I'm into a 64 289. I got an incredible deal on a Fairlane Sports Coupe parked in a garage since 81. I got her home and checked her out. The car is incredible. No rust about everything is original and for the most part intact. So I try to turn her over with a socket wrench, then the fight begins. Round One.... All the plugs were pulled and good old Marvel's Mystery Oil is added to each cylinder. Round one goes to the 289 it will not budge even after weeks really more than a month of soaking. Round Two.... Maybe the starter has it locked, Its Gone, that wasn't an extra in the truck. DING 289 wins Two. Round Three.... I bust into it. Pull the intake, exhaust manifolds and heads. She came apart easily even the exhaust came off easily. The cylinders look surprisingly good. I Win round Three. Round Four.... I make up a solution of ATF and mineral spirits and soak the cylinders. I also clean around the pistons as best I can. I then take my dead blow and tap all the pistons I can get too. Then pull out the heavy artillery, an impact wrench. No dice. Round Five.... After days of this I resort to the nuclear option. A eight pound maul, 2x4s, pull handle, cheater bar and electric impact are all used in a coordinated blitz. We lost one of the 2x4s but she moved. All that's left is mopping up. I win five. Round Six.... It should have been a simple matter of cleaning gunk from the cylinder walls, lube and working her back and fourth. But my wary opponent had one more surprise. Each piston and has moved. Emory cloth has polished all the cylinder surfaces I can reach. It has been lubed and wiped out again and again. The engine turns easily 3/4 of the way around. Then it locks up again requiring more hammer work. It has made two full revolutions but it locks up when returned to the original position. I think I can feel a clank through the pull bar when I reach the lock up position. The boys won't be home for Christmas, 289 wins Six. This is where I'm at now. I know I'll Have to pull it to see what the problem is. Does anyone have an idea what's wrong. Could the cylinders be rusty on the bottom? Has it thrown a rod? Is it Main or Rod Bearings? Thanks
I think once you pull her apart you will find the problem. But I would also look at the transmission , If it is an aoutmatic , as some thing there might be amiss.
Anytime I am checking out a SBF whose history is a blank, the 1st thing I do is pull the distributor. Then I take a look at the 1/4" hex driveshaft that drives the oil pump. If it's broken, then I know the engine's gotta be torn down all the way, cause it's been run with no oil pressure to the bearings. Ford in that era used a rubber umbrella type valve stem seal which would harden from age and heat. Then it would break up and pieces would find their way to the oil pan. Then the oil consumption increases, and the owner/operator goes to a cheaper grade of oil and just adds oil, not changing. Sludge builds up in the engine and also finds it's way to the oil pan. So the sludge builds up on the oil pump pickup screen, and the suction from the pump pulls the screen upward away from the strap that goes across the face of the screen. This action exposes the hole in the center of the screen which is there to allow oil flow to the pump with a sludged up screen. Problem is that this also allows the pump to **** those pieces of hardened rubber valve stem seals up into the oil pump where they get between the gear teeth and jam the pump to the point that that aforementioned 1/4" hex shaft is twisted in two. No oil to the bearings and major bottom end damage. Dave
Just a wild shot here,years ago I had a 289 quit[luckily in the garage].I tried to restart,no luck,engine seemed siezed,it would turn partially each way.I checked everything I could think of,ended up pulling the engine and found the oil shield on the crank had somehow got caught in the chain at the crank sprocket.I think you need to pull the 289 and finish pulling it apart. ROY.
That was what I can't help but think... I could never trust it, even if it DID eventually cooperate, but that is just me. IMO, it largely doesn't matter now where it all began to go wrong, now...it ALL needs to be made right. But, I've never been one to get away with taking chances...I hear it's nice, though, from the lucky ones I've known who DO get away with it! I DO remember having a 260, with an automatic behind it, and having this problem, and it WAS the trans...the motor spun free after that and the converter was removed.
I'd cut a 1/2" off the dipstick and see how that helps. Really, something is amiss in the internals. Like it was suggested, pull the distributor and check the oil pump hex drive see if it comes out in one piece or is twisted up like a barber pole. Engines that are that stuck usually have busted ring/piston groove probabilities. Bob
I'm going to pull it and build it if the block is salvageable if not I have a 68 302 I can put in it. I'll have to change bellhousings if I go that route and I may convert it to a straight shift. My fear with the 289 is that it may have froze and busted inside. There have been some brutally cold winters since 81 and the car was in an unheated shed. I know it has antifreeze in it at least enough to taste. But I do not know if it was enough to combat the few -15 cold snaps Alabama has had since 81. My plan was to build it all along but I needed to get it free to have easy access to the converter bolts.
Hey, F-One. Where are you located in Alabama. I am in central Ala and like Fords too. Good luck on your project. Post some pics of the car. I recall a friends mom having one. It would fry the tires off. I think it was a 260.
