1959 389 Engine
 

Today I picked up an interesting and unique old Pontiac V8, a 10:1 compression 1959 280 HP 2-barrel 389. It was originally equipped with the 529472 letter stamp 'D' cam, the same profile as the 9779066 'N' cam. This same '472' cam was used in the 10:1 300 HP 4-barrel engines as well as the 10.5:1 315 HP Tri-Power engines in 1959.

Not sure what I will do with it at this point, but it certainly was worth picking up just to explore the differences between it and the later V8 offerings. The 1959 389 block has a reinforced casting in the oil pan rail area and is of higher nickel content than later blocks if I'm not mistaken. The 2-bolt main caps are also about 1/4" thicker than the caps on later engines. This block could very well end up as the basis for a future turbocharged engine project. :)

This was the first year of the 389 and the last year for reverse-flow cooling. These engines pipe water through the front of the cylinder heads first, then through the block. It was also the first year Pontiac used side engine mounts.

The engine code 'A' stamped in the front of the block just below the passenger side cylinder head indicates this engine is a 10:1 compression 2-barrel 280 HP version. The '295746' following the 'A' is the Motor Unit Number or MUN.

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Block casting # on the passenger side 532000 confirms it's a 1959 389 block.

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Here you can see the water inlets on the front the the heads and the cast iron timing cover with the corresponding water outlets on either side.

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I was pleasantly surprised to see that it looked to be mostly intact after 56 years. Other than a few spliced hoses and various small repairs that kept it running over the years it looks to have retained all of the original equipment.

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A thick sheet metal bracket mounts the power steering pump to the head and shields it from engine heat.

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Cylinder head casting # 531395 was used on all 1959 389 engines.

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Water pump casting # 518040. This is a 4-bolt pump that was used until the 8-bolt pump and timing cover was introduced in 1963 and used until 1967.

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A road draft tube was used on these engines before a PCV valve was standard equipment, this one is still in perfect shape.

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Intake manifold casting # 532119.

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Note the unusual engine lifting loop that was cast into the front of the intake itself.

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What looks to be the original 2-barrel carb. Later on I will clean it up and try to confirm this.

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Both exhaust manifolds are still intact, the passenger side manifold has an interesting cast iron 'Y' connection bolted to it for both sides to feed into a single exhaust.

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The Hydra-Matic trans is very heavy at over 200 pounds, most of the trans case is cast iron. In order to use a 1964 or later BOP pattern trans you must either buy or make an adapter. The trans is held to the block with big 7/16-14 threaded bolts, it wasn't until 1964 that 3/8-16 bolts were used here.

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It should have a lot of potential for a Boosted Engine, Bart.

Usually the first model year engine of a series has the most "beef" in the parts.
(Think 1967 400 Engine).

Tom V.

There's a YouTube video of a guy who takes one out of junkyard thats been laying upside down for years and revives it. No compression, stuck lifters, filthy. He gets it running, takes off the rocker covers, hammers on the rockers with stuck lifters and gets them unstuck and cools it with a garden hose stuck in the water pump. After a few hours work its running and cranking compression has come up to the 130 psi mark on most cylinders. It was ready to be used as is.

Those cast iron body Dizzy's can be a 1/2 day long project to get out , so be ready!

Brought back memories of my first Pontiac engine build.The engine went in my 55 Pontiac.Thsnks.

You could also perform a compression test on an engine stand. The engine would obviously not be at temp for a proper test, but the numbers might give an idea how close in cranking pressure all the cylinders are.

Cool. I,LL b- watchin.

I see that someone already swapped out the cartridge type oil filter for a spin-on. Pontiac started spin-on filters in 1960.

B-man, if you find another one, let me know. I'm interested in buying a GOOD '59-'60 389 block.

Frank's Pontiac Parts has both blocks, cleaned and magged for $400 each.

http://www.frankspontiacparts.com/en...iacengines.htm

What type of 2 Barrel on the Motor? I ask because if this 59 was and "E code"
engine, it may have come with a small base Carb with a large/small dual base bolt
pattern. This is called an E-Carb, and would be one of the very few Bolt on Center
Carb options for 59 to 65 Tri-power. Found one of these on a 59 Wagon a while
back. The Standard Engine/Carb would be a large base standard 2 barrel, but
would use the same intake. This would be the same up to 1962, and most folks refer
to this as the Taxi Cab option. Rare Carbs, and difficult to find.

Cool engine.

What's the date code on the engine?

:)

Later on when I get a chance I'll try to ID the carb, for now I'm leaving it all intact for easy storage.

Since this is an 'A' code 280 HP engine I doubt it has the 'E' carb but during 56 years anything could have been swapped in order to keep it on the road.

I'm not exactly sure where to look for it on a '59 block.

I dug some debris out of the pocket at the top rear next to the distributor but didn't see anything there, it's not flat in that area like on later blocks.

Here's a picture of a 1959 block showing the additional metal cast in to reinforce the block next to the pan rail on the passenger side. The 1960 blocks had this feature as well.

Note there is no provision for a block mounted starter.

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Here it is on my '57 block (Feb 4, 1957) just to the rear of the distributer hole. Pardon the red paint, it is a GMC (Pontiac) V8.

Thanks Bill, I found the date code: E 25 9

May 25, 1959

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Great find. And so close. Glad it found a good home. :cool:

Saw those. I dropped a "hint" into my wife's ear for Christmas. We'll see what transpires.

Not sure if this is the vid you're referring to, but it's entertaining.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OC-Ot4jcSI