Engines?
 

Hey Stangers,
Does anyone know the diffrence between a 289 4V and a 289 High Performance Engine? How can I tune a 289 4V Engine easy and cheap?

If I remember right the main difference was that the heads were different. The HIPOs had heads that used shorter vavle covers. Maybe the difference was enough to cause a difference in compression and such. I think they also had different exhuasts. Other than that, I dunno...

The 289 HiPo had a solid lifter cam and a 4 bbl carb. A solid lifter cam needs an adjustable valve train. I would not be surprised if it had a higher compression ratio, also. This total combination was rated at 271 HP. Anybody can throw on a 4bbl combination on a 289 (or a 302 for that matter)and get a boost of power, but it's not a 289 Hipo. They are somewhat rare, so if you have one KEEP IT. As far as tuning a non 289 HiPo, it's fairly straight foward. You have points, condensor, cap, rotor, plugs, wires, etc. Probably the only difference in tuning would be the adjustable valvetrain that the HiPo would have. Hope that helps.

The HiPo 289 heads have screw-in studs for use of the solid-lifter camshaft. Otherwise, the heads were the same. Compression was higher also. The 289 4V engine was just a base 289 with a 4 barrel carb on it. This raised horsepower from 200 to 225. These 2 engines even share the same hydraulic camshaft design. By the way, the stock 4 barrel carb was only rated @ 480cfm. A larger gain could be acheived using a 600 Holley.

Besides the things the other guys have mentioned, the K-code engine had a dual point distributor and a bottom end with beefier mains and higer nodularity. They were made for high winding. I've got one in my truck and I've had a few 2v and 4v 289's in the past and the major difference I can tell in the performance is as the 4v starts to run out of steam the hipo just keeps pullin and pullin. You can put all the parts into a 289 and have the same breathing capacity but it might not hold together as long.

There is definetly a distinct difference in the entire lifter assembly. The vavle covers on the HI-POs were a bit smaller. They won't give enough clearance if put on a regular 289.

The chamber on the K heads was smaller. Thats what jacked the compression up to over 10:1. All the other mentioned stuff every one said about the solid lifter cam, screw in studs, dual points, beefy main caps, etc.. was correct. The GT 350 271hp K code came with a uluminum hi rise intake and a 715cfm four barel with a center hung float. The K code 289's exhaust maniffold was different from the regular 289. It has smother curves and flowed better. The GT350R came with Tri Y's(headers). Although it turned out to be extremely rare you could get the two fourbarels or the three two barrels from the dealer as a option for the HiPo 289. I've read in two books that even though you got them from the dealer they were considered factorry parts. Sounds lile a counterdictory term to me. The other wild thing you could get from the dealer in 66 was a paxton suprecharger. The book that stated this said thi was a 400$ option that they had no record of anyone taking advantage of, although reportedly Carrol Shelby did outfit a few GT350S in this manner for close friends. Tony Branda offers some nice repro parts if you want original style show and go.