knuckless

I have a 68 mustang with a 289 engine. I want to get some more power out of it. So for now i want to buy a cam to put in it. Give it a good idle and great performance. But i know very little about cams. For the people who have put a cam into their small block windsor, what kinda of cam should i put in? And do you have any other ideas to help get performance out of my 289. I already installed an edelbrock performer intake and carburetor, helped a whole lot. I do not have the money for heads or head work so im not going to go that route just yet.

Aussie66Fastback

Personally, I would not put a cam in an old engine unless you were pretty certain of its condition
I think the benefit will not be there without heads anyway. there are plenty of articles showing better gains from heads with a stock cam.

what rear gearing is in it now?
you are likely to get better bang for your buck by changing this over just throwing in a cam IMO.

my77stang

the best (and biggest) thing you can stick in there and still use your stock springs is the 218/228 @ .050 duration / .471/.471 lift cam from summit. thats pushing your old stock springs as far as they can go, but it all things considered it should work. if your heads have been done and have shims under them you may have binding issues, so look for that when your valve covers are off.

the cam and lifter kit is like 80 bucks @ summitracing.com, plus you'll need gaskets and you should replace your timing chain with a 30-40 dollar cloyes double roller while your in there.

knuckless

its got stock rear gears, but im not sure what rear is in it. i know its not a 9 inch but what would you suggest putting in it. 3.55?

my77stang

did they have 9" rears stock?[&:] 3.55 or 3.73's if you dont have overdrive. i have 3.43's in my II and was gonna go to a 3.80 (no overdrive either)

knuckless

3.73s would give me better acceleration right

SS4LUNCH

Yes some Mustangs had factory 9". He however probably has the 8" like most.

Even if you install something that the factory valves springs can handle, I would still replace them. I tested my springs and most only pulled 60#. I replaced them with new ones and if I remember correctly they came up to around 90#. My cam was a Melling that had the same specs as an Edelbrock Performer. Nothing special.

67mustang302

Best advice, save up and do everything at once. Some pistons and rings to make sure the bottom end is sealed well, and put cam/heads on at the same time. If you do it bit by bit you'll never realize your best power and you'll constantly be trying to play keep up with the other more worn out parts. New heads, then the rings are worn, so you pull it apart to do the rings, then the heads wear out, so you pull it apart again etc. You end up doing major overhaul work twice as often. And you'll see WAY more power from heads with the stock cam, than you will from a cam with the stock heads