HO Pontiac Engines vs. Other Pontiac Engines

What is everyone's experience with HO Pontiac Engines vs. the other ones.  I am asking this as when I bought my 428HO/376 hp, it needed rebuilt and when I took it to have it done, it had 14 cracks in the block. It had around 114K miles on it(From my '67 GP Convertible). I recently acquired a car with a 421 Tri-Power with 356hp. This one also has the engine out of it, needing rebuilt.  Has around 111K miles on it. (Is anything wrong with this pic? Both engines tore out of both cars when I bought them..lol..I saw the potential and fell in love!) Anyhow, my father-in-saw said the 389's were the best eingine's Pontiac ever made, as far as lasting.  I have also heard that about the 400's.  My brother had one that he gave me(in our shed) that he said he drove real hard before he pulled from the car and could not blow. Had over 200K miles on it.  Anyhow, I have another '67 GP with over 100K miles and so does my son.  Both run great, both are 400's.  Have not started the 389 that I got yet, it has been sitting a long time.  Assume it is good.  Going to get it running this summer.  I had a 350(not original) in my first '67 GP.  Never had issues with that one, the way it ran. Except it did not like the radiator to be more than half full.  My brother has a '67 Catalina that has been in our family about 42 years with a 400, no issues.  He has a '75 Grandville Convertible with a 455, no issues.  Most of the Pontiacs he restored, around 22, had 400's, he had no issues with them.  The other 428 he had did not have a HO in it and he had no issues with it.  Was just wondering about others experience...Have heard that the HO engines do not last as long....  

I believe it is how the engine was maintained and treated.
From what I see the higher power engines are abused a lot more and ran harder.
The 400 was the engine with the weaker blocks and in mid year of 1975 the blocks were built even weaker as they had less material in the main webs it was the 500557 block that are the weak blocks.
Now the 481988 blocks were stronger.
I have seen a few 400 blocks that were cracked. more than any others.  
Horsepower sells engines and torque wins races

The 67 428 ho engine block is the same block as the standard 67 428 engine casting number 97876135 . So the block is not the problem .  

I used to get a kick out of people telling me that a certain engine was better than another from the same family. Years ago I had an "expert" tell me that the 283 SBC was nearly bulletproof but the 327 was a piece of crap! Let me get this straight, they used a virtually identical block, crank and rods, which only differed by bore and stroke and they used the same oiling system, cam, heads, intakes, valvetrain etc., but the 283 was great while the 327 sucked? Give your head a shake! He wasn't comparing either one to a 305 that admittedly had terrible cams, restrictive heads and small, restrictive bores.... nope, he was comparing the 60's versions! The same crap went around here (Canada) when Chevy quit painting their engines orange in the mid-70's and started painting them blue like Pontiac and Olds. Guys who were used to getting their Chevy's butt handed to them by BOP's running "blue" motors would claim that the "blue-block" SBC's were more desirable than the orange blocks. They thought never occured to these experts that the newer SBC's were actually weak smoggers! They thought they were getting a Pontiac or Olds!
I have to agree with Jack and Pman, it has everything to do with how the engine was cared for and driven, since all Pontiac V8's share the same basic design.
Steve  
A little help... 'cause we don't all have to learn the hard way!

Yeah, that is most likely true.  The original owners of my convertible pulled a 30ft camper with it. The 2+2 was originally owned(the only owner) by and old guy who was rebuilding it when he died. He had the engine in pieces, all in the trunk except the block when I bought it. But he would have been a young man when he bought it, so who knows how he drove it. As far as my father in law, he loved the 389s. I am also friends with an old gentleman who said the were excellent engines...so who knows..That is their opinion I imagine. One older gentleman also told me when he found out I bought a 421 tripower, that they were the running-est son of a guns he ever saw.  

Patti, I have owned numerous Pontiac engines.,. 326's, 350's, 389's, 400's, 421's, 428's and 455's.,. and now two automatic 301's with 4 barrel carbs.
All except the 301's and 326's were high perf/HO multi carb engines with either solid or hydraulic cams in the .500" lift range, or McKellar #10 grinds in the early days.
All were 4 speed cars and I wailed on them regularly, without mercy or a single care in the world, if they blew up on me or not.
Maximum performance and winning was my main objective.,. I never blew any of those engines, because I fondled them.,. always tuned them, before the cars ever left the shop. So whatever I took out of those engines, I put back in.,. Oh, a complete tune including valve lash took only 20 minutes.
My point is simply this.,. regular maintenance goes a long way in keeping an engine healthy.
Yes, for it's day, the 389 was a stormer and could hold it's own.

 
When The Flag Drops,,,



The Bull Chit Stops,,,


P. Engineer, Engine Builder

421s are hard to find. I once had a 61 bonniville convertable with a tri power 4-speed 421. She was a torque monster.used to brake left motor mounts and raise up lean on the throttle linkage rod floor the gas and all you could do was go along for the ride until it was going fast enough to settle down. You could also turn off the key. I finely put a chain on it to stop that.  
Drive it before your dead!

Most people I knew bought the Pontiacs because of their performance. I have had several a 57-347 Starchief,60-389 Bonnie,64-421 Bonnie, 66-389 Gto,71 Gp455 and 76GP 400. I drove them to the limit,except the76 and beat cars that people thought were unbeatable! But as tuff and pman stated maintenance plays a big role in their life.

Bob  

I know what you mean about maintenance guys.  We were taught to take care of our vehicles.  That is why my brother could not bring himself to actually blow that 400 up.  He pushed it so far and then stopped.  And as far as performance.  I did a whole lot of drag racing in my days.  In a big ole '69 Catalina Sedan.  Surprised quite a few people by blowing them off the road...lol...