[olerodder]

Although engine dyno's and chassis dyno's are on the expensive side they are the ultimate diagnostic tool.
An engine dyno is great to break an engine in and also get that inital tune before you drop it in the car for the real world test.
The motor I just refreshened, a 408ci windsor started out on the engine dyno with an easy break-in using only the outer valve springs and keeping it under 5000rpm..............after putting the springs back to normal we made 12 more pulls to finalize AFR/carb jetting/timing and plug selection and gap. The water temperature was even changed from 170/180/190/200 to see what differences it made. In the end I was pleased with 650HP at 6800 and 542lbft at 5700.
The poor mans dyno I use are a Lambda meter and vacuum gauge......a leak-down unit is also helpful after the motor has been warmed.

[greazyball]

Ive used those as well for a poor mans dyno..but i got an idea to use the hand held smog tester as way simply to tell me if the car was running rich or lean..it wasnt exact as the meter was designed for modern cars in mind..but it did well.the next motor im building for the falcon i will actually do my homework and spend the extra money for components that are all 'matched' I built the old 289 when i was 21 or 22 and didnt have much money.So i made the most of what i had on hand or what i could scrounge from a junkyard.I have another 289 that im going to have somebody else assemble the rotating assembly and fit everything.The heads i will use?..dont know yet.Except they will be aluminum,and i will convert the 289 to roller cam/roller rockers..less friction means a tiny bit more power,a little less heat.I would like to use an AOD with a 9in rear axle and disc brakes.

[olerodder]

Here is a picture of my motor on the engine dyno a couple of months ago.

[Hookedup12]

You aren't gonna be able to spin that roller set up as high like you could with that flat tappet but it is more street friendly. It's a magnetic I believe that's what he said its gonna cost a pretty penny is all I know haha

[greazyball]

I dont know for sure,But those later 5.0 motors wind up higher than early 302's head improvements and roller cams from the factory did alot to get the rpm range higher on the ford small block.An early 289/302 wasnt much good beyond 4,500rpm..not without work.Not to mention the choices of cams these days with a roller cam.the only other solution would be is a solid lifter cam,Which i doubt is absolutley needed for street use.