what heads to use on a 289 in a falcon cruiser....

I know this is kinda of a loaded question...but I don't know shit about small blocks. Got a local guy with this car together and running / driving but it gets hot idling in traffic. Once out on the road the cooling system keeps up fine. I think he has a air flow issue since the car only gets hot in slow traffic. Has a new radiator/shroud/thermostat/waterpump... etc. Standing still idling it will get up 230 degrees fairly quick and he has to shut it off. I don't like the aftermarket aluminum flex fan he has so that might be one thing to try. Engine starts and seems to run well has a edelbrock carb and performer intake on it. I wonder if the carb is lean at idle? Anyway he is sick of monkeying with it and just wants it fixed so he can drive it. The other issue is the exhaust manifolds are melting the plug wires off because of the spark plug placement the gt40p heads have. So he wants me to find different heads that will get along with his exhaust system and not melt his plug wires and also fix the cooling issue. What would you guys do to remedy these issues. He claims nobody makes a header to work with his column shift linkage and gt40p heads plug locations. Im just looking for the path of least resistance to give the guy what he wants. TIA.

Cody, Several things will make it overheat.. You're on the right track with the airflow problem..The old fan shrouds didn't do a very good job of sealing the air off ..Look at a better shroud and maybe an electric fan.If the car has a/c, the condenser is also a restriction....If it's just a driver I'd put some 4v 289 heads on it with some Try-Y headers on it. Also a few of the old 289's I had, had head gasket issues and would cause overheating....Good luck!

With the overheating, be sure BOTH head gaskets are installed with the correct orientation front and rear and be sure the water pump is turning fast enough at the slower speeds; especially if it is one of those high RPM anti cavitation pumps.

On the heads ... find some older heads from Ford Racing #M-6049-Y303 heads.

I have had good luck using 90 degree Chevy style spark plugs with the gt40p heads. Run them under the headers/exhaust manifolds. The 45* stuff will burn up quickly.

Jess

I've had good luck with world products windsor jrs. They may be marketed under the roush 180 moniker now. Theyre pretty cheap and work well

A lot of shorty headers will fit those heads.

Go ahead and put a 3/4 racing cam in it.

Thanks for the help guys... now at least I have some options for the owner.