TWO LANE BLACK TOP

#600 = 326 CID with 2 bbl carb rated 260 horsepower with powerglide trans. RPO L-30. 548311 is casting # 276465 is production # of engine....should match VIN if original...Frostys chart above matches the same info I have. Sure it is accurate...

Out away from my literature right now As far as 8 bolt VS 4 bolt water pump would take old pump to parts store and match it up. Know 6 cyl pump is 4 bolt not sure which one 4 bolt or 8 bolt or both used on 326 depending on year or maybe A.C. non A.C...Or heavy duty cooling system or not ?

Engine I D code is stamped pass side it is a 3 digit alpha numeric code stamped under production code . pass side front Just below cylinder head. If original engine will be able to tell exactly what it is....another quick way to tell if I D # is behind accessories and can't read easy. On the block pass side by the distibutor hole is a pyramid shaped lifting lug the 389 does not have it. The 326 does....

Engine I D code is stamped pass side it is a 3 digit alpha numeric code stamped under production code . pass side front Just below cylinder head. If original engine I will be able to tell exactly what it is.....

Was looking at your post about your 307 block 283 head combo find that interesting. I have never done a 307 build before. May do one in the future though with the bore and the stroke being close to the same dimension would lend itself to an engine that is designed to run a steady RPM all the time and be most efficient cruising on the interstate cruising steady speed all the time. The small bore would hurt it in a high performance application. as it would shroud the valves and severely limit the amount of air you can put into it. Could be why in ran out of everything @4500 RPMs. Anyway have been doing a little research and can not find anything on the #0 camshaft profile or on any factory cam profile used in Pontiac in 1963. Can find all the specs for 1962 and 1964 Don't know why that is. If I had to guess I would say it is somewhere around 260 to 270 duration with the lift somewhere 450s to 460s lobe separation 110 that is just a guess could be way off. Please don't take that as fact. Being that you are doing a basically stock rebuild as far as the heads go besides dulling the sharp edges and installing hardend valve seats would do a three angle 30 degrees 45 degrees 60 degrees valve job that will improve the velocity and cut down the turbulence of the air as it passes the valve when it enters and exits the combustion chamber. Your cylinder head guy would probably recommend that too and would have no problem executing that on both intake and exhaust. Other than that would leave them alone. If you are going to stick with the original 2 barrel set up a thorough rebuild of the carb making sure the airhorn isn't warped along with the base and doesn't have vacuum leak where the rod that holds the throttle plates goes thru it. Realistically would get at least 15 mpg in the city if it is properly tuned. and you don't have a heavy foot in stop and go traffic. 19 to 20 MPG on open road would be realistic too .with that set up. If you want run a 4 bbl would recommend using a edelbrock performer intake manifold it is a dual plane. open plenum intakes like the torquer are more geared to high RPMs and not low end torque. I like Q jet carbs myself on GM cars they can intimidating to someone unfamiliar with them but in reality they are no harder to tune than an AFB. 600 to 650 cfm would be the size you would want to use. Start with #68 jets. if tuned right would deliver same MPG as the 2 bbl. that is just my opinion there are alot really good carbs out there. Frosty is also correct in swapping out the points in the distributor to the petronix set up have used them a lot and have 0 issues with them. with a stock engine the MSD is just overkill you would not notice any difference in the way the car runs or drives if you used one. Hopefully COMP cams will help with right grind for your application I am sure they will give you exactly what you want and well suited to your car. And you will be happy with the results.They will need to know the gear ratio in the rear end and what kind of fuel system 2bbl or 4bbl you when you forward that code to me will tell what the ratio is without a doubt. Hopefully the information and rambling I have done in the last few days has helped you in your quest. One other thing the line bore and squaring the decks would be money that is well spent....

