I have been pricing my options when it comes to my pending rebuild.
My engine guy says he will choose a medium cam once he knows what has to happen to the heads and block.
So in the mean time...Ive been shopping around.
I am shooting for a engine that winds up somewhere between the C and K range.
Right now this 289C has a E-brock performer 289 intake, and a Holley 1850-3 (600 I believe) 4 brl.
I am strongly considering just rebuilding the carb and leaving well enough alone.
Is there anything about this combo that makes anyone feel ill?
Any suggestions, or comments?

 

c = 200hp
k = 271

why shooting so low?
Shelby was rated at 306 and that was external mods only over the k.
If you are doing a cam and some work on the heads (or replacing them), I'd be looking at 300-350 from that engine - nice, reliable, only thirsty when you stamp it.

the manifold and carb you have should be good for that, but obviously the carb will need rejetting etc

 

Now what would I do with 350HP....lol
I guess I am not as worried about me as much as much as the younger member of my family who are full of hormones and have no idea how much a tire costs.

 

+1 im full of hormones but i do know how much tires cost! so i keep an eye out on craigslist for cheapys to burn!!!! -Jon

 

it has 8 cylinders and a decent exhaust note, the younger member of your family will likely try it on whether its 250 or 350hpEither number is sufficient unless you are running a 2.78 rear.

Perhaps contribution to the bills will learn him! I doubt it! All the more reason to build it well no matter what the hp rating.

 

Looking closer at the carb has yeilded some interesting info.
When I bought the car the P/O said her and here husband were afraid to drive it.
She said the 4 barrel carb was too much for her but her husband fixed that.
I now see how.....
The vac secondaries have been plugged. The butterfly or whatever its called has had the linkage disconnected.
I wonder what else rigged....

 

For a street car with a stock 289 block, crank and rods you have a good combo...just get the carb working and install an insulating 1" open plenum spacer. The bigger hole will extend your usable rpm from 5500 for the Performer to about 6000. This IMHO is ALL you need in a non 'K' code 289.

 

The performer will go to 6k. A little secret, ALL the manifolds listed on the market as idle-5,500 are really idle-6,000(approx). They list them as 5,500 because that's where the manifold is considered to run at it's best maximum on most applications, but depending on heads/cam/carb etc, best power may be anywhere from the 3,500-5,500 range to 4,000-6,000 for peak operating rpm range. Basically, any street car operating at 6k or under is fine with those style manifolds. An open spacer may or may not help, spacers are for tuning mostly, not simply extending rpm range. Open spacers will shift the rpm range up, just like a bigger manifold. The 302 I'm building now will make over 300hp at the wheels and that'll be at around 5,500-6,000 peak with the same type of manifold(I'm using the new Weiand Action Plus pn-8124). A decent 4bbl with a Performer style manifold and good heads/cam will make plenty of useable street power, with decent mileage and good reliabilty. Rebuild that Holley 600cfm keep the manifold and get a decent cam, and if you have the money, put some good heads on it and maybe new pistons/rings and be done with it