road draft tube to attach to the passenger's side valve cover. This meant that there were no changes required to the intake manifold. The 289 HiPo took a special road draft tube so that it would clear the streamline exhaust manifold. The part number was C5OZ-6758-A. In addition, a special carburetor was used with the 1965 289 HiPo with road draft tube. It was C5OF-L tagged, although the carb base might be stamped C4OF-AL.

In the 5-10-65 Ford TSB #15, Article 279, it also stated "During March 1965, assembly plants will phase out the road draft tube crankcase ventilation system previously installed as standard equipment on some car and truck engines."

So, if you have a 65 HiPo from August 1964 to about March 1965, it could have a road draft tube, although most will likely had the PCV.

Hope this helps.

Edited by - bobmannel on 03/02/2007 17:55:12

Edited by - bobmannel on 03/02/2007 17:56:29

Duncan, Thanks for the welcome! I see your old car most days, as it rests in my garage. I remember pulling out an old honest's nest the size of a football from the back of the front seat shortly after I got it home. So, there was a time while it was sitting in a field I would not have wanted to look it over too closely! Many of the HiPo engine parts photographed for my book came from its motor. The motor also made the round to many a show and swap meet while I was promoting the book. I had it mocked up exactly as it would look when restored and installed back in the car.

Can the order of the post under a topic be reversed? I am seeing them from the first to the last. But, I prefer to see the last to the first -- in other words look backward in time and I look down through the posts. I can't seem to find an option to do that. Is there one?

I have a Ford-remanufactured standard 1965 fuel pump. It has the top cap. But, the funny thing is, Ford replaced the lever with one like the 63-64 pump so the pump could use the lower spring arrangement. There is no spring under the cap, nor are there provisions for that spring on the lever.

Road draft tubes were used from about May 1964 until March 1965 in states where they were allowed (California and New York required PCV). The spacer was either cast with no hole, or had a hole and was capped with a rubber plug and ring clamp.

The 289 HiPo washer measures .310" thick on my micrometer. There is no specific reason for the thicker washer other than high rpm reliability. The thicker washer deforms less, therefore more stable, and in the HiPo world "more" is better.

Ford gave a part number of C5OZ-9380-A for the extra spring on the 65 289 HiPo fuel pump. This was a replacement for the brown C3TZ-9380-A spring used on the 1963-64 V8 fuel pumps. So, getting a spring is not the problem. The rub is the lever. It was C5OZ-9376-A and only used on the 289 HiPo. You would need to remove the 65 standard lever (C5AZ-9376- and modify it for using the forward spring without weakening the hardness of the lever.

In California, all the 64½-66 used the air breather cap as shown in the picture. It will have a FoMoCo stamping on top, or covered over with a decal. The turned up spout is for the standard air cleaner. For the judge saying it was the wrong cap, it would be interesting to see how he would have managed the connection between the turned up spout to the fitting under the air cleaner....

Comets never had the 289 HiPo coded in the VIN. They were special order cars only. The Comet Durability Run car I saw at Harrah's was an F-code car (260). Most other 64s will be K-code, but not for the 289 HiPo -- but for the regular-fueled 289 4V. (This engine was the same as the D-coded engine in the 64½ Mustang.) The Comets were first offered with the same (or equivalent) package used at Daytona -- which included a 3-speed column shaft and 2.71:1 9" rear (the original Daytona cars used 2.80:1 8" rears). Later in the year Mercury released a second option for a 4-speed and 3.89:1 9" rear. Mercury did not use the "Daytona package" to describe the option in any official literature that I have read, but it seems to imply the 4-speed package, today. All these cars came with transistorized ignition and Ford alternators.

The 65 Comet 289 HiPo was more refined, but still special order only. All are A-coded. They used transistorized or conventional dual points. All used an export brace in place of the welded-in standard braces. All were 4-speeds with 9" rears.