Whats up fellas Don't have a lot of time right now but will throw a couple things at you. As far as the cylinder heads go in the combustion chamber it will help to knock sharp edge down between the valves . Do not take any material out of it just dull the sharp edge.Reason to dull the edge it eliminates potential hot spot that will cause premature detonation. Around the edge of the combustion chamber you will notice when you run your finger around it has a slight convcave shape to it leave that alone it is like that on purpose to facilitate the flame travel around the cylinder into the center of it. You can just dull the edge again to not remove any material. Leave the combustion chamber itself rough. That is very important. On the intake port Do Not polish it want the intake ports rough. Reason for that is the rough surface is essential in keeping the atomized fuel suspended in the mixture as it travels thru the port also the rough uneven texture can actually help in maintaining air velocity by less friction between the surface of the port and the air. As a smooth even area actually has more surface area for the air to travel thru thereby causing more friction. Think of the surface of a golf ball. the dimples make it more aerodynamic as there less exposed surface area to the air thus less friction to slow it down.Unless there is any left over casting flashing left at the opening of the port. Leave it alone . Just to clarify rough ports keep the fuel suspended by the fact when the fuel droplits hit the sides of the port it doesn't give the fuel any where to cling too. smooth surface encourages fuel to puddle and stick to the surface. It is like when you see a drop of water on a glass surface it immediately beeds up into a single drops and little puddles . When put drop onto rough surface it doesn't really beed up it breaks up and spreads out. Same principle with fuel mixture. You can polish the exhaust port as long as don't remove any material. removing material from the exhaust port will hurt low end torque. A lot of people polish all that stuff up. Reallity is does more harm than good.When working the heads POWER GAINS are made by changing the shapes of ports Mainly among other things by raising the roof and working the short side radius at the top side of valve pocket. Not by making them look shiny and trick. In street applications bigger is not always better maintaining velocity is most important. As far as intake manifolds would recommend using dual plane rather than open plenum Edelbrock performer would be an excellent choice as far as carbs go wouldn't go any smaller than 650 CFM. Also completely 100% agree with Frosty on changing out all the rubber hoses cannot go wrong by doing that . Like I said don't have a lot of time right now. Will elaborate on all these issues. And valve grinding angles. Thanks for the good compliments.

Have heard of Racer Brown from what I understand that in the 1950s and early 60s his grinds were the hot tickets if you were racing Chevrolets and wanted to win. Have a good connection at COMP cams will custom grind anything you want. We used them all the time. With no problems. Was building 9000 RPM NASCAR 18 degree modified engines. Also engines for other short track classes including 4 cylinder fords and Toyotas also straight 6cylinders for Sportsman class at our local track ( Bowman Gray Stadium)here in town and around the Southeast One of our guys also holds several land speed records. Ran 206 MPH in a 1953 Studebaker that weighed 4300 lbs. in the East Coast Timing Association. Have also done some really NASTY street engines too that actually have good driveability. All told people running our stuff have won well over 100 races in the last 12 years. When the TV show (madhouse) aired in 2010 they had us portrayed on the show as like the mad scientist engine builders. We had been using our own secret custom spec grinds that COMP cams ground for us to use in the Modified engines for a few years. So COMP cams saw the show they reached out to us and made us a dealer. If you ever saw the show they gave us a 10ft by 6ft banner to put on the wall so when film crew was at the shop you could see it in the background. free advertising. Anyway getting back to the subject to insure that you get the optimum grind that you want. you need to know a couple things First and foremost once you decide what kind of combo you want weather high performance or fuel mileage and economy .You cant change your mind in the middle of your build or your results will be less than optimal. From what you have said I am assuming that smooth idle and good fuel mileage with good mid range power is your goal. they have some really good off the shelf Pontiac specific grinds. Not all of them are listed in most catalogs that you see everywhere summit racing jeggs etc. you also need to know rear end gear ratio most important weather you are using aftermarket fuel injection and which system you are going to use. the best grinds for Pontiac will be dual pattern. Intake will have one duration. Exhaust side will have more duration because of the shape of Pontiac exhaust port is on the restrictive side and a little more duration helps the evacuation of the exhaust be more efficient that in turn helps airflow thru the intake be more efficient especially with stock heads.Ideally exhaust flow should be right around 70% of what the intake flow is.Dual pattern cams help that. even in an economy type build. if you are going to rebuild the engine completely and use dished pistons to drop the compression ratio go ahead and line bore and square the decks up also Most of those old engines like that are not line bored and decked at the factory.Will greatly reduce internal friction caused by the parts working against each other will help fuel mileage and help in making it run sewing machine smooth. There are a couple more bottom end tricks. If interested I will let you know what they are. Sorry about being so long winded and giving way to much unnecessary information. Cant help myself sometimes. Go to COMP cams website and they will help you out with any kind of grind you want. Custom or otherwise no problem. Also would use local muffler shop can probably custom bend exactly right to the car while in their shop.

Have ran into the soft camshaft issue before myself but is was mostly in nail head Buicks from the early 1960s also know that Chevrolet late 70s into real early 80s had cam issues as well. Guess it depends on the suppliers and QC issues during during different eras of production. Maybe more common problem than realize? the number 509395 is the production # of the engine think the last 4 digits should match the VIN on the car. The 15H indicates the particular engine combination which is 389 CID with 10.25 compression ratio. Rochester 2g with the number that you indicated above. camshaft profile #0 not sure exactly duration , lift , lobe separation on that is but can find out. also indicates dual valve springs. AC 45 sparkplugs also # on distributer should be1110996. Also indicates equipped with heavy duty starter. rated at 267 horsepower@4200RPM 410 ft lbs torque@2400RPM. with the roto hydramatic (slim jim) trans. Have done some flat heads and straight 8 packards among lots of other things including a Liberty aircraft engine that was in a boat. My dad was a master mechanic my first rebuild was a F head hurricane from a 1951 Willys jeep. definately don't make them like they used too that's for sure.

