I have said engine in my carport, destined for my Pinto. It's been years since it was removed and has been garaged (7 years, I think). Since I'm going to rebuild it anyway, what kinds of mods are good for power gains with minimum $$$ spent? I'm looking for power gains, but nothing outrageous - just streetable usage. Items such as a good cam, good pistons (if I need to have the cylinders bored), things of that nature. Thanx for any suggestions!
Since you will be reboring most likely, get a quality flat top piston. Any of the mild cams out there are better than what you have now. Be prepared to spend $1500 to $2500 on a rebuild done right. A nice Edelbrock intake and carb is going to set you back at least $300. It all ads up, fast. But you must do it right the first time.
DC
If you go the Edelbrock intake and carb route, go for the 500 cfm - anything bigger on a 289, no matter how hot the cam, is going to be too much carb and you will be running constant rich mixture condtions.
Now do you want stoplight to stoplight acceleration, or WOT throttle power? If you go with headers, then you risk losing low end torque, but the stock exhaust manifolds are way too restrictive for any good power output, so consider getting the Hi-Po exhaust manifolds - looks stock, performs well.
You don't want to go over 10:1 compression, because if you do, you run the risk of having too much compression for pump gas.
If the engine is in decent shape and not in need of a rebuild, then get a Summit Racing catalog - they have everything that you need. For about 1K you can get the intake, carb, cam (and get new lifters), decent exhaust manifolds and spend the 80 bucks for a Pertronix ignitor - dump the points and condenser; no need to go radical with the ignition - the stock distribitor is adequate if the vacuum advance is operational. Don't forget little things like a new distribitor cap and good quality spark plugs and wires.
The major hurdle that you have are the heads - if they have not been worked on, then chances are you have heads that are designed to burn leaded gas - unlead gas burns hotter and will eventually burn the valve seats. If this happens, just take the head to a good shop and have hardened valve seats in while the valves are being ground. Of course you can find a set of 302 heads that are made for unleaded gas and have larger valves; larger valves = better air circulation = more power.
See how complicated this can get in just a few sentences? Don't give up, ask around - if there is a classic auto club in your town, join up and pick the brains of the members. Learn from their mistakes (and when working on cars, this can be costly - been there, done that, got the T-shirt)
Shayne opined in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:
This and the other replies should make you stop and think about how practical this idea is... even if the engine was under cover, the cylinders are likely to have rusted unless the guy who stored it oiled them.
You could pick up a later 302/5.0 and get a more cost effective replacement since -IMO- there's no intrinsic value in having a 289 in a Pinto... you're just going to end up with being able to say you did it.
The 289 WOULD have more value to a restorer.
Rich or lean depends on the carb adjustment. The 600 CFM Holley on my 306 was lean out of the box. I would get surging on the highway and when I went to accelerate it would surge badly and run rough until I gave it enough gas so as for the vacuum to drop enough to open the power valve. Right at 6.5" vacuum you could feel adn hear the difference. It smoothed right out and pulled hard. I jetted it bigger, and now it runs very nice on the highway and the transition into the power valve is smoother, but you can still feel and hear when it opens up.
Agreed, headers can be a pain!
I run 11.1:1 compression... not good with a stockish cam on pump gas. It runs alright on 93, but timing is not optimal and it sometimes pings a little. It runs better on 94 but that's too expensive and inconvenient for a daily driver (only Sunoco sells it). By spring I plan to have a hotter cam which should help.
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