How high will a Ford 289 rev safely for racing?

Question

I have been told the Ford 289 will rev higher then other small block Ford V8's. Mine is a rebuilt 1967 289 with a hydrolic race cam, 30 over 11 to 1 pistons, Moly rings, alum. rods and a cast crank. Heads are stock castings , ported with a three angle valve job, duel springs, heavy duty retainers, roller rockers & stud girdles, moly push rods and guide plates.

Answer 1

The weak link in your chain is the main caps. The 289 is a 2 bolt main block. I had my 347 stroker up to 6000RPM a few times over about 600 miles and when I pulled off the main caps, you could see where they were "dancing" up and down on the block and the two surfaces were compromised. This was with ARP main studs (yes torqued properly).

The solution for your bottom end (if you stick with this block) is a main girdle...one like this http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?part=TFS%2D51500700&autoview=sku
The girdle will actually "twist" the block a little so it needs to be line honed by a machine shop.

Another limiting factor (only considering rev's) in your case is the hydraulic lifters. If your only concern was more revs then look into solid lifters and a different cam. Do you have hardened push rods?

If you post the specs on your cam I could give you an idea of how high it will safely rev. Duration, lift, lobe separation, etc.

Answer 2

Hmm, aluminum rods? The main thing to know is what the red line is on the intake manifold. This will limit your red line and acts like a restrictor plate.

Most stock motors have an intake manifold where the red line is relatively low. like 4,000 Rpm's. A replacement aluminum manifold will bump you up to 6,000 Rpm's if so stated.

You have to have a compatible carburetor and exhaust to match the RPM's. You might have to move up to a 750 cfm carburetor and exhaust headers and a new intake manifold to push your motor into the 6,000 Rpm range.

The dealership or a machine shop will be able to tell you if the connecting rods will hold up to this punishment.

Good Luck!

Answer 3

I reckon it's the ECU itself which is faulty, it's not unknown. I imagine by resets you mean disconnecting the battery, reconnecting and allowing the car to re-learn the running info? Maybe a breaker would have an ECU on a write off. Worth a try.

Answer 4

Cast crank = 6500rpm.

Aluminum rods will be good for about a season before they will need to be replaced due to stretching.

Answer 5

the secret is balancing and ask your cam grinder for the max rpm's : )

a race motor with the right cam profile and set up right should do over 8k rpm's

Answer 6

7000 rpm.

Answer 7

I would like to know more about this too

Answer 8

I think it depends