engine power up recommendations...

[Kagan]

Hi everyone,

the car is 65 fastback, 289 A-code, manual 4 speed.
At the moment, fomoco intake, autolite 4300 and points distributor are on the car. There is an aftermarket cam is on the car but I dont know the values or brand.

What we want is the +300 HP region (at the end of all upgrades). The car will be used for street and mostly at weekends.

We are thinking to change the heads with AFR 165 or 185 in the future. Also a cam change would be done.

I made some search and found some possibilities..

Intake => weiand stealth or edelbrock performer rpm
Carb => holley 4150 (650 cfm) - 4160 (600 cfm) - street avenger (570 or 670 cfm) - edelbrock (600 cfm)
Distributor => msd (READY TO RUN PRO-BILLET 289/302) or proform (Street/Strip HEI)

What do you recommend?

Also is there a difference between the two distributors above (In terms of performance for our configuration)?

thanks in advance...

 

[D.Hearne]

Another good intake is Ford's own A321. Carb-----stick with the 570 or 600's. Instead of puring dollars into a flashy distributor, just replace the points with any of the drop in electronic conversion modules like Pertronix I or II, Crane XR-1, etc. Save the money and spend it on something else.These modules put out on a par with the distributors you listed, only thing else required is a hotter coil and good wires. As for the HEI, that one looks retarded, litterally........on a small block Ford. It's bigger than the carb. Heads? Do the intake, carb and ignition first, you might not want more. If you do then decide on heads, buy 58 cc chambered heads and mill em .030-.040 to get the chambers down to 54ccs so as to not loose compression.

 

[zookeeper]

I agree with Hearne. For 300hp (at the flywheel) try a good intake, 600cfm Holley, tri-y headers and something like a Pertronix II. Shelby made 306hp with that exact combo, no head porting needed. If that's not enough, swap the cam for a known "good" cam. I like Comp Cams stuff for smalll Fords and have a 268XE in my car.

 

[Kagan]

I understand that the electronic distributor or a something like petronix will do the job even if I change the heads and gain the 300+ hp. Is this correct?

Also, do I have to change anything else other than these things in or around the engine?

Will 570-600 cfm be ok in case we change the heads in the future?

Can you recommend a cam brand and model depending on the above head, intake and carb?

We checked the tri-y headers and shorty headers. I guess we might have to modify some parts in the front for clearance issues. Am I right?

Added: Also do you know that with the intake and carb will there be clearance issues with the hood?

 

[D.Hearne]

I understand that the electronic distributor or a something like petronix will do the job even if I change the heads and gain the 300+ hp. Is this correct?

Also, do I have to change anything else other than these things in or around the engine?

Will 570-600 cfm be ok in case we change the heads in the future?

Can you recommend a cam brand and model depending on the above head, intake and carb?

We checked the tri-y headers and shorty headers. I guess we might have to modify some parts in the front for clearance issues. Am I right?

Added: Also do you know that with the intake and carb will there be clearance issues with the hood?

A pertronix in a stock distributor (provided the distributor isn't already worn out, in which case you can buy a reman at the local parts house) will provide plenty of spark up to 7500 rpms. Anything more, then you can consider a fancier unit. Pertronix I, II, & the XR-1 have a two wire hookup, both to the coil. 570-600 is plenty of capacity up to about 7000 rpms. Tri-Y headers require a power steering drop bracket and maybe some clearancing with a clutch linkage (not 100% on this part) No clearance issues with the hood in most cases. As for a cam with your present heads, something like a Comp 268H is the most you can go to, without first installing screw in studs in the heads. The XE line will pull the factory pressed in studs for you in operation.

 

[57fairlane]

What we want is the +300 HP region (at the end of all upgrades). The car will be used for street and mostly at weekends.

We are thinking to change the heads with AFR 165 or 185 in the future. Also a cam change would be done.

I think everyone pretty much nailed it . . . but the 165s and custom cam would get you closer to 300rwhp.