[my69mach]

My friend and I are rebuilding his C code 289 and we need some guidance.
He wants to add some HP but not crazy HP and he's thinking an edelbrock intake and 500cfm carb, but unclear what cam would be ideal. The 289 has 90K on it and it's getting pretty tired. He's buying a master rebuild kit and most likely the cylinders will be .030 and were hoping the crank will be in good shape.
Helpful suggestions and recommendations...

Thank you

 

[somethingclever]

what's his budget?

What are the goals for the engine/car?

 

[my69mach]

The engine is going back in his 66 convertible that is stock, so I'm thinking in the 230-260 HP range for a noticeable improvement over what he has now. I'll ask him about his budget, but I'm thinking in the $1200-1700 range for machine work and rebuild kit. He just sent me an e-mail and he already picked up an edelbrock performer intake.
It's a weekend car that he wants a bit more get up and go and he uses it in parades as well, so it must be capable of crawling with a good idle.
I hope this helps clarify things.

 

[zray]

1) the new intake & carb
2) dual exhaust w/ tri-y headers
3) 3.25 or 3.50:1 rear end gears

those changes should make a significant difference. I wouldn't go crazy on the cam change unless you are leading the parade.

Z. Ray

 

[Dennis DeFelice]

Make sure that you go with flat top pistons. Forged pistons are nice but a good cast piston will work fine for a street car. Stock heads don't have alot to give but a good builder can port the exhaust to get them to breath a little better. Just remove the bump cast into the port. Keep in mind that a stock 4v engine was 225 hp. I'm running a Edlebrock intake and 1406 carb and am very happy with that set-up.

 

[somethingclever]

1) the new intake & carb
2) dual exhaust w/ tri-y headers
3) 3.25 or 3.50:1 rear end gears

those changes should make a significant difference. I wouldn't go crazy on the cam change unless you are leading the parade.

Z. Ray

That sounds like a nice list to me. I would lean toward the 3.50 gears over the 3.25's though.

 

[Hottarod]

I ran low 13's at 102 in the quarter with a Performer RPM cam, RPM intake, 600 vacuum carb, 4.11 gears, tri-y's and a little bit more stall in the converter. I did a home clean up on the stock heads, port matched the intake and heads and dropped into the high 12's. This was with Goodrich TA street tires.

I'm still running the same 289 bottom end I started with in the 15's. It runs 11.80's at 115 now.