[geeteeohguy]

I'm helping a friend put together a '66 389 out of a big car that will go into his '65 GTO. The car is a four speed car with a 3.23 rear gear. He had all of the machine work done several years back, bagged the parts, and we are getting ready to asemble it. 10-10 crank, .030 overbore, etc. All looks clean and in spec. He had a set of flat top stock type badger pistons pressed on to the rods and had the stock 092 heads redone. They cc out at 69cc, and the piston reliefs are about 6cc. I recently did another 389 with the same heads, etc. (Budget build out of a big car), and it came out well. We used Ross dished pistons. Two choices here: do we go with dished pistons and put it together? Or do we keep the flat-top pistons, throw away the closed chambered iron heads, and install KRE or Edelbrock heads? More expensive for the heads than the pistons, but I'm thinking maybe money well spent. Again, the 389 I last did with the stock heads and Ross pistons ended up being a really strong running engine, and it runs on 89 octane pump gas. Any imput greatly appreciated....
Jeff

[Superchief455]

Originally Posted by geeteeohguy

I'm helping a friend put together a '66 389 out of a big car that will go into his '65 GTO. The car is a four speed car with a 3.23 rear gear. He had all of the machine work done several years back, bagged the parts, and we are getting ready to asemble it. 10-10 crank, .030 overbore, etc. All looks clean and in spec. He had a set of flat top stock type badger pistons pressed on to the rods and had the stock 092 heads redone. They cc out at 69cc, and the piston reliefs are about 6cc. I recently did another 389 with the same heads, etc. (Budget build out of a big car), and it came out well. We used Ross dished pistons. Two choices here: do we go with dished pistons and put it together? Or do we keep the flat-top pistons, throw away the closed chambered iron heads, and install KRE or Edelbrock heads? More expensive for the heads than the pistons, but I'm thinking maybe money well spent. Again, the 389 I last did with the stock heads and Ross pistons ended up being a really strong running engine, and it runs on 89 octane pump gas. Any imput greatly appreciated....
Jeff

What type of performance is your friend looking for from this build? Does he have all the necessary parts for the build? What was done to the block (ie: studded bottom end? squared and zero deck?) Is it the stock 3.750 stroke crank or something different? Was any performance type work done to the heads when they were rebuilt? Basically need more information as to his intent with the car, will he be looking to upgrade down the road, etc..etc..etc... there are alot of things to take into consideration before spewing off parts to throw at the build.

[geeteeohguy]

My friend is looking for stock performance, maybe a little better, and able to run pump gas. He wants a nice driver, and will not be racing the car. A nice Sunday driver. 350-400hp would be fine....he does not need a 700hp monster. I don't know about the block deck height. I doubt it's zero-decked. But, we can sure GET it zero decked! The crank is stock Armasteel at 10-10, the rods are stock Pontiac, the fasteners are ARP, the pistons are Badger Cast flat tops. The heads are a stock valve job, no port work o92's. We pulled the engine about 15 years ago out of a '66 Catalina station wagon with 90,000 on the clock. It was very clean when we tore it down, and required only minimal machine work to bring it into spec. From what I'm learning, aluminum heads can be a problem. Edelbrocks in particular. He's running cast iron HO exhaust manifolds, and a stock cast iron tri-power. So, we'c have aluminum heads sandwiched between an iron block, iron intake, and iron exhaust. Doesn't sound leak free to me! We're thinking, at this point, of just installing some dished pistons, adding a decent cam, and running what we have. What I'd like to know is, is anyone running KRE heads on the street, how are they, and how much does it really cost to get them dialed in and functional? Are KRE heads worth it for a daily driver? He just wants it to perform like a '65 tripower GTO should....but on 9:1 compression, I don't know...........

[Superchief455]

I really don't feel that you need all kinds of fancy parts to make it perform like a Pontiac should especially since your just looking for your basic street cruiser. There is nothing wrong with stock iron heads if your not looking to upgrade to a more serious build later on down the road and i would spend my money elsewhere.
As far as the block is concerned make sure all bottom end parts are within the necessary spec and bolt that part of it together. Precision oil pumps makes a blueprinted 60 psi street oil pump, the 3/4 pick up tube and a heavy duty oil pump drive. Ace at pacific performance racing makes a Tomahawk windage tray that bolts to the stock main caps and works with the stock dipstick tube. Canton racing products makes a stock replacement pan that retains all stock dimensions and capacity with a slosh baffle which along with the windage tray will help with oil control.
If it were me even though the stock rods should be fine (as long as they were within spec and reconditioned properly) i would ax the stock rods and cast pistons and upgrade to something like a tomahawk h-beam rod and go with a stronger/lighter forged piston for a little more piece of mind while turning the engine at a little higher rpm than normal. As far as camshafts are concerned i would stay hydraulic (either flat tappet or roller) for ease of maintenance with a good set of lifters and appropriate matching components (ie: push rods, springs, roller rockers, etc). I wouldn't get to crazy on a camshaft if your looking to only have 9:1 compression and could go with a "off the shelf" type grind rather than have something custom ground for the build.
I would just have those heads ported, clean up and port match the intake and call it a day. I think the build would benefit from a set of headers and a good flowing 2 1/2 inch exhaust to reach your goal and maybe bolt on a MSD box and higher output coil to help out in the ignition department. With the correctly chosen components having a great performing car that will stand up to some abuse and you can cruise all over if desired should be easily achieved.