Here is the story of our Redline Rebuild Pontiac 389 - Hagerty Media
Hagerty’s Redline Rebuild series takes the long and time-consuming process of a complete engine overhaul and turns it into a nice and tidy nine-minute video, but that leaves a lot of information on the table that the viewers don’t get to see. Redline Rebuild Explained is the deep dive into everything it took to get this V-8 back to its former glory.
Hagerty’s engine whisperer Davin Rekow and video expert Ben Woodworth sit down and talk through the process of rebuilding the engine, including why this V-8 got some extra machine work (hint: Parts hit other parts that weren’t supposed to touch) that our other rebuilds haven’t received. Plus they go into how the basketcase engine ended up having extra parts, some of which were usable and some which were merely paperweights.
The first trip for our stack of greasy parts was the machine shop and a new process for the Reline Rebuild series—the crank grinder. Davin got to geek out and was reminded of a few things from his engineering classes. Both crankshafts that were taken to the machine shop required work, and Davin makes a great note about buying bearings—find what is available first, before grinding any material off.
Before starting assembly, Davin stops to answer one of our most asked questions—why paint parts before assembly rather than once it’s all together? The short answer is that it’s easier. The long answer is the finished product is cleaner and more detailed. Looks good either way.
Of course, there is the requisite talk of valve spring pressures, explanation as to why the lifters are different compared to previous builds, and details on how the water pump goes together. You will have to watch the video to get every last detail but we can assure you it is worth your time.
