[forsakenfew]

it's time to rebuild my '60 389. i'm looking for info and ideas on the build. oh, the motor isn't in a poncho...here are the details.

1960 pontiac 389, topped with an offy 3 duece intake with 3 holley 94's on top.
built th350 behind it.
10 bolt posi with 3.73 gears

all in a 1931 ford tudor sedan.

now this car will probably never see the strip,(unless i'm playing around) and probably wont take very long road trips. (car is only 3" off the ground). just an around town hot rod.

i realize these motors make tons o torque and horse power in their stock form, (hell, the motor is very tired but still screams in such a light car.) should i just do a basic rebuild and keep it all stock? throw a small cam in? different piston choice? oil pump? disributor? i don't want to use different heads, as i really love the intake i have, and don't want to find another one.

just looking for some direction on this build, any and all ideas welcome.

i'll try and put a pic or t 2 up of the car to give you an idea of what i've got going.

thanks!

[Stuart]

Cool car! I like your quiet exhaust system...

Considering how light a '31 Ford is you probably don't need to do much to increase the engine's horsepower, a stock rebuild will cost less and will be reliable. You may want to put in a little hotter cam, something that's just enough to give it a lumpy idle without going too far. Something like the factory '068' HO cam may be a good choice.

How did you connect up the '60 block to the TH350? Did you buy one of the adapter plates that are available or did you fabricate something yourself to mount the starter?

[b-man]

Do a stock rebuild, cast pistons are fine.

Use the 068 cam as suggested above (and by myself on the HAMB, draggin'GTO). The valvetrain on these early stud-oiled 389s can't handle big cams unless you do a lot of mod$$$. Keep things cheap, simple and reliable and use the Pontiac 068 cam along with all the stock valvetrain parts (use some new stock springs).

Put in a good M54D Mellings 60# oil pump along with a new Mellings pump driveshaft. No windage tray needed, these engines didn't come with them and adding one won't buy you anything but added expense. Have the stock distributor recurved for performance by a reputable shop, that's all you need.

If you don't deviate far from stock you'll be rewarded with many trouble-free miles from your '60 389. This engine will make excellent power from idle to 5000 RPM, you'll be able to smoke the hides on your sedan pretty much at will and you can drive the crap out of it.

[Jack Gifford]

Hey, my headers look good on that! If I were to run it like that, I'd ignore the advice to recurve the distributor- I'd lock out the advances and set it to about 34 degrees BTC and get a huge kick out of the sound of it at idle! To really hear it 'crackle', I'd buy alky kits for the 94's and tank up with methanol! (Please attach a sound clip later).
Edit: At locked 34 degrees, you might need to retard it to start it. The cheap way is to bolt in an old Mallory dual point plate and wire a toggle switch to the retarded set of points, for starting.

[Jerry H.]

Good advise from Stuart and bman. And I love your car. Keep it stock with the 068 cam and it will run forever. Gotta Love It!

[Bill Hanlon]

If you replace the cam make SURE that the replacement has the holes in the #2 and #4 journals that are required for these early stud-oiling heads. Also be sure the #2 and #4 cam bearings have matching holes and are installed properly. When you spin the oil pump before starting the newly rebuilt engine don't be surprised when no oil comes out of the rockers. The engine has to be in the proper rotational position for oil to flow to the gallery in the heads.

[69LeManster]

Not any advice for you--other than to never, EVER paint it! but im sure you know that already
Seriously, sweet hot rod man, and a poncho in it to boot, Im very, very jealous

[forsakenfew]

thanks for the help guys. looks like a pretty basic build, with an 068 cam, and new oil pump. this thing is loud and fast as hell now, but i cant wait till the spring when the motor is rebuilt!

stuart, i used a wilcap adapter kit. works great!

[Jack Gifford]

Come on Erik, tell everybody how much you've got invested in those headers!

Is that a GENERATOR??

[forsakenfew]

ok pontiac jack, i didn't want everyone to know how top dollar everything is on my car, but since you asked...... pontiac jack was nice enough to send me these for the price of shipping. nothing else! i was just gonna use em for the flanges, but i ran like this for the summer. got lots of looks! and man o man, what a sound. thanks again pontiac jack!!

i'm actually running an alternator, but i'm gonna put the generator back in this winter

[63 Pontiac]

Nice ride, we don't call it a 'rat rod' do we?

Looks like a '60 Pontiac in the background, what's the story on that car?

[forsakenfew]

rat rod? nope, this is a straight up POS!!

good eye, you saw my daily!

here's a little run down on the '60. not sure if it's for everyone, but i love it.

catalina 2dr sedan
white tuck n roll
astro supremes
bellflower exhaust
4 way air bags
top was just painted by The Harpoon. flew the guy up from LA to paint. it's a silver metal flake, with 2 large candy tangerine flaked and laced panels, plus chrome tape running down the center. oh, the dash top and all interior moldings are done as well.

all work besides the paint done by me. bought the car from a 17 year old kid who didn't know what he had.

[69LeManster]

here's a little run down on the '60. not sure if it's for everyone, but i love it.

You better believe I love it!
you've got some badass cars man! My jealousy form the last post just quadrupled!

[63 Pontiac]

That '60 is killer, love that flake job. What's under the hood?

So that TH350 has held up with no problems in the '31?

[forsakenfew]

i knew someone would ask. i built a 283 for it. had one sitting around. please don't get all crazy on me. i had VERY GOOD reasons for the swap. hell, the canadian ponchos came with chev 283's so what the hell right?? haha

as for the trans in the A, it seems to be just fine. i got it from a shop that went through it top to bottom and build it tough. manual valve bodies and good stuff like that. we'll see how it is this spring with a fresh 389!

[63 Pontiac]

If it was mine I would've put a later model Poncho drive train in it but that's me. I don't get insulted when other brands find their way under the hood of any car. Some people freak out over it but its not their car so who cares?

I am curious to see how that TH350 holds up after you get that rebuilt 389 in it. Do you have an idea of what the '31 weighs? Hope you post back when you're done with it.

[forsakenfew]

i don't think the th350 should have any problems. it was pro built. the weak links in the car are everything that i built myself!!! HAHA and thats like 90% of it!!

as for weight, i'm not sure. this thing is VERY bare bones. i'm going to try and get it weighed this summer. cant weigh more than 1800-2000 pounds at the most.

i'll post pics of the rebuild up, and pics of the rubber and smoke this thing will leave in its wake when it done

[Jack Gifford]

Erik- Thought you might enjoy seeing the original use of those zoomies (1984).
And yes, those dust covers would fly very high when I forgot to remove them before firing it up!