*NEWBIE* need some advice asap

[67'CougarGuy]

Ok well i just got my hands on a 1967 Mercury Cougar with the ford 289ci engine and 2 barrel carb. Now this "v8" wasnt all i thought it would be. And i want a fast "muscle car" if you will. Or be able to beat the other daily drivers out there without a problem.

My question is is the 289 a performance worthy engine. Because right now i can tell you that my stock 289 is not going anywhere anytime soon. So, from what i have heard I have a good reliable engine that can put pretty much as much power as a 302.

***So im looking to get headman shorty headers along with dual flowmaster 40 series mufflers. A performance edelbrock intake manifold with a 4bbl carb to replace the 2 barrel. And a nice performance Cam kit. Is this going to make me feel a little better about my 289? a lot more power than i have now?

thanks guys, any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[67'CougarGuy]

c'mon, i need some advice with this 289. or should i just chuck it and replace it with a 351!?!?

 

[Fast63]

well first of all, you can't really expect ANY stock engine, V8 or not, to be "muscle car fast" unless it is a special model with a bigger engine or whatever.

Your 289 can be wicked fast, there are plenty of parts out there to make it fast. Using a 302 or 351 will make it easier to make more power, but not necessary. But I think throwing in a stock 351 isn't going to get what you want either.

No one can tell you anything unless you give us some goals and tell us some things that are out of the question. How big is your budget? How do you want the car to act? Generally, if you throw in a decent cam, get a good set of aftermarket heads, upgrade the intake, use a 4 bbl carb, get headers and exhaust.... you should make some pretty good power.

 

[57fairlane]

5spd + gears will wake up anything.

IMO, I would do everything else first than tackle the motor. Makes the car a lot more fun to drive . . .

 

[Rusty67]

Check out Dougs for headers. Thorely is the man for headers.

For the love of God... not the Flowmasters. 2.5" mandril bent exhaust with Magnaflows are what you really want. Flowmasters are for setups that need the extra back pressure.

If you swap to a 4v intake/carb without changing the cam too you will not get increased performance, just worse gas milage.

Puting a set of heads and exhaust on the motor will get you instant HP and torque.

 

[woodsnake]

Dude, you should also come over to

mercury cougar dot net, we are all about C O U G A R S.

As far as the 289 goes, it is one of the most winning engines ever.
THe 2v motor, when it was new was plenty for the little cat. 40 years later, compression is down, the carb is tired, your timing gear is sloppy, and the clutches in the transmission are worn. Of course it isn't going to melt the tires. Plus, you probably have a nice high way 2.73 or 3.00 rear end. Good for over all performance, but again, not meant to go racing.

http://woodsnake4462838.tripod.com/68_part_2/index.album/running-great?i=6

This is my 289 is a 68 Cougar......

 

[67'CougarGuy]

Thankyou. I registered at www.mercurycougar.net my id is Krazy'67
although i still cannot post, maybe an admin needs to verify.

Thanks for the replys guys, theyre greatly appreciated. As far as my goals are i would like to just drive this cougar a few days a week and take it out on those sunday drives. Im not looking to have a full blown drag strip cougar or anything, but just something with a little power that I can be proud of.

Thankyou for stating that going for an intake mani w/4barrel carb will not add any performance unless accompanied by the performance cam kit. As i was going to do that before i got the cams. What exactly are the "heads". and where should i look to buy a decent pair at a decent price. Oh, and are the magnaflows really going to be better for the exhaust?

-Sorry for my newbness, i am here trying to learn and have been researching as much as i can. I am use to my Inline 4cylinder and this V8 is my first. I turn 18 next saturday, and love cars. I cant get enough

 

[67'CougarGuy]

I know my ION is not a v4 but an I4. i did it as a joke at another forum.

 

[65kcode]

Welcome to the forum!!

Welcome to your new home, you'll be addicted like us all, in no time. Check out this thread that has been going on for a couple of weeks.

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=742077

So much information on here, don't try to remember everything!!

Kevin

 

[mo'factor]

289

It sounds like to me that a top end kit would be your best bet. Edelbrock makes one for about 1800. For more information about Cougars visithttp://www.theclassiccougarnetwork.com

 

[SadbutTrue]

Thankyou. I registered at www.mercurycougar.net my id is Krazy'67
although i still cannot post, maybe an admin needs to verify.

Thanks for the replys guys, theyre greatly appreciated. As far as my goals are i would like to just drive this cougar a few days a week and take it out on those sunday drives. Im not looking to have a full blown drag strip cougar or anything, but just something with a little power that I can be proud of.

Thankyou for stating that going for an intake mani w/4barrel carb will not add any performance unless accompanied by the performance cam kit. As i was going to do that before i got the cams. What exactly are the "heads". and where should i look to buy a decent pair at a decent price. Oh, and are the magnaflows really going to be better for the exhaust?

-Sorry for my newbness, i am here trying to learn and have been researching as much as i can. I am use to my Inline 4cylinder and this V8 is my first. I turn 18 next saturday, and love cars. I cant get enough

You sound like me six or seven years ago. Here's the thing, unless you've got some really loaded parents or an incredibly good job for your age, you're going to find it difficult to do everything you want to do at once. You'll have to do it in stages.

I tried to do one major project and a few minor ones a year at least. $500 here, $1000 there, couple hundred, etc. First summer I put an intake and 4 barrel carb on it. Then I did headers and full exhaust. Next summer I pieced together a posi rearend. This last summer I swapped in a manual transmission. This summer I'm going to finally drop in the beast of an engine I've been wanting for years.

By doing this you'll a) learn what each part does, b) slowly will create the car you want in the end, and c) won't dig yourself into a moneypit you can't get out of (which I've had friends do on other classic cars).

Before you spend any money, I'd do what I did... and basically ask questions on this board, of your parents/friends/anyone you know who knows cars, and figure out what you want. Otherwise you might find yourself throwing money around uselessly.

But to answer your question... an edelbrock performer package (heads, cam, intake, carb... might want to sub in the performer rpm intake) would probably make you pretty happy as far as power goes, and probably won't require upgrades for things like transmission, rearend, suspension, etc (more powerful engines are going to require considerable changes to the rest of the car too).