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 529
472 letter stamp 'D' cam, the same profile as the 9779
066 '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.
Block casting # on the passenger side 532000 confirms it's a 1959 389 block.
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.
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.
A thick sheet metal bracket mounts the power steering pump to the head and shields it from engine heat.
Cylinder head casting # 531395 was used on all 1959 389 engines.
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.
A road draft tube was used on these engines before a PCV valve was standard equipment, this one is still in perfect shape.
Intake manifold casting # 532119.
Note the unusual engine lifting loop that was cast into the front of the intake itself.
What looks to be the original 2-barrel carb. Later on I will clean it up and try to confirm this.
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.
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.