What a fight, only to come out as a draw. Using a maul on an engine is a clue that something isn't right in more ways than one...
Had a engine similar to the way that one acts. It had a busted rod. I could get the crank to move and when it hit the twisted rod, dead stop. I could back it the opposite way and then back and it would stop. I had the heads off and couldnt see from the top side any problems. I dropped the pan and the bearing cap fell on the floor.
It better not come out at all. There should be a keeper on the shaft so it doesn't lift with the distributor and then fall into the pan.
Duh! If a motor wont turn it has a problem MMO won't fix, even if you get it to turn over running it will just finnish it off and probably cause more damage than you had to start with.
Ida yanked it by now. You are wasting energy. Round two for me would have been dis***embly. The trouble you are having suggests that the use of the technical phrase "it's broke" would be appropriate to use at this juncture. Get it out, turn it over, pull the pan and post pix! I wanna see the car, too!
You could've built 3 289's with the time you spent fighting to free up a toasted one. If it was a rare or more obsolete motor, I could justify the fight. But SBF and SBC parts are so cheap, just yank it and redo it. You'll be a measly $500 into a fully rebuilt motor that would be 10x better than the one you have now
It wasnt like we were measuring the movement of each piston. I noticed something weird and didnt see anything wrong inside the cylinders. I had mine on the stand already so in a few minutes I had the pan off.
I called motormikey here on the HAMB, who got me virtually every part I needed for my 350 Chevy for just under 300 bucks. SBF is virtually the same price. Included pistons, cam and lifters, rings, full gasket set... By the time machining is factored in maybe you'd be in the engine for $700 getting it bored and honed and the crank cut/replaced. Personally, my 350 Chevy cost me just under a G to do carb to pan, and I didn't even start out with one. If this guy actually has a motor to begin with where he can use the intake, ignition, etc... if you supply your own labor you can have a real reliable runner for around $700. My point is when you're dealing with the SBF and SBC, it's often a more economical strategy to replace than fix. The parts are cheap, and you've got to figure that your time is worth money. That's independent of the fact that you'd be using old worn parts as opposed to fresh ones. It's well worth spending a few extra bucks, a little less time, and ending up with a better finished product
Thanks for the replies. Yes the heads are off and all that's left to do is is separate the transmission and pull the engine. I do not have enough room to pull them together. I'll keep you posted and should have some pics soon. I hope I can save the engine. I do consider that 289 Special " hey it says so on the valve cover" lol. Yes I know 289s are fairly common but this is a 5 bolt block and it is the original 94,000 mile engine. It may be a common engine but it is the only one on the planet that came in that car. I'm very methodical and I wanted to see if it was simply the rings locked in the bore. I know for sure its more than that so now the fun begins. If I need another block so be it but I am really looking forward to making this engine into something special. My plan for the car and the 289 is this, to simply make it the best it can be while still staying somewhat true to what it is or was originally. For example the gold 289 V badge on the fender means 289 2bbl or C code. All the stuff you never see any more was there, linkage, air cleaner, decals, metal lines, clips even the original generator. You open the hood and its like a time capsule even the FoMoCo washer bag was intact and nothing was blue. It was an orange red with black trim. I'm not trying to go back all original to the last nut but I am going to enjoy the challenge of making the best out of what the car had in it. Here is my plan.... The engine, If I can use the 289, it will remain pretty much stock except for these modifications. The stock heads will be reused unless unserviceable. The casting will be removed from the ports and the exhaust side will be polished. The ports will be enlarged to the gaskets. The rocker studs will probably be replaced with screw in studs. Each valve will be checked for trueness and its seal on the seat. Pistons and rods... Due to the trouble I've had the stock pistons will be replaced with flat tops. The rods will be checked and replaced if necessary. If they are good I may polish them all and make sure they weigh and balance the same. Special attention will be paid to the rod bolts and studs. Block... bored to true if necessary. Crank ... turned to true and the rotating ***embly balanced. Cam shaft... Now here is the heart of the engine I have considered the 271HP 289 K code replacement. From Comp cams. Lunati makes a mild factory muscle cam that looks good and has the longer duration on the exhaust side that 289s like. I've thought of mechanical lifters but more than likely I'll stay with a hydraulic cam. Flat tappet of course. Intake ... Depending on the cam and rpm range I'll either use the stock intake or an Edelbrock Torker 289 Carburettor... Autolite 2100 should be about 480cfm or a Holley 2300 in 500cfm. Ignition... stock points or dual points. Exhaust... Stock manifolds ported to match the heads or HiPo 289 manifolds into 2 inch dual pipes and Smithys that exit under the rear bumper. and of course good quality components like timing chains, oil pumps and valve springs. The Car.. Stock Fairlane, stock interior, new brakes, 14" Ford steelies with 64 dog dish caps and trim rings. Stock height and stance. Stock C4 with shift kit. Stock 300/1 ratio. She should fly I hope. Please chime in.
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