Very possible may be able to use chevy cables since built on same platform

FYI When doing cylinder heads on pontiac engines. Most machine shops do mostly Ford's and chevys and as a result they overlook certain nuances specific to Pontiac mainly when installing hardened valve seats most shops will use the valve seats that are designed for chevys They are thicker and as a result the valve stem heights will not be correct that is very critical on a Pontiac if stem heights are not exactly right the engine will not have a well balanced air flow into the cylinders and no matter what you do will have erratic idle and an exessively nolsey valve train. The only fix other than remachining heads is to use adjustable push rods. Also lifter preload is very important too.incorrect valve stem heights have major impact on that as well. Alot of shops will also use chev style lifters although dementionaly the same the oil hole on the side of lifter on chev is higher up from bottom of the lifter. then actual Pontiac lifter and with certain Pontiac cam shaft grinds the oil hole can come up above the lifter bosses at max lift will cause low oil pressure issues. Just something to be aware of....

The engine I'D should be stamped on the block front of engine pass side just below cylinder head. As far as compression ratio depending what combo you use anywhere from 8.5 to 9.0 would be the range that depending on the tune should be OK for using regular gas but Cal. Uses different gas blends than they use here on east coast.Just to satisfy my own curiosity would like to know what the codes are rear axle,engine,carb# are. knew would have controversy over carb VS After market fuel injection but will save that for another time.......also grew up the business too since was able walk..

First off congrats on your new old Pontiac they are way cool cars. Just a couple things as far as unleaded fuel goes at only 43000 miles it more than likely has not been driven enough to have done much if any at all to have pounded the valve seats into oblivion yet. Chances are that most of the miles on it were put on it early in its life when real gas was all you could buy. Unless you are planning to drive it ten of thousands of miles a year,put some lead additive in the fuel and knock the timing back a couple degrees so it doesn't spark knock but if has the low compression engine that would be a non issue under hard acceleration will probably be OK. If you are planning to take engine apart anyway then would definitely put hardened valve seats in it for sure. would be more concerned about the ethanol in the gas attacking the internals of the carburetor. If I am not mistaken it has a Rochester 2GC #7023063 with 1 7/16s throat size but could be #7023060 with 1 11/16s throat size on it unless it has been changed sometime in the past. Reason I say it is probably the 3063 is that particular carb is used with the single exhaust which would have been used in the "Economy package" from the factory. Just for my own curiosity would like to know for sure?Those are actually really good carbs rebuild kits with the updated parts (gaskets floats ect.) are widely available to make ethanol a non issue. Unless you just want to spend money on injection set up the results realistically would probably negligible compared to a well tuned carb in both fuel mileage and drivability . just my opinion. Sure others would argue that. You say is has the roto hydramatic (slim jim) trans in it they are generally known as a good transmissions they were also used in other applications besides GM. That being said Would suggest instead of 700R would used the 200R instead because it uses the BOP case would not need adapter plate to bolt up to the engine as you would with the 700R but could run into flex plate compatability issue but not 100% sure about that.also can depend what rear end ratio that is car now could have major impact on performance that is not necessarily good. The axle codes that identify the ratio in rear are different color paint markings at the ends of the axle tubes there also a code number that is stamped on the axle carrier itself the safe T trac is also identified by tag next oil filler plug. they have several different gear ratios available. If you could give me the numerical code that is stamped on it. I would be able to ID exactly what it is. the code is stamped at about the 7o clock position looking at the front of the axle on the carrier itself. As far as the compression ratios for the engine depending which 389 CID engine it is it could be anywhere from 7.6:1 to 11.5:1 the standard bore and stroke for 389 is 4 1/16 bore and a 3 3/4 stroke. The engine ID code is a 3 digit letter numerical code that is stamped into the engine block below the production # FYI there were 33 different engine combinations that were available in 1963. SURE do miss the old days. If you could give me the 3 digit code I will be able to tell exactly what it is from compression ratio to camshaft specs the letter in that code denotes which trans originally came in car and possibly the transmission ratio as well. One other thing they are only original once...........almost forgot it has been my experience that old cars that have really NEVER BEEN RUN HARD they tend to build up a ridge in the top of cylinder bores even at that low mileage when you start hammering on it the rods will stretch a little bit (normal) and the rings will hit the ridge and break top ring every time.

