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A friend of mine is in the process of building a 289 for a 66 mustang and I offered to look into what combo of parts he would want for his engine. Well, he is looking to make the engine just one level above stock. He bought a cam with the following specs (Advertised Duration 280/280, Lift .512/.512). Is this the right cam for his purpose or what do you guys recomend. Neither him nor I know much about engines but I told him I had the advantage of the internet and of course FTE to get him some options for his rebuild. I also found the edelbrock dual plane intake for him at summit. Is a 600 edelbrock too much compared to a 550? What other mods would he need? Thanks in advance for any input............
thats a big cam for a basicly stock 289......I would go a little smaller......if he has a stick and some 4.11 it might be ok....not sure if the stock valve train will handle it either.....
What do you recomend? What combo is good for this engine? I put an RV cam in my cleveland but don't know what the specs are for that. The machine shop told me it was the next step up from stock but could not find the paperwork to get the specs. Is there an rv cam for the 289? If so what are the specs for that one.
My opinion for the build would be rv cam (if available), aluminum intake, four barrel barb, headers, and electronic ignition. What do you think?
Edelbrock writes, PERFORMER-PLUS CAM KITS...PART OF THE TOTAL POWER PACKAGE
Designed for optimum torque from the low-end to the mid-range, Performer Plus camshafts match with Performer manifolds for vehicules operating from off-idle to 5500 rpm. They are smooth idling cams for daily drivers ,trucks, vans, RVs and 4X4s. You can expect a major improvement in throttle response and torque.
All camshafts come with hydraulic lifters, assembly lube and instructions.
That's about it, unless we talk about the matching aluminum heads that go with that!!!
LOL.
funny.....I have done a few motors for guys around town and they all start off as (i just want to hop it up a little) but by the time they are done reading mags we are building a 8000rpm engine happens every time. then they bitch cause it cant burn the tires from a stop light.....but they wont buy gears or converter to allow it spin where it makes it's power.
I would urge you to work on the bottom end first. You can even go 302 here, but I digress. Stock 289 rods and rod bolts can be beefed up. Research better rods, or shot-peening your existing rods. And, upgrade the rod bolts to the 3/8 from the stock 5/16. ARP might have a set for you.
If you build it to run up to 5500, and you have a 600 cfm carb on it, it WILL see 7000 on a missed shift.
I built a 289 with an rv cam and 390 CFM 4bbl, and it would run up past 6000 easy. Note that valve springs and quality (like Perfect Circle or other fine brand) non-stock valve seals can be had cheap and are good for 7000, which is as far as a 289 without yet more work should go. Don't waste your time with the stock neoprene mushroom looking valve seals. Junk.
A beefed bottom end gives you peace of mind with other mods.
For a cam you might want to try Cam Research http://www.camresearchcorp.com/. They custom grind camshafts for Ford V-8 engines only so they know what they are doing. The cost for my custom grind was only $10 more than an OTS cam and it was matched to my setup. You don't have to buy anything from them to get some good info. They are very willing to help and give info. I am very happy with the cam and lifter set that I got from them. They can talk to you about your parts match as well, not that anybody here isn't worth listening to. There is a tremendous wealth of knowledge in this forum. I just like to talk to as many people as possible before I make decisions about stuff that I really don't know much about. The more I know the more I realize that I don't know much at all.
Hemi, 85e, and matt all make good points. It just never ceases to amaze me when a guy will just buy a cam and then wonder whether it's gonna be the right choice or not. You say he only wants to go up one step from stock. O.K. In that case, that cam is waaaaaay more than one step up. If it's the Comp, it's 230 @ .050. There are a whole bunch of questions before anyone can really give you specific answers. Each of these questions brings a list of more questions with them, so this is very general.
What's the car going to be used for? Daily driver, lots of stop and go traffic, or dd with the occasional hammer down Sat. nite drags? Tranny type. Rear gear. And my all-time favorite, right behind how fast does he want to go, is how much is the budget?
Not trying to be a smart***, it's just that:
If it's cheap and reliable, it's not fast.
If it's fast and cheap, it's not reliable.
If it's fast and reliable, it's not cheap.
Pete
P.S. Keep it fun. If it ain't fun, it ain't worth it.
Thanks for the info. Greatly appreciated. As for the engine, as mentioned before. My friend just wants it above stock. I believe the mechanic asked him to get the above mentioned cam. I'm pretty sure he wont make more mods to the engine once he's done with it. The reason he decided to rebuild the engine was because he decided to paint the car and then decided to do the engine as well so as not to mess with it later on. I will definitely look into cam research. Once again, thanks....
It seems it will be a daily driver or ocassional cruiser. Automatic c4 with shift kit and don't know what rear gears. As I mentioned above, I'm not quite sure how he decided to go with that cam. I asked him to send me the complete info on the cam but he has not responded yet. Hopefuly I will get an answer by tomorrow and will post it. This is all good learning for me since I my self don't a thing either about cams. Maybe I just had a bad feeling about his parts when I heard they were trying to sell him an aluminum intake for $300 + for his build. Hopefuly we can strighten things out so he will be happy at the end.
that cam is way too big for a stock 289 trust me......
he should think about
270H cam and springs should will work with his valave train if it's got the rail type like it should, or it may have the slotted pushrod hole in the heads.
rpm intake
600 cmf carb Holley
port the exhaust side of heads
should be a good street runner 6000 rpm shifts.........get some 3.55 or 4.11 gears....
hole shot converter for it too so he cam smoke the tires when he wants.......some where around 3000 stall........