1967 fairlane 289 wants 390

djstrio · 01-09-2008, 12:05 PM

I have a 1967 fairlane 289 car. I want to put an fe in it. I have heard that you need to change the inner fender wells for the engine to clear. Is this correct?

Thank you for any help you can give me.
Joe

ROSCOE14EB · 01-21-2008, 01:49 PM

The Motor Will Fit. You Will Have Have To Change Motor Mount Brackets.

quig · 01-25-2008, 03:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROSCOE14EB

The Motor Will Fit. You Will Have Have To Change Motor Mount Brackets.

And front springs, radiator, clutch thikage, crossmemberif auto. The input shaft on a manual is shorter for the FE motors too. I want to do this on my stang too, but it will cost me big bucks. The biggest expense will be the heads and intake, I want aluminum so it wont weigh much more than the 289.

quig · 01-25-2008, 03:49 AM

I forgot, the heads from trucks and full size cars have the exhaust manifold bolts at 12 and 6 where the must/fairlane heads are at 2 and 8. If you have the big car heads you will need headers which also aint cheap.

fomoco71 · 05-06-2008, 07:08 PM

Just do a 460 swap,more cubes,easier to find parts too.

gunmuse · 01-20-2009, 07:15 PM

Ok as an owner of a 1966 390 GT. I have to ask the question Why?

You can buy numbers correct gt's and gta for a 5-7k (about the price to rebuild a fe properly)

Secondly do some ford history. the 289 hi-po fairlane was the FASTEST car of its day. Faster than the 427's. Clones bring huge bucks at auction and a 289 hi-po clone would be a super cool car and would be cheaper to make than converting to a FE.

And its not as simple as changing mounts. The FE is huge amounts of weight. Plus they have a large torque driven "twist" to the frame and must be cross supported. 390's tend to throw rods out the side of the block if you don't use very high quality parts when you rebuild. Mucho machining is involved with the oil valleys to "modernize" these engines. Production cars didn't really have the room to set these up to race without cutting some metal out to allow the exhaust to breath. (the cutting people talk about) You don't have to cut but factory gt headers will have to be used if you don't and they are only a 1/2 inch thick and they do not breath at all.

as I said make a 289 hi-po clone. Its cheaper and you will be cooler for having done so.

50dan · 02-14-2009, 09:04 PM

yep, swap in the 460. Tight but it fits good. I can tell ya what mounts to use and you can use 75 Lincoln manifolds or Crites headers with auto.

RCJCCOBRA · 03-30-2009, 06:47 PM

I agree with gunmuse. Why? There is so much available for the small blocks these days that it's hard to justify going to the big block. The 5.0 roller motors make tremendous horsepower and if that's not enough you can always go to a 351W and it will still use all of your small block mounts, etc. If you still need more cubes you can stroke it to 400+. I have a 67 2 dr ht with a 289 and a 67 Squire wagon with a factory 390. The 390 engine compartment is totally packed where you can get to about anything on the small block. Good Luck on what ever you decide to do with it. They are totally cool cars.
Rich

427fordman · 03-31-2009, 05:06 PM

If you think an fe is heavy put in a 460. They are 80 lbs or more heavier than an fe. I have a 460 style in my fairlane but it has a tube chassis front to rear and the weight is distributed much better(50/50). A 460 would be real nose heavy with a stock suspension. If you put a big block in you will need to change the rear end after you break the 8 inch and put in a 9 inch. A hypo 289 would be really really cool. I am really an fe man at heart and wish I would have spent my money on one instead of the 514.