63 tri-power choke cable pull-off

[superdutydan]

hello,

My question goes to Mr. Jon Havens and it is about where could I find a choke cable hand-operated for my 63 Catalina tri-power? I have found a dash support bracket from Fabcraft.

Also, is a 1959 Pontiac 389ci a good engine to build upon for performance?

I thank you very much

Daniel

[Larry]

I don't know if Jon will see this information request. Please check under "Technical Advisors" (drop down window under members) and send him a note. He is quite busy, and I don't know how much he is surfing the web.

Has Fabcraft any advice on finding a cable? I would think that since they make new brackets, perhaps they have some history on the cable assemblies they could share.

As for building upon a '59 389 engine, it all depends on how far you are looking to go. Certainly they were strong engines and there were/are a lot of performance parts available. But if you're going for lots of power, things like the basic question of 2-bolt vs. 4-bolt comes into play.

The 389 sure dominated the streets, even in the first GTOs, but there is a reason the serious racers went to 421s and up as they became available.

[superdutydan]

thank you Larry,

I plan on giving it around more or less 350hp. Do you think that the fact this is a 2 bolts, it will not sustain the load. I am not a heavy street racer but occasionnaly like to open the tri-power.

thanks

Daniel

[Larry]

For the fun sort of street driving you want to do (like we all do), your 389 will be perfect.

If all is well assembled, the 2- vs. 4-bolt is not an issue. It is really of concern to very heavy duty racers with huge engines like built 455s that carry a big rotating mass that "dumps" hard and heavy. I don't know of any 2-bolt engine that won't handle what you want to do.

In a street built car, you will loose a u-joint, clutch, rod, or an axle long before you throw the crank out the bottom of your engine. There are a lot of people who talk a good story, and read too many drag race engine building articles, who way over build an engine for its intended use.

All of us growing up in the '60s saw hundreds of smoked tires on the factory muscle cars that had nothing beyond "normal" under the hood. Just have good machine work done if you have any turning done, and plasti-gauge it when putting together. Naturally a good torque wrench can save problems down the road too.

A 350hp 389 will be a walk in the park for that engine.

[superdutydan]

great, thank you for your precious councelling Larry

Daniel