While Pontiac was one of the last American manufacturers to introduce a V-8 engine in 1955, its high-performance components and heavy-duty block were the foundation for a renowned V-8. What started out as a meager 287-ci engine evolved and grew into a potent family of powerplants, which included the 389 Tri-Power, 421, Ram Air IV 400, and Super Duty 455. These V-8s powered a number of legendary cars--the GTO, Firebird, Trans Am, and others.

Author Rocky Rotella, long-time Pontiac expert and magazine writer, provides an insightful and detailed tour of the entire rebuild process. Drawing on his vast experience, Rotella uses detailed captions and vibrant photos to thoroughly explain each crucial step of the disassembly, identify problems, resolve these issues, and build a reliable, strong-running engine. Aftermarket parts and OEM parts interchange for high-performance applications are revealed so you can select the best parts for a particular engine and a specific application. After evaluating your engine components, you're shown how to select essential machine shop services. Preassembly and final assembly are thoroughly described so that the engine is precisely and accurately assembled and costly mistakes are avoided. As a result, you will be able to correctly perform each procedure before the following step is started.

If you have been looking for an authoritative volume for rebuilding the classic Pontiac V-8 engine, you've found it.