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389 Pistons
Pontiac V8 389 Pistons
Early or Late — 389 Pistons for Pontiac V8s
The 389 is the engine that built Pontiac's reputation, and it is the one displacement where the piston question has an extra step: the 389 came in an early and a late style, and the piston is not the same. Getting that right before you order is the whole job.
Butler stocks Butler Ross Quick Ship forged flat tops and dish tops for the 389 in 4.092" and 4.122" bores at both 3.75" and 4.250" stroke, plus Keith Black hypereutectic cast sets and fully custom Ross and DSS pistons for early or late blocks.
Browse 389 Pistons Products
Description: DSS 3-FX Series Forged Pistons — Set of 8
-14cc Dish Top
4.190" Bore / 3.750" Stroke
1.71" Compression Height
0.98" Pins Included
1.2 / 1.2 / 3.0mm DSS Ring Set Included
2618 with...More Details »
Item #: DSS-K3-6104-4190
Condition:
New
Ships in 7-10 Business Days
Price: $1,259.95
Description: DSS 3-FX Series Forged Pistons — Set of 8
-14cc Dish Top
4.080" Bore / 3.750" Stroke
1.71" Compression Height
0.98" Pins Included
1.2 / 1.2 / 3.0mm DSS Ring Set Included
2618 with...More Details »
Item #: DSS-K3-6104-4080C
Condition:
New
Ships in 7-10 Business Days
Price: $1,259.95
Description: DSS 3-FX Series Forged Pistons — Set of 8
-7cc Flat Top
4.080" Bore / 3.750" Stroke
1.71" Compression Height
0.98" Pins Included
1.2 / 1.2 / 3.0mm DSS Ring Set Included
2618 with...More Details »
Item #: DSS-K3-6100-4080C
Condition:
New
Ships in 7-10 Business Days
Price: $1,259.95
Description: DSS 3-FX Series Forged Pistons — Set of 8
-14cc Dish Top
4.100" Bore / 3.750" Stroke
1.71" Compression Height
0.98" Pins Included
1.2 / 1.2 / 3.0mm DSS Ring Set Included
2618 with...More Details »
Item #: DSS-K3-6104-4100C
Condition:
New
Ships in 7-10 Business Days
Price: $1,259.95
Description: DSS 3-FX Series Forged Pistons — Set of 8
-7cc Flat Top
4.100" Bore / 3.750" Stroke
1.71" Compression Height
0.98" Pins Included
1.2 / 1.2 / 3.0mm DSS Ring Set Included
2618 with...More Details »
Item #: DSS-K3-6100-4100C
Condition:
New
Ships in 7-10 Business Days
Price: $1,259.95
Description: DSS 3-FX Series Forged Pistons — Set of 8
-14cc Dish Top
4.120" Bore / 3.750" Stroke
1.71" Compression Height
0.98" Pins Included
1.2 / 1.2 / 3.0mm DSS Ring Set Included
2618 with...More Details »
Item #: DSS-K3-6104-4120C
Condition:
New
Ships in 7-10 Business Days
Price: $1,259.95
Description: DSS 3-FX Series Forged Pistons — Set of 8
-7cc Flat Top
4.120" Bore / 3.750" Stroke
1.71" Compression Height
0.98" Pins Included
1.2 / 1.2 / 3.0mm DSS Ring Set Included
2618 with...More Details »
Item #: DSS-K3-6100-4120C
Condition:
New
Ships in 7-10 Business Days
Price: $1,259.95
Description: DSS 3-FX Series Forged Pistons — Set of 8
-14cc Dish Top
4.125" Bore / 3.750" Stroke
1.71" Compression Height
0.98" Pins Included
1.2 / 1.2 / 3.0mm DSS Ring Set Included
