68 289 C code engine tips!

Crs

Member
May 7, 2004
182
0
16
San Francisco, CA
I'm in the process of getting my engine rebuilt. I'm looking for a healthy combo with excellent throttle responce that will give me the most out of my block without being a gas hog. I have 3.50 gears in the rear with a C4 2500 stall(I may ditch to smaller stall). I just sold my 393 stroker.....so i'm building my original 289. Thanks!
 
Crs, what kind of MPG were you getting with your 393? I'm just curious, since people can have different opinions on what a "gas hog" is. Also, what kind of performance were you getting from your previous combo?
 
stock heads, but worked a little bit. there are slightly larger valves.

i have a weird situation where i think i have the wrong headers and i had to jack my engine up about an inch for the secondary tubes to pass the inner fender towers, also my hood scoop is bolted on with about 1 inch bolts sticking on the underside of the hood. i dont even want to explain why cause there is no resonable answer.

because of that i have major clearance issues. if those two items were out of the way, i would go performer RPM intake with performer RPM heads to match the specs on the cam (same as the performer RPM cam). i would put 3.50s in the rear (currently 2.80) with a 5 speed. the RPM package dyno sheet from edelbrocks website says 367 horse 340 torque. thats QUITE a bit difference lol.
 
On my 393 , i was getting 7-8 MPG normal driving with occasional flooring of the pedal. The person who built the engine said it was a 400 hp motor with a mid 12 sec capability...........................never took it to the track though!

Thanks for your input Cobain ! I was thinking about a Crane Energizer 272 or a similar Comp Cam, with my stock heads cleaned up and the comp ratio bumped up a bit . Maybe the Edelbrock Package might not be a bad option either........... but i wonder how fuel efficient it is?
 
The C4 is what is killing you, I could only best 6-7mpg on highway with mine.

Overdrive, AOD or T5 will be a major improvement. Vacuum secondary carb (with an automatic), later model heads.