I will be rebuilding my 289 this winter, Any recommendations on the cam and heads? Is it worth it to switch to 4 valve heads? Currently it is a 289 C code. Will be changing the carb to a 4 barrel with alum.intake manifold.

thanks,

Fred

 

4V heads?

 

afr 165 cc heads

never heard of a 4v head on a 289, not sure its possible

 

...or early 289 heads (1964) if you can find -'em. They flow a little better since they lack the hump in the exhaust port.

 

edelbrock sells a pretty nice kit, includes cam cylinder heads rpm air gap and timing chain. thats what i would go with.

 

I think you're thinking of 4V heads, in which case the V means venturi (as in carburetor), not valve. But there is no difference between the 2V and 4V heads, or and even the K code hi-po heads use the same port castings.

AFR's are generally regarded as about as good as you're going to get on a street engine, but they do cost a little more. Edelbrock also makes some very good heads, or you could even go with some Windsor Jr's if you wanted to stick with cast iron.

Cam is dependent upon a lot of other variables. What kind of driving do you do? What gears and tranny are you running (or planning to run)? Which heads are you going to use? Can you put up with a lopey idle for more top-end power?

 

is the 289 4 barrel and 2 barrel engine's the same other than the intake and carb?

 

According to my spec books, between the C and A code engines there was a slight compression ratio difference, a slight cam difference, the dizzy was tuned for advance slightly differently, and thats about it. If you are doing a full rebuild, non of this is of any consequence to you at all.
Work out what you want from the car, ie daily driving or steet weapon etc, how much highway driving you expect to do, are you going to take it to the track, auto or manual, want original looks, all of these thing need to be thought about, and they will drive what sort of engine you will need to build.
Cheers