searched the forums and the internet in general and got close but couldn't quite find an answer to my question... looking for a decent 4 barrel manifold for an early pontiac v8 (1959 389ci to be exact). the rochester 2 jet that's on the motor now is warped beyond saving and i figure we'd be better off just stepping up to the four barrel now rather than trying to replace the 2gc. i've found plenty of manifold options for the later blocks but i was wondering if anybody could suggest anything for an early motor other than hunting feepay for a used iron one. this is for the street and in a big car, we're gonna end up mounting a stock style carter afb/edelbrock 650, so your basic dual-place intake is pretty much what i'm after. any support for these? tips? tricks? mods?
I worked on a lot of the V-8 370' 389's and 421's. In many cases the intakes are interchangeable but not in all cases. For the first run of 389's the manifolds from that series do interchange and they did have a two, four, 3 X 2 and dual quad manifolds produced. Start looking for one of those manifolds. They are still available and I see them at Swap Meets. Normbc9
guess i was wondering if there was an aftermarket supplier for these kinds of parts--i don't have a problem running a used stock one, i guess, but i was hoping there was a lighter-weight, single-carb alternative...
Flea markets, fee-bay always has more than a few 55-64 intakes. Offy and Edelbrock mad plenty for that era Pontiac motors! You'll find something, I'm sure.
Maybe Offy still makes a manifold for the 60 and earlier years....but whatever I would use the stock Carter AFB.....not an Edlebrock clone....I will probably be making this change myself this summer...I have all the parts cleaned, rebuilt and ready to go. From what I've seen on various threads, the original Carter AFB works much better than one of the new clones which really aren't set up for Ponchos.
The intakes fit 55 to 60 for your engine and if you are interested I have a 3 carb factory intake that will work for you. Gary
Edelbrock made a single 4 bbl. intake for the '55-'64 engines called the EP4B, and Weiand had their version of the same intake. Either one is a good dual plane design, and they're flanged for square bore AFB/Holley carbs.
I don't recall seeing anyone making current aftermarket parts for the early V8 Pontiacs. Maybe there is but I used to look fairly regularly. 4 barrel intakes aren't too hard to find but unless you get lucky, they are going to run you a good bit more than for a SBC. There are a tri-power intakes and even a dual 4 will pop up now and then. The early intakes have the outer bolt holes offset from the rest.
57-60 intakes will work. Port size is the same. 57 intake has holes to mount generator. Stay with the early AFB Carb.
While as several have mentioned, the 1955~1960 intakes will bolt to the cylinder heads, the carb mounting footprint on all of these intakes is NOT the same. For a basically stock or slightly warmed 1959 389 I would suggest a 1959 or 1960 original intake, and the original carb that comes with the intake. As mentioned by others, the original Pontiac carb will work MUCH better than one of the new clones on a Pontiac engine. And while the 1957 or 1958 carb will work much better than the clone, the 1959 or 1960 original carb will work better than the 1957/1958. Jon.
59-60 are slightly different from all the rest. The last one I had I sold on eBay for about $100, I think with a core carb. The aftermarket ones come so they can be adapted to the different configurations; I don't think any are super expensive because people don't do as much with the 63-back blocks/heads. Definately do not want a 55-56 iron manifold, they take a Rochester 4GC and have no meat to modify anything, they're just a 2bbl with some material added - doesn't even have a full flat pad for the carb. Mine ran great with the 2GC on it, plenty of power and decent milage considering it was a big motor in a heavy car... those carbs are a dime a dozen, it should be easy to replace.
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