Heads and cam upgrade on 289 ?

[PhatChance]

I bought a 66 Coupe a few months back and have been in the process of restoring/upgrading it. It's nearly finished and looks great. (will post some pics soon) .. but now that it has an all new suspension, 17in wheels, new steering rack.etc.. the handling is great, but the power from the stock 289 just isn't.

The engine is the original but has been rebuilt. I was thinking of getting new heads and cam to add some hp. I don't need it to run 10's, but more power would really be nice. I'll add a new AOD tranmission from Lentech as well, but for now, it's the engine I'm focused on.

My question is, what heads and cam would you recommend? I've looked around and there are lots of choices.

thanks!

 

[HistoricMustang]

Phat, welcome and hang in there as I am going to try to put my engine stuff up in the next few days.

Others jump in...................

HistoricMustang
www.historicmustang.com

 

[66_stang]

http://carcraft.com/techarticles/116_0307_ford/

great read

 

[PhatChance]

Thanks for the link. That's pretty impressive, 400hp and all the parts well within my price range.

What other mods would I probably need to handle that kind of upgrade in power? Disc brakes and a new transmission come to mind

 

[66_stang]

If you have a C4, just make sure its rebuilt and in good shape. A new TQ Convt probably wouldnt be a bad idea. Get a 9 inch auburn posi rear-end with 3.55-4.11 gears (3.55 if u drive alot in my opinon). Traction Bars probably.. and just make sure your block and other engine parts are in good shape. O a bigger radiator would be a must for that, probably a electrical fan also. Thats all i can think of for now. Definity Front disc brakes. Good luck

 

[CPonds66]

I am satisfied with the power my car puts out for a street car and it is pretty mild. Check out my website for details.

 

[Vinyl66]

Welcome Phat,

I also have a 66 coupe. I just bought my car this spring and immediately did basic bolt ons to my engine because the car is in good shape but I wanted more power. I did a RPM intake, headers, K&N, full 2 1/2 inch exhaust with flowmasters, etc.
I took it to the strip and ran low to mid 15's at 88 mph.

Then I bought some used trickflow heads with rocker arms and a comp cam XE268H. Bingo! What a difference in sound and performance!! The first time out at the strip I ran a 13.91 at almost 101 mph.
Total cost for the heads, rockers, cam and lifters was under $1000. WELL worth it I think.

The most popular head out now are the AFR's.
I think you can't go wrong with the AFR 165's or TFS twisted wedge or Edelbrock Performer heads.

 

[66_stang]

Gt-40 heads are great but in most cases can be shotty/just a little more flow than stock heads. AFR's might be expensive but i figure do it right the first time. (No insult towards your set up CPOND i just love my AFR's )

 

[D.Hearne]

When shopping for heads, you need to keep in mind that going to aluminum ones, you want to increase the compression, most aftermarket ( if not all) have larger combustion chambers than 66 289 heads had, this will lower the comp ratio. You need to use a set that has as close to the 54 cc chamber that 289 heads had, then mill them to match or get them slightly smaller to boost the ratio. Or choose a set of iron heads with the same spec'd chambers that I listed above. it doesn't take much of a cc change to lower/raise the comp ratio in a 289. Even a 4 cc difference is huge in a small engine like a 289.

 

[Vinyl66]

D. Hearne is exactly right. Compression is a very important issue with the 289. I don't know what the compression was on my '71 model 302 before I changed the heads but I calculated it to be about 8.4:1 with the twisted wedge heads.
I would much rather be around 10:1 with my combination. I am losing lots of power because of that. Don't get me wrong it will still run 13's and feels pretty fast but I don't like leaving horsepower at the door. This is why I am on the lookout for a 347 shortblock with flat top pistons I am sure the extra compression and extra cubes will get me to my goal of running in the 12's.
What would a good naturally aspirated compression ratio be for street and some strip use?
Am I right in thinking about 10:1 and still use premium gas?

 

[PhatChance]

It looks like the AFR come in 60cc or 58cc. So that's a 4cc or 6cc increase, which would lower the compression quite a bit. Would it be better then to find a set of heads that are closer to 54cc?

If not, and maybe this is a silly question, but is there anything that can increase the compression after putting on larger heads?

 

[brianj5600]

If the piston does not come up all the way flush with the deck surface of the block, you could run a thinner head gasket. The other two option will involve more work and money, milling the heads or change the pistons. A is very easy and you'll be buying head gaskets anyway. B is more involved and a pain. C is costly + time consuming. It is winter though, so you have a little time if there is winter where you are.

 

[D.Hearne]

D. Hearne is exactly right. Compression is a very important issue with the 289. I don't know what the compression was on my '71 model 302 before I changed the heads but I calculated it to be about 8.4:1 with the twisted wedge heads.
I would much rather be around 10:1 with my combination. I am losing lots of power because of that. Don't get me wrong it will still run 13's and feels pretty fast but I don't like leaving horsepower at the door. This is why I am on the lookout for a 347 shortblock with flat top pistons I am sure the extra compression and extra cubes will get me to my goal of running in the 12's.
What would a good naturally aspirated compression ratio be for street and some strip use?
Am I right in thinking about 10:1 and still use premium gas?

My 331 with Canfield heads ( 57 cc chambers) has flat tops with 2 valve reliefs, and they come up to within .003 of the deck, with that and a Ford Racing Z303 cam ( 1.7 rockers) it has a 10.4 to 1 ratio and runs on 89 octane if you watch your foot, and 93 any way you want to drive it ( with the three Holley 2 bbls, that's usually wide open ) Oh and in the 3800 lb( with driver) 89 Extended cab Ranger with a Toploader 4 speed, 3.73's out back turning 275/60/15's, it runs mid 13's. In a lighter Stang, it would run 12's without a doubt.