Okay - I'll try that. Hey, your wheel bearings from Ames - did you buy the kit? Fit okay?

13 hours ago, 64 kiwi boni said:

power feed from ignition switch, feed from negitive side of coil, power feed from dash light circut and earth/ ground 

 mate its just on 100f in my shed today !! why are you send us all this bloody heat !!!

Dang that's Hottttt.   Bummed it got to 50 here last night and the rain took out the small amount of snow we had.

7 hours ago, Fitzy said:

Okay - I'll try that. Hey, your wheel bearings from Ames - did you buy the kit? Fit okay?

Yes I bought the 2 sets

Haven’t fitted them yet mate 

I will when I pull the drums and re paint them 

Edited December 25, 20214 yr by 64 kiwi boni

Boy, this is embarrassing. Remember, this is the guy who rebuilt his engine from scratch starting with a bunch of parts.

I'm at home playing with the car because it's raining and I have no friends and it's time to replace the rocker covers. I'm about to position the first one when I notice that one edge has a lip that faces up and the other side is down. It is then that I wonder if there's a specific orientation coz they look dimensionally equal where they abut the head. I figure that the lip that faces down goes downwards (based on no evidence whatsoever) so I place it on the head and then notice the 'bump' that's pressed into the top. For the first time ever, I wonder if the bump should face forwards or backwards. In desperation, I search for images of a 1965 389 but all the pictured engines have aftermarket covers. I see ONE authentic looking engine with the bumps oriented opposite to each other! I check the pics I took from my rebuild and I did indeed place the driver's side cover with the bump facing back and the passenger side facing forward. Am I losing it? Is this what old age is gonna be like every day?

Can someone have a look at their donk and give me a clue? Anyone know the reason why there's a bump? Is it too early for a beer and a lie down?

Don't listen to him next time!!!!

1 hour ago, Fitzy said:

Boy, this is embarrassing. Remember, this is the guy who rebuilt his engine from scratch starting with a bunch of parts.

I'm at home playing with the car because it's raining and I have no friends and it's time to replace the rocker covers. I'm about to position the first one when I notice that one edge has a lip that faces up and the other side is down. It is then that I wonder if there's a specific orientation coz they look dimensionally equal where they abut the head. I figure that the lip that faces down goes downwards (based on no evidence whatsoever) so I place it on the head and then notice the 'bump' that's pressed into the top. For the first time ever, I wonder if the bump should face forwards or backwards. In desperation, I search for images of a 1965 389 but all the pictured engines have aftermarket covers. I see ONE authentic looking engine with the bumps oriented opposite to each other! I check the pics I took from my rebuild and I did indeed place the driver's side cover with the bump facing back and the passenger side facing forward. Am I losing it? Is this what old age is gonna be like every day?

Can someone have a look at their donk and give me a clue? Anyone know the reason why there's a bump? Is it too early for a beer and a lie down?

No your not going mad ! On my girl both lumps are to the front 

oil filler cap is in passenger side and  breather hole is in the upper section on the drivers side 

that pic you posted shows the breather hole blanked off and on the lower side of the cover which I think would be wrongway 👍👍👍....

oh ands it after lunch time here so it’s beer o clock ! 

Edited December 29, 20214 yr by 64 kiwi boni

Same covers, factory chrome for the 421

Why I say the picture is wrongway is all the condensate is trapped in the upper section of that cover !!!

hows it going to get out ? ..... it can’t 

4 minutes ago, JUSTA6 said:

Same covers, factory chrome for the 421

I see your breather hole is too the bottom too justA ! Wtf 

I appreciate the response but you guys didn't help much! Kiwi's engine has both bumps at the front and JustA's is one of each, like mine. So, any idea what the bump is for? There's nuthin' under there except for rockers.

Bloody hell...for the sake of presentation, I shall turn the driver's side around and will have to be happy with a 'Two Bumps Forward Special Edition.' I'll tell anyone peering under the hood that it's a factory performance upgrade, unlike the garden variety Grand Prix.

I sorta thought perhaps they should both be at the back to provide a little 'hump' for the HT leads to pass over, because some dickhead thought that putting the distributor at the BACK of the engine as a good idea. If I ever meet that guy, his health insurance had better be up to date.

Edited December 29, 20214 yr by Fitzy
Can't see properly

BTW JustA, that's a bitchin' looking motor. I see you decided on your own colours. It looks really good. Blue just happens to be my favourite colour, and I really dig the original Pontiac Blue - I'd like to think it's unique in the world of engines.