All the Comet 289 HiPos used single exhaust systems and stock Comet/Falcon exhaust manifolds because the Fairlane HiPo manifolds would not fit.

These cars are very rare. I know of only one 64 in Hawaii, and three 65's.

Just because the brochure says an option is available does not make it so. This might be a Canadian brochure. It appears that Oakville produced about seven or eight of these cars for drag racing. There is documentation to support that and a couple of these Falcons have surfaced -- all Canadian built -- but none have ever been verified in the U.S. as American made.

Thanks for the friendly welcome. My association with the 289 HiPo goes back to 1968. I was ready to buy my first car and all I could afford in the used car market was a Fairlane in the 1962-63 vintage. I had $650 to play with. A friend of mine had the 1963 Ford Buyer's Guide which showed the engines available for the 63 Fairlane. That's where I saw my first picture of the 289 HiPo. It was just a beautiful-looking engine! But, when I found one the price was $1,300 -- well out of my price range. I settled on a 1962 Fairlane with a 221 V8 -- I absolutely hated 6-cylinder cars because that is what my father always bought. It was not long before the 221 got an Autolite 4100 and cast iron intake from a Mustang and a open-style air cleaner from the local auto store. What a great sound to hear the air being sucked by the 221 under load -- which was often for such a small V8. Next I added the 289 HiPo exhaust manifolds and exhaust system which I bought new at the local Ford dealer in Pensacola, Florida, for $110 -- those were the days! The Arvinode system was music to my ears. In a few years the 221 worn out, so I replaced it with a 289. The 289 got the C9OZ cam and dual point conversion via my local Ford dealer. But, the 62 Fairlane was rusting out, so I next bought a 63 Sports Coupe and moved all the engine stuff to the 289. By this time I had located a close-ratio T-10 4-speed and 3.89:1 9" rear from a butchered 64 K-code Fairlane. This was the mid-70s and many a K-code Fairlane was scrapped to support the growing popularity of the K-code Mustangs. So, I had my clone and had a blast driving this car to the base everyday.

But, along the years I did come across many more K-code Fairlanes. Today I have two that are awaiting a time for restoration. Seems I pick up the neglected orphans. One is a 1963 Fairlane 500 4-door sedan (3K42K) with 3-speed column-shift and 3.89:1 rear. The other is a 65 Fairlane Sports Coupe (5A47K) with C4 automatic and 3.50:1 rear.

But, 289 HiPos have fascinated me, and I love the lines of the 64½-66 Mustangs (had a 64½ 260 V8), the 64-65 Comets (had a 64 and a 65), and the 64-65 Falcons. And, yes, there were K-codes in 64 & 65 Comets (special order only) and about seven to eight Canadian 65 Falcons.

You might say that this engine is my passion!

I have accummulated three dozen sequential serial numbers for early 289 HiPo blocks (and always looking for more). The numbers support Ak Miller's statement that 1,500 engines were made in 1963 -- most going into Fairlanes. To date, every 1963-64 engine I have found that can be athenticated as a 289 HiPo has had the sequential number. The number was also painted in the bellhousing area of the block, which was lost the first time the block was chemically dipped. About the time the Mustang HiPo was introduced, Ford began stamping the VIN on the block. Until I get some confirmed data from 64½ Mustang HiPo engines, I can't confirm these 5-bolt engines will have the sequential number. I have never seen a 1965 (6-bolt) HiPo with a sequential number, and believe that by that time the sequential numbering was abandoned in favor of VIN stampings.

Ford took a standard 1965 pump, which has a lever spring under the top cap, and added an additional spring on the bottom in the same position as will be found on the 1964 pumps. So, you can functionally convert a standard 1965 fuel pump into a 289 HiPo fuel pump. The second spring reduces the tendency of the lever to lose contact with the eccentric at high RPM. Keep in mind that 1963 and 1964 HiPos used the same fuel pump as the standard 289, as there were no provisions for a second spring.