I haven't had much time lately to mess with the 389, but I did pick up an interesting piece of the puzzle today.
A 1959 Tri-Power cast iron thermostat housing was generously donated to the project by PY member
56 Batwing. Thanks again Jack.
What makes this part unusual is the engine lifting loop built into it. On the '59 2 barrel and 4-barrel intakes the loop is integrated into the intake manifold casting, but for the Tri-Power they were only able to find room for the loop on the thermostat housing.
Here it is shown next to an aluminum repro of a '65 Tri-Power housing for comparison. The '59 unit is pretty big and heavy, I put it on a shipping scale and it weighs 2.85 pounds compared to the '65 aluminum repro at a scant .55 pounds.
Here you can see how the lifting loop configuration of the thermostat housing was copied in .150" to .175" thick stamped steel for later engines, attaching to one of the studs that mount the timing cover.