14 minutes ago, Fitzy said:

I appreciate the response but you guys didn't help much! Kiwi's engine has both bumps at the front and JustA's is one of each, like mine. So, any idea what the bump is for? There's nuthin' under there except for rockers.

Bloody hell...for the sake of presentation, I shall turn the driver's side around and will have to be happy with a 'Two Bumps Forward Special Edition.' I'll tell anyone peering under the hood that it's a factory performance upgrade, unlike the garden variety Grand Prix.

I sorta thought perhaps they should both be at the back to provide a little 'hump' for the HT leads to pass over, because some dickhead thought that putting the distributor at the BACK of the engine as a good idea. If I ever meet that guy, his health insurance had better be up to date.

mate ! you know whats under there justA like me and JustA does, who cares where the lump goes. pontiac made these things for shit loads of applications and when frosty reads this he will tell us why

do what you think is right,, it certainly wont slow ya down when you finally get the big girl out on the black top. justA do it man 

I reckon the flux capacitors are supposed to be bolted up under there. I'm missing them. Better get on ebay and try and find some NOS 1965 Pontiac flux capacitors.

Hey, do you have your factory battery hold down in place? Mine was always missing and they seem impossible to get. Looks like I'm off to Supercheap and shall modify my tray.

14 hours ago, Fitzy said:

Boy, this is embarrassing. Remember, this is the guy who rebuilt his engine from scratch starting with a bunch of parts.

I'm at home playing with the car because it's raining and I have no friends and it's time to replace the rocker covers. I'm about to position the first one when I notice that one edge has a lip that faces up and the other side is down. It is then that I wonder if there's a specific orientation coz they look dimensionally equal where they abut the head. I figure that the lip that faces down goes downwards (based on no evidence whatsoever) so I place it on the head and then notice the 'bump' that's pressed into the top. For the first time ever, I wonder if the bump should face forwards or backwards. In desperation, I search for images of a 1965 389 but all the pictured engines have aftermarket covers. I see ONE authentic looking engine with the bumps oriented opposite to each other! I check the pics I took from my rebuild and I did indeed place the driver's side cover with the bump facing back and the passenger side facing forward. Am I losing it? Is this what old age is gonna be like every day?

Can someone have a look at their donk and give me a clue? Anyone know the reason why there's a bump? Is it too early for a beer and a lie down?

Fitzy - you've installed them correctly. I managed to find a color tri-power photo from back in the day of a 389. See for yourself.

As to their purpose, the "pent-roof" valve cover does not appear to be a clear answer. This valve cover appeared from '64 to '66 (maybe earlier for California cars). Some speculate that this coincided with the then "new" emissions laws (e.g. a PCV valve) and these covers help trap oil vapor. However, there is no printed material from Pontiac as to why they did it.

Edited December 29, 20214 yr by Frosty

8 hours ago, 64 kiwi boni said:

mate ! you know whats under there justA like me and JustA does, who cares where the lump goes. pontiac made these things for shit loads of applications and when frosty reads this he will tell us why

do what you think is right,, it certainly wont slow ya down when you finally get the big girl out on the black top. justA do it man 

If it leaks.... ya got it wrong!

9 hours ago, Fitzy said:

I reckon the flux capacitors are supposed to be bolted up under there. I'm missing them. Better get on ebay and try and find some NOS 1965 Pontiac flux capacitors.

Hey, do you have your factory battery hold down in place? Mine was always missing and they seem impossible to get. Looks like I'm off to Supercheap and shall modify my tray.

Mine was missing too mate 

i bought a new tray off Ames and I was going to us a super cheap clamp 

9 hours ago, Frosty said:

Fitzy - you've installed them correctly. I managed to find a color tri-power photo from back in the day of a 389. See for yourself.

As to their purpose, the "pent-roof" valve cover does not appear to be a clear answer. This valve cover appeared from '64 to '66 (maybe earlier for California cars). Some speculate that this coincided with the then "new" emissions laws (e.g. a PCV valve) and these covers help trap oil vapor. However, there is no printed material from Pontiac as to why they did it.

Thanks Frosty. So, is the other side the same, ie. do both bumps go to the front on that particular engine? I'm assuming there's another pic that shows the other side. I'm pretty sure I'm overthinking things again. Damn you, strong morning coffee!

