Old school engine rebuilding wisdom welcome here

[Rev]

I shift my 306 at 6000 every time I race it. If you want it to appear stock, you can still put a 302 crank in that 289 block (may have to relieve a little at the bottom of the cylinders for clearance). I do use a hydraulic flat tappet cam (Comp Cams 268 Extreme Energy, 224/230 at .050). I like the Edelbrock RPM Air Gap dual plane manifold. You will need more than the 390CFM carb. I use a 625 BG Road demon ( I did have to do some work on it to make it work well with that cam and intake though). Make sure you get a good machining job on the block and try to get a 0 deck height. I use flat top TRW forged pistons with the stock 302 rods and after market rod bolts (Pioneer or ARP may be better) and it makes a pump gas friendly 9.5/1 CR. Use a good aftermarket electronic ignition system (MSD is best IMHO) for consistent ignition good up to at least that 6000 rpm. You will want a good aluminum after market water pump (Edelbrock?) to cool those extra horses. Use a good 4 row brass or aluminum radiator. I use 2 electric fans as well, pusher and puller for adequate cooling.

You can keep the original heads and have a lot of expensive machine work done for not enough gain. A better idea is to use after market aluminum heads like TFTW or AFR. If you want it to appear fairly stock, you can paint the heads, intake, water pump and no one will probably know.

Also, put in a windage tray, crank scraper( I use Canton), and use under drive pulleys (March?). I think that will get you to maybe 250-280 rear wheel hp on a DynoJet or 350 at the flywheel. You will need to do a little more on the drive train. The 280/1 won't get it. You'll need at least 325/1 with a good limited slip unit (I use an Auburn Pro in my 8"). Also get a 3000 rpm stall convertor (I use a TCI Street Fighter). High performance clutches and bands are a good idea also for the C-4. You said you already have a shift kit.

Headers/exhaust, I almost forgot one of the most important things. I use Tri-Y's made by Patriot. Get them ceramic coated if you can. They're good to 6000 (that's what Shelby used). Run that into an aluminized 2 1/2" exhaust system and use high flow/low restriction mufflers (I like 3 chamber Flowmasters).

Not saying I know more than anyone else or even as much. Hit the link in my sig to see what all I did. Happy to answer any questions that I can. Good luck with your project.

Rev
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[DeltaMustang65]

Thanks guys.

Since this would be my first rebuild, I don't know everything that goes into the machine work and balancing. What specifically should I ask for when I take the block to be worked on? I know there are a few oil passages that should be widened, I've even heard of blocking one off in some engines to send more oil to more critical areas, has anyone had this done? Also, do I really NEED to take the cylinders .030 over in order to get in the neighborhood of 300hp?

I'm thinking that if I get a brand new cast iron 302 crank from Ford, it SHOULD be balanced already. Does the machine shop just make sure it's balanced when it's in the block? (I can't think of the word for this, I want to say crank end-play but I think it's more than that. Dynamic balancing or something?) I shouldn't have to pay to have anything actually worked on with a new crank, right? (I've heard somewhere that you can shave the counterweights in order to reduce the weight of the crank, but this seems VERY risky so I'm probably just going to pass) Can I assemble the bottom end myself once the machine work has been finished, and then take it to make sure it's balanced?

I've been told that I can have work done on the block to make it possible to use a roller cam (Again the term escapes me, I blame mid-terms). What does this involve and what can I expect to pay for this? Should I even consider doing this if I use the stock heads? What else should I be thinking about doing as far as the bottom end is concerned?

Again, thanks in advance.