Dear Pontiac aficionado,
As far as I'm concerned you should have the heads reconditioned, and a small overbore (0.030") wouldn't hurt you either. Have your crankshaft checked and reworked (if necessary) too.
The '69 400 is a strong engine, so you won't need many upgrade parts. Here are some suggestions:
* TRW forged aluminum pistons
* ARP bolts
* a 744 OEM cam (224°/236° int./exh. @ 0.050" lift, 115° lobe separation, 0.408"/0.407" lift) which combines reasonable gas mileage with excellent low and midrange torque.
* you can add roller rockers with a 1.65:1 ratio in a later stadium to give the cam a little more profile and reduce some friction
* Hooker (Super) Competition headers, Flowmaster mufflers, you can buy these in a later stadium as well, depending on your budget
* an Edelbrock Performer intake manifold can be purchased if your old one is rusty or damaged. If it's in good shape, however, don't change it since the Edelbrock will only save you some weight(aluminum) and doesn't improve flow very much. Watch out for the Performer RPM, since it works only fine with hotter cams (+ 228° intake duration) and is not suitable for TA shaker hoods.
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