I'm just gonna turn the other around and have them both at the front, for presentation puropses.

I'm glad we had this little talk.

17 hours ago, Fitzy said:

Thanks Frosty. So, is the other side the same, ie. do both bumps go to the front on that particular engine? I'm assuming there's another pic that shows the other side. I'm pretty sure I'm overthinking things again. Damn you, strong morning coffee!

I'm just gonna turn the other around and have them both at the front, for presentation puropses.

I'm glad we had this little talk.

As you can see from my pic's, my bump is in the back on the DR side. Oil fill/breather is always Pass side.  I have a rubber plug in the breather hole (always on DR side) as with most I've seen and it's usually down low with the bump in the back from cars I have seen.  Thats WHY at least I put mine together the way I did.  I've never seen both bumps up front, but as I said before....If it leaks your doing something wrong.😁 If not, who's to say your wrong. 

So maybe there is NO wrongway 

hahaha sorry wrongway I didn’t mean you mate .... I ment ..... oh You know what I mean hahaha 

Edited December 30, 20214 yr by 64 kiwi boni

3 hours ago, JUSTA6 said:

As you can see from my pic's, my bump is in the back on the DR side. Oil fill/breather is always Pass side.  I have a rubber plug in the breather hole (always on DR side) as with most I've seen and it's usually down low with the bump in the back from cars I have seen.  Thats WHY at least I put mine together the way I did.  I've never seen both bumps up front, but as I said before....If it leaks your doing something wrong.😁 If not, who's to say your wrong. 

Justa's install is correct. Passenger side hump to the front, driver side to the rear of the motor. That's how Pontiac installed them.

Since the reason for the humps seem to be lost to time in the first place, do what you want. I don't blame you for wanting symmetry.

21 minutes ago, Frosty said:

Justa's install is correct. Passenger side hump to the front, driver side to the rear of the motor. That's how Pontiac installed them.

Since the reason for the humps seem to be lost to time in the first place, do what you want. I don't blame you for wanting symmetry.

hmmm, now you have me thinking Frosty!! with my driver side cover with breather hole to the top, its a pita to push the breather hose/pipe in and align with its connection to the air cleaner!! 

Let us know what happens Kiwi.

Oh boy, here come the headaches. I'm now at the tentative stage of getting the car to pass a Queensland Safety Inspection prior to it being registered for the road. As you all know the car has been essentially mechanically rebuilt entirely and it's now all the cruddy little things that are gonna hold me up - specifically electrical stuff. My car came with the 2 speed wiper/washer set up that was apparently an option back then. The original wiper switch disintegrated upon it's removal and finding another identical switch is harder than you might think. I managed to source a single speed switch and thought I'd make that work. Ba-bow! No matter what combo of wires I try, I either get a clicking sound, the washer function only or smoke coming from the wiper motor! Time to look harder for the correct switch. Surely, an Impala switch is the same? As I'm in the driver's footwell contorted, sweating & swearing I run my hand over the fuse box wires and they are HOT! FFS. i'm now thinking in order to avoid a fire, I gotta get serious and get a nice modern fuse box installed - one with modern blade fuses. They might as well get the horns working as well. It'll need a front end alignment, chuck the mags back on and see what fails when it goes over the pits.

I'd do the fuse box myself, but really don't want to start messing with that big bunch of wires that feed into it. This might be one for the professionals.

Sand pAper all the fuse clips mate 

and justA check for any loose wires or dodgee looking solder 

I spent hours in there sanding and cleaning up the rusty mess that was the fuse box. Because the car sat so long with a moist interior prior to my purchase, everything inside had a healthy coating of surface rust. No matter how clean I got all the contacts, it keeps giving me grief. Anyway, yesterday after moaning about everything I got online and searched everywhere. I found the correct wiper switch (I hope!) from Pontiworld here in Australia and then ordered a new aftermarket fuse box from ebay. I suppose if I'm methodical I can rewire it but I think I'd be happier if a professional just did the fuse box. I can probably rewire everything else in the coming months.

The other issue is the horns. I have no idea how the contacts in my steering wheel are supposed to work - I have never even seen a wire coming up through the column. Has anyone pulled apart their similar vintage steering wheel and examined the horn contact bits & pieces? I think Ames sells a 'horn contact kit' but without a feed wire, it ain't gonna work.

Oh, and Happy New Year to everyone. I forgot about that!