Thread: Hello from Los Angeles

Originally Posted by Explicit_Spade

I wasn't positive so I took a look online, and the following is what I came up with.

"no 389 numbers cast any where on the block; look for notch on passenger side deck where the block meets the head"

For a 65 Look for the letters "ws" "wt" "yr" or "ys" on the front of the block.

Here's a cool link that answers a few of my questions:

Pontiac Block Identification

A few other cool links I found:

Pontiac Power

Pontiac Power

So if the vin doesn't give you the engine description how can you tell if the 389 or 421 was original to the car? Additionally how can you tell what the factory options were to the vehicle. For example were the 8 lug wheels pictured on this thread original to this car? How can you tell?

As quoted by Vinnie The Hack from Google:

389
For 1959 the V8's stroke was increased to 3.75 in (95.3 mm), raising displacement to 389 in³ (6.4 L). The 389 would remain the standard Pontiac V8 engine through 1966, offered in a bewildering variety of outputs ranging from 215 hp to 360 hp (160 to 269 kW). The 389 was the standard engine for the Pontiac GTO through 1966.

421
421 in³ (6.9 L) 421. The 421 in³ (6.9 L) was bored to 4.09 in (103.9 mm) and stroked to 4.00 in (101.6 mm), and also featured larger, 3.25 in (83 mm) main journals. Unlike previous enlargements of this engine, it did not replace the 389. Modified Super Duty versions of this engine were extensively used in NASCAR stock car racing and drag racing competition. The 421 also marked the end of the option for a forged steel crankshaft. The later produced 400, 350, and 455 engines, featured an Armasteel crankshaft, the standard crankshaft of the entire Pontiac V-8 line since introduction. "Armasteel" was no more than a fancy name for a hardened cast iron unit.