2618 with...More Details »
Item #: DSS-K3-6104-4125C
Condition:
New
Ships in 7-10 Business Days
Price: $1,259.95
Description: DSS 3-FX Series Forged Pistons — Set of 8
-7cc Flat Top
4.125" Bore / 3.750" Stroke
1.71" Compression Height
0.98" Pins Included
1.2 / 1.2 / 3.0mm DSS Ring Set Included
2618 with...More Details »
Item #: DSS-K3-6100-4125C
Condition:
New
Ships in 7-10 Business Days
Price: $1,259.95
Description: Fully Custom DSS Pistons
Made with 2618 - T6 forging
Choose Dish or Flat Top
Any Stroke and up to 4.200 Bore
Choose rings, pins, and more
Enter specs and details to help us customize it
Our experts...More Details »
Item #: DSS-CUSTOM
Condition:
New
Ships in 3-4 weeks
Price: $1,399.00
Description: Icon Forged Pistons with Rings — Set of 8
Pontiac 400 (or 389 +.058")
-10.8cc Flat Top
4.120" Bore (Standard)
3.750" Stroke
1.714" Compression Height
.980" Pins Included
5/64, 5/64,...More Details »
Item #: UEM-IC-9946-KTD-STD-8
Condition:
New
Ships in 7-10 Business Days
Price: $770.63
Description: Icon Forged Pistons with Rings — Set of 8
Pontiac 400
-14cc Dish
4.120" Bore (Standard)
3.750" Stroke
.980" Pins Included
1/16, 1/16, 3/16 Ring Set Included
Item #: UEM-IC-891-KTD-STD-8
Condition:
New
Ships in 7-10 Business Days
Price: $878.08
Description: Keith Black Hypereutectic Pistons with Rings — Set of 8
Pontiac 389
-3.5cc Flat Top
+.030"
3.750" Stroke
5/64, 5/64, 3/16 Ring Set Included
Item #: UEM-KB370KTM-030
Condition:
New
Ships in 7-10 Business Days
Price: $619.88
Description: Keith Black Hypereutectic Pistons with Rings — Set of 8
Pontiac 389
-3.5cc Flat Top
+.040"
3.750" Stroke
5/64, 5/64, 3/16 Ring Set Included
Item #: UEM-KB370KTM-040
Condition:
New
Ships in 7-10 Business Days
Price: $619.88
Description: Keith Black Hypereutectic Pistons with Rings — Set of 8
Pontiac 389
-3.5cc Flat Top
+.060"
3.750" Stroke
5/64, 5/64, 3/16 Ring Set Included
Item #: UEM-KB370KTM-060
Condition:
New
Ships in 7-10 Business Days
Price: $619.88
Description: Keith Black Hypereutectic Pistons with Rings — Set of 8
Pontiac 400
-17cc Dish
4.120" Bore (Standard)
3.750" Stroke
1.710" Compression Height
.980" Pins Included
5/64, 5/64, 3/16 Ring...More Details »
Item #: UEM-KB346KTM-STD
Condition:
New
Ships in 7-10 Business Days
Price: $585.62
Description: Keith Black Hypereutectic Pistons with Rings — Set of 8
Pontiac 400
10cc Dome
4.120" Bore (Standard)
3.750" Stroke
.980" Pins Included
5/64, 5/64, 3/16 Ring Set Included
Item #: UEM-KB422KTM-STD
Condition:
New
Ships in 7-10 Business Days
Price: $606.10
Description: Keith Black (UEM) hypereutectic cast pistons for Pontiac 389 — flat (5cc), .030" Over. A great-value cast piston for stock-to-street rebuilds. Complete set of 8.
Item #: UEM-KB370-030
Condition:
New
Price: $488.98
Description: Keith Black (UEM) hypereutectic cast pistons for Pontiac 389 — flat (5cc), .060" Over. A great-value cast piston for stock-to-street rebuilds. Complete set of 8.
