289 vs. 351 w ?

[WarrenG]

Mike,
The friend of mine in CA who installed the 351W is Clyde Blackman. He just sold his car on Cobra Country, but his phone number has already been removed. I emailed another friend of mine (Pete, who helped Clyde with the install) in the CA Tri-Counties CC to get Clyde's contact info for you. In my move here to MD and change in jobs (which resulted in a change in computers), I've lost some of my contacts info. I assume that that is your phone number in the post above, do you mind if I give it to Pete and Clyde?

In the meantime, I know that when installing the 351W you have to go with the hood scoop option for the 289FIA. Other than that Clyde and Pete indicated that the install was pretty simple.

I opted to have ERA build the car for me. I don't have the facilities or the time to build it myself. Besides, this way when I get it I know that it is done right. Clyde and Pete both built theirs so they would be good references for you. In all of the conversations that I've had with Pete about the build, his only complaint was with his engine builder, in fact that is the only complaint that I've heard from any of the ERA owners that I have contacted. If you choose to build the engine yourself you can control the whole process. If you have it built be very carefull who you contract with. I've heard complaints that range from misaligning the timing chain cover to mounting the timing indicator 180 degrees out. Get references just like you would for the car itself.

I know that Clyde went with the T5 transmission. Pete went the the TKO500 I believe and and I went with the TKO600.

I'm not sure what rear end ratio they used but I used the 3.54 and I think that pete did to. 3.54 seems to be the most often used ratio in the ERA 289's.

Clyde built his engine himself. Pete (289 stroked to 347) and I both contracted ours out.

I went with the full leather interior including the street seats and dropped dash. Pete went with the straight racing interior including I believe the seats. Clyde went with the racing interior originally and added the carpet kit later.

I'm the only one of the three that opted for the rag top and since I haven't received my car yet, I can't comment on its ability to keep out the rain other than everybody has told me that the roof only cuts down on the amount of rain that gets in, doesn't eliminate it entirely (just like the original, actually most British sports cars of the 50"s and 60's.

Standard tire setup is 295-50/15 in the rear and 235-60/15 in the front for street. Most guys use 17" rims and tires for all out racing. Talk to Peter, Doug, or Bob at ERA about what size tire to use if you go that route.

Clyde and Pete used PS Engineering wheels, I got Trigo. For a while there was a problem getting delivery of the PS wheels. It was my understanding that PS was having some difficulty with their suppliers. Don't know what the present situation is with their wheels.

I think that I ordered every option ERA offers except the spare wheel/tire and the brake scoops. I just knew that if I spent this much money on a custom hand built car and didn't get everything on it it would eventually bug the heck out of me (same reason that all of my home stereo components are at the high side of high end, but that's a whole different story!).

Good Luck with your car. I should be getting mine next month. I'll stay in touch and let you know how it all pans out.