OK try 336 408 2220. Think they also have website Ray white service station ? Know they are still in business. The old man may have died or something ? Germanton NC.possibly Winston Salem address

Ray Whites Junkyard 336 994 4029 Germanton NC They have acres and acres of cars from 1930s to present day....

I have an original GM 1963 Pontiac issued shop manual got from my dads tool box 40 yrs ago. Would be happy to maybe to photo copy any info you might need out of it. There is photo of it in one of the galleries. NICE car!!

I would think that the 1LE firebirds from late 80s to the late 90s qualify for future classics mainly due to the fact that they had all had to be special ordered. Most Pontiac dealers didn't even know that option even existed. Only the most savy buyers ordered what is essentially late model COPO car. Unlike new Camaro COPO where they limited it to 50 of them seriously doubt if any were actually special order just a limited production run. Was basically just a sales pitch. True COPO means they didn't limit the number made if 5 were ordered they made 5 IF 5000 were ordered they would make 5000 of them. That being said what really makes them special the fact they were only available in Formula 1SA trim meaning no creature comforts like AC power windows and locks ETC only exception to that was 1996 and later had AC only because Pontiac made it standard across the board. They all have factory hardcore suspension and brake upgrades with there own specific GM part numbers. Also the gas tanks are different with the fuel pickup location and baffle in the tank so that during high G turns when the gas sloshed around it wouldn't uncover fuel pickup. All of them also had factory oil cooler. Although have heard of some that didn't. Mine has aluminum drive shaft from the factory,but have heard of some that didn't also the later ones after 1996 have double adjustable konis with tool in glovebox to adjust shocks with. Engine power is way underrated too. Probably shouldn't be saying this have had mine up to 168 MPH flat out nothing left. Know that because captured top speed on my garmin. Without all the creature comforts makes them lighter than standard F body with full load of fuel all our vacation stuff and my wife in car tips the scales at just a little over 3100 lbs. It is definitely a Porsche Jag BMW Mustang WRX eater wolf in sheeps clothing! for sure. Reason I think qualifies for future classic is mainly because of low production numbers no more than 20 or less in most years of course rare means unpopular only time will tell.....Next time I have on lift will take some detailed photos of suspension drive shaft gas tank etc. and post them. One other thing the SLP firehawks with 1LE are completely different.

Spoke to my trans guru Today. He agrees with Last indian that is definitely an electronic issue. Without actually looking at the car would be probably next to impossible to trouble shoot....Wish I could be more help. From I have seen looks like last indian is a smart guy and is all over it. He has my compliments.

I completely agree Pump could very well be problem. Mentioned before Have seen new ones that did not flow like they should was mainly due to too much clearance between the impeller and the pump housing itself. will not flow like supposed too if at all. Most of the pumps like from Autozone etc are remanufactured and whoever does them doesn't pay attention to the nuances or details. After all GM hasn't made them in 30 plus years. They pretty much just slap new seals and bearings in them and send them out door quick as they can...

This might sound really dumb. but is your temp guage accurate ? just a thought you know stupid simple thing LOL

Last indian may have the answer wont know until tomorrow. Will ask my transmission guru tomorrow also.. Hopefully will be able to get it solved in short order.....

OK completely misunderstood sorry about that. thought you were talking about wheel speed sensors. Feel like a complete dumb*** any way never mind all the things I said about ABS and speed sensors. Except part about Might not be the problem. actually probably some sort of transaxle issue. Do not really know what that may be. Some sort of fluid level issue or with the little check balls in the valve body? something filter related? differential maybe? Wondering about it myself will ask my transmission guru friend when see him tomorrow.

There is speed sensor on each wheel front and rear. A total of 4 sensors are on the car Hence 4 channel ABS Before you go spending money on parts Do a thorough inspection of speed sensors on each individual wheel front and rear. Look for damaged wires connections corrosion etc. Also if you know someone or have access to a quality scanner plug into diagnostic port .Sometimes the ABS module will hold a hard numerical code that will not show on the ABS or traction control lights. It is completely separate system than the PCM . A lot of cheaper scanners or code readers Like from auto parts stores do not have capability to read ABS codes but some do. Anyway come up with one that does plug it in and see if has stored code in ABS module then go from there. Possible speed sensors could NOT be problem at all. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the feedback. Like I said was not 100% sure. Learn something new everyday.....

Also have looked for anything that might not look right at the rear wheels too? Reason I ask is could possibly be any of the wheels as each wheel rotates when turning left all 4 of the wheels are rotating at a different speed might not problem be with just the front wheel sensors at all very possibly could be in rear. When car is travelling straight all the wheels are turning pretty much the same RPM when turning each individual wheel turns at different RPM and then they are all integrated together VIA abs module.