[Phillyfanfrombirth]

Looks like you got some work ahead of you...

As far as discs vs. drums... discs are definately better performers... but it is a costly upgrade, so there is a cost vs. benefit that must be weighed.

As far as that carb, it certainly looks like a 4 barrel, though I'm curious as to the blue manifold... most 289s came with 2 barrels... and the most efficient upgrade is usually an aluminum dual plane intake, which most people wouldn't paint. So unless the car came with a stock 4 barrel (which would be a great find as you would have some impressive compression and power out of the factory "box"), I'd say that is probably a stock 4 barrel replacement manifold.

One way to find this out might be casting marks on the cylinder head under the valve cover... you may see a "2V" or "4V" casted there on top of the head.