Item #: UEM-KB370-060
Condition:
New
Price: $488.98
No Image Available
Description: Silv-O-Lite Cast Pistons with Rings — Set of 8
Pontiac 389
Flat Top
+.030"
Matched Ring Set Included
Item #: UEM-1516-030-K1
Condition:
New
Ships in 7-10 Business Days
Price: $380.04
No Image Available
Description: Silv-O-Lite Cast Pistons with Rings — Set of 8
Pontiac 389
Flat Top
+.040"
Matched Ring Set Included
Item #: UEM-1516-040-K1
Condition:
New
Ships in 7-10 Business Days
Price: $380.04
No Image Available
Description: Silv-O-Lite Cast Pistons with Rings — Set of 8
Pontiac 389
Flat Top
+.060"
Matched Ring Set Included
Item #: UEM-1516-060-K1
Condition:
New
Ships in 7-10 Business Days
Price: $380.04
No Image Available
Description: Silv-O-Lite Cast Pistons with Rings — Set of 8
Pontiac 389
Flat Top
Standard Bore
Matched Ring Set Included
Item #: UEM-1516-STD-K1
Condition:
New
Ships in 7-10 Business Days
Price: $371.64
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More About 389 Pistons
1. Early style or late style — get this first
Butler's 389 custom pistons are catalogued as "Early or Late 389" for a reason, and the off-the-shelf sets carry head compatibility notes that mean exactly what they say.
| Early 389 | The DSS forged set catalogued for the early style 389 is listed as fitting 1964-66 22-degree cylinder heads only. That note appears twice on the product, which tells you how often it gets missed. |
| Late 389 | DSS catalogues a separate late-style piston. Same stroke, different part. |
| Keith Black | The hypereutectic flat top Butler stocks for the 389 is listed for the early style block at the 3.750" stroke. |
| If you are not sure | Have the block casting and the cylinder head in front of you before you order. This is not a piston you can swap after the fact. |
2. Bore sizes
The 389 bore list is tighter than the 400 or 455, and the Butler Ross sets are cut to specific finished sizes rather than nominal overbore steps.
| 4.092" | The smaller of the two Quick Ship bores, available in flat top and dish at both strokes. |
| 4.122" | The larger Quick Ship bore, same crown options. |
| DSS bores | The DSS early-style forged piston is listed for 4.080" or 4.100" bore. |
| Keith Black | Catalogued in .030" and .060" over for the 389. |
| Measure after honing | Order the piston to what the block actually measures. Custom pistons are not returnable. |
3. Cast or forged, and what the crown does
Two decisions that come as a pair on a 389, because most of these engines are either going back together stock or being turned into something considerably larger.
| Keith Black hypereutectic | A high-silicon cast piston that runs tight and quiet and handles street and mild-performance use. The correct choice for a numbers-matching 389 that will spend its life on the street. Note that Keith Black specifies a much wider top ring end gap than a forged piston — .0065" per inch of bore for a street engine. |
| Ross forged | Butler's Quick Ship sets are 8cc flat tops and dish tops covering a 16 to 42cc dish range, which is how you land on a compression target against a known chamber volume. |
| DSS GSX forged | 2618 alloy with the patented X Groove skirt, larger and deeper CNC valve reliefs for aggressive head and cam combinations, drilled forced wrist pin oiling, and diamond turned high-strength skirts. DSS quotes 9.50:1 against a 72cc chamber, 8.99:1 against 78cc and 8.47:1 against 85cc on the early-style dish piston. |
| Ring package | The DSS early-style 389 piston requires a 1/16", 1/16", 3/16" ring set. Order the rings to the piston. |
4. Stock stroke or stroker
A 389 block takes a lot more stroke than it left the factory with, and the piston changes with it.
| 3.75" stroke | The factory 389 stroke, on a 6.625" rod. The DSS early-style piston is listed at 1.710" compression height with .980" pins for that combination. |
| 4.250" stroke | Butler stocks Quick Ship flat top and dish sets at this stroke in both 389 bores. The compression height drops and the rod length grows — crank, rod and piston are one order. |
| Custom in between | Ross custom pistons for the 389 are catalogued at 3.75", 4.000" and 4.250" stroke for early or late blocks, and DSS builds custom 2618-T6 pistons for any stroke up to a 4.200" bore. |
Four numbers get you to the right 389 piston: early or late block, finished bore, crank stroke and cylinder head chamber cc. Have those and the call takes a minute.
Not sure what your Pontiac needs?
Email our tech team at tech@butlerperformance.com. Tell us your engine, heads, car, and power goal, and we will put the parts together as one combination that works.