289 Solid Cam

What if anything needs to be done to convert a 60's 289 (SBF)hydraulic cam to a solid cam? Gear drive too?

 

289 271 HP ( High Performance ) had factory solid lifter cam.
Cam, lifters, heavier valve springs, screw in rocker studs if the springs are heavy enough.

 

If the rest of it is original, it should not be an issue. The old 289 HiPo was a solid lifter engine, if I remember right. The rocker arms were changed later on on the 302's to the rail or self centering type. These won't work, I believe. My neighbor had a solid lifter cam in his Falcon, which was a 64 289, and he was pretty much brain dead. So if he could do it, I'm sure you can too. I can't help you on the gear drive thing: as I never tried that. But the only problem on the 289's was piston to valve clearance, if you had too much lift.
Good Luck.

 

289 will need valve reliefs in pistons, late 65 or newer pistons almost always 6 bolt belhousing block.

 

Look at the pushrod holes in your heads. If they look like an oblong slot, they will act as guides for the pushrods with a solid lifter cam, but if they are perfectly round holes, you'll need guideplates.

 

Just put mine together...
The biggest thing with a solid cam in a 289, or any small Ford, the rocker arms are not adjustible. Yes, I realize that the early heads have studs in them, but they really aren't meant to be adjustible. 289 HiPo's had a solid cam... and screw in studs. Heathen also is correct, the 289 heads should have an oblong slot, and they use this to keep everything in line. Newer heads (302) used rocker arms with guides at the valve stem and had big holes for the push rod. I would suggest putting screw in studs in either head, and guide plates in the newer ones, you'll need hardened pushrods (comp cams are I know) and you'll need different rocker arms, since the Ford studs are 5/16" and the aftermarket studs are 3/8". I used some roller tip ones from Speedway, look nice but haven't run them yet... and had to use poly locks and throw away the lock nuts... the socket wouldn't fit in the body.
The other thing, keep binding in mind... i.e. using guide plates and rail rocker arms - both are trying to keep the rocker arm straight... but may fight each other and wear your guides quickly.
Gear drive pretty much goes in place of the chain, no big deal (as far as I know)... If you're going for the sound, go for it... people either really like it or really don't. If you are thinking it's better than a chain, I'd recommend against it. They take more power to run, cost more, and (rumor I've heard...) are harder on components due to the increased vibration (evidenced by the noise). I'd suggest a good double roller chain.
Hope this all makes sense...
ps - my valves hit the pistons.... better check 'em if you're using a big cam... should have .100" (hunderd thousandths)

Kamp

 

If you have garden variety heads w/holes vs oblong slots, you are time & money ahead to purchase aftermarket heads. The cost of machining for screw in studs, guideplates & a good valve job is going to be damn close to 60-70% of some aftermarket cast iron heads - and you're still stuck with tiny valves & ports....look at World Products' heads for a reasonably priced, cast iron, aftermarket head.

 

Best to check with a machine shop on cost, depending on what you need / want to have done. I didn't need a valve job, but had them dis***embled, inspected (valves & square), cut & tapped for 3/8 studs and guideplates, cleaned, and re***embled for under $300.
If you need valves, guides, springs, retainers, locks, etc, etc... then yes, 100%, buy aftermarket heads. Only a couple hunderd different...maybe, and that is the biggest HP improvement you can make on a SBF.
Remember... 289 uses a smaller chamber than a 302, and if you put an aftermarket 64cc head on a 289 you'll loose around 1 point of compression.
Example with flat top pistons in 289 (L2482F30 Speed Pro)
9.75:1 with 54.5cc, 9.30:1 with 58.2cc, 9.05:1 with 60.4cc, 8.78:1 with 63cc, and 8.22:1 with 69cc head.
Kamp

 

I don't know about sbf heads, but I bought the necessary tools to convert sbc heads to screw in studs and guideplates years ago, and more than made my money back by doing heads for other guys.