Cylinder Heads / Top End Kits
Pontiac V8 Cylinder Heads / Top End Kits
Where the Air Goes — Cylinder Heads / Top End Kits for Pontiac V8s
The cylinder heads decide what a Pontiac V8 is going to be. Port shape, chamber volume and valve size set the airflow ceiling, fix the compression ratio the pistons have to work with, and limit the cam you can run. No carburetor or header package gets around a head that is wrong for the combination.
Butler stocks Edelbrock and Speedmaster aluminum castings in D-port and round port, 65cc, 72cc and 87cc chambers, bare or complete, plus Butler Built assembled heads, in-house CNC porting from 310 to 370+ cfm, Victor Pro Port race castings, cast iron head service, Head Builder Kits and matched Top End Power Packages.
Select a Sub-Category
Popular Brands:
More About Cylinder Heads / Top End Kits
1. D-Port or Round Port: Start on the Exhaust Side
Port shape is the first fork in the road, because it decides your headers, your exhaust gaskets and how much air the combination will ever move.
| D-port | The shape nearly every factory Pontiac head used, and what most cars still wear. Butler carries Edelbrock aluminum D-port castings in 65cc, 72cc and 87cc, bare or complete, plus Butler Built D-port heads assembled on those castings. It bolts to the manifolds and headers already under the car. |
| Round port | The Ram Air IV and Super Duty answer. Edelbrock round port castings come in 72cc and 87cc, Speedmaster offers round port Ram Air castings in the same two chamber sizes, and Butler builds finished heads on both. Round port needs round port headers and round port exhaust gaskets, so budget for them before you order heads. |
| Wide port and Pro Port | Past what a standard round port will feed, Butler CNC machines a round port/wide port head to 370+ cfm in 72cc and 87cc, offered in hydraulic roller and solid roller spring packages. Above that sit the Edelbrock Victor Pro Port castings in 11 degree and 12.6 degree valve angles, ported by BES to 430-440 and 450-460 cfm, with matching T&D shaft rocker assemblies. |
2. Chamber Volume and the Compression You Are Chasing
Chamber cc is not a preference, it is an input. Pick it with the piston and the fuel you intend to run, not after the short block is together.
| 87cc | The forgiving choice. It is the standard Edelbrock chamber in both D-port and round port, and it keeps a stock-stroke rebuild or a big stroker out of detonation on pump gas. |
| 72cc | The common performance chamber. Edelbrock rates its fully CNC machined 72cc and 87cc Fast-Burn chambers at 9.5:1 with flat top pistons. Butler also machines 87cc castings down to 72cc when that is what the combination calls for. |
| 65cc | Edelbrock's as-cast D-port chamber, for builds that want static compression without a domed piston. |
| Milled to your number | As part of the Butler Built process, heads can be milled to a custom cc, and certain casting numbers can have the chamber softened for boost. |
3. Out of the Box, Butler Built, or CNC Ported
Three levels, and they are not the same head with a different sticker.
| Out of the box | Edelbrock and Speedmaster complete heads, assembled by the manufacturer with guide plates, rocker studs and valvetrain, ready to bolt on. Edelbrock's own SF-1020 bench numbers on the 72cc D-port show 237 cfm at .400" lift, 255 at .500" and 262 at .600" at 28" of water. |
| Butler Built | Butler takes the same castings apart, cleans and pressure tests them, mills the deck for flatness, blueprints and reassembles with Ferrea 5000 or 6000 series valves, chromoly or titanium retainers, and a spring package chosen for flat tappet or roller. Heads can be slotted to accept 1.65 rockers or left for 1.5, and the Stealth logo can be removed and painted. |
| CNC ported | Butler's in-house porting runs 310+ cfm on D-port, 315+ cfm and 325-330+ cfm on round port, 325+ cfm on D-port, 340+ cfm on round port, and 370+ cfm on the wide port program. Valve size follows the port: the 310 and 315 cfm programs are machined for 2.11/1.66 with an upgrade to 1.77, while 325 and 340 cfm require 2.19/1.77. |
4. Flat Tappet or Hydraulic Roller Changes the Head
Butler and Edelbrock both list complete heads twice, once for hydraulic flat tappet and once for hydraulic roller. A roller cam's spring pressures and lift are not what a flat tappet spring package is built for, so springs, retainers and sometimes install height change with the cam.
| Order the head to match the cam | Pick the cam before the heads ship. Butler matches Crower, Edelbrock, DHP or Comp springs to the actual cam specs. |
| Rocker ratio | Butler recommends 1.5 ratio rockers on the packaged kits so pushrod slotting is not necessary. Going to 1.65 raises lift and has to be accounted for in spring bind and guide clearance. |
| Pushrod length | Lifter and rocker brands change the length you need. Butler includes a pushrod length checking tool in its top end kits instead of guessing. |
5. Head Builder Kits and Send-Us-Your-Heads Service
Two ways to get there without buying a finished pair off the shelf.
| Head Builder Kits | Pick Edelbrock or Speedmaster castings in D-port or round port, 65cc, 72cc or 87cc, standard port or CNC ported to 325 cfm, and Butler supplies the castings with the machine work done in house plus Ferrea stainless valves, springs matched to your cam, chromoly retainers and locks, Comp spring locators, PEP valve stem seals and intake and exhaust gaskets. There are also kits for your own aluminum or cast iron castings when the cores are still good. |
| Send us your heads | Butler runs a customer's Edelbrock or Speedmaster heads through the same process, returned fully assembled or blueprinted and ready to assemble. Offered only on heads not previously hand or CNC ported, unless Butler ported them. Head boxes with foam inserts, bags and prepaid UPS labels are available so the cores arrive intact. |
6. Cast Iron Heads and Keeping a Factory Engine Factory
Not every Pontiac should get aluminum. For a numbers-matching car or a stock rebuild, Butler works the iron you have.
| Rebuilt stock iron | Butler Built cast iron D-port heads, done on Butler's castings or on the customer's own. |
| Porting service | Separate porting programs for cast iron D-port and cast iron round port heads, sold as a set of two. |
| Press-in stud conversion | Factory press-in rocker studs pull out when spring pressure goes up. Butler converts a set to 7/16 screw-in studs. |
| Late model work | The same CNC department handles LS1, LS2, LS6 and LS3 castings. |
7. Top End Power Packages
If the short block is healthy and the top end is the weak half, the packages take the guesswork out. Butler builds them from combinations already used in its own engines.
| 450 to 550 HP tier | Edelbrock D-port or round port heads in 72cc or 87cc, hydraulic flat tappet or hydraulic roller, with a port matched intake, a Butler/Comp cam, lifters, billet timing set, ARP head bolts, intake and exhaust gaskets, valve cover gaskets and the pushrod checker. The 72cc D-port hydraulic roller package is rated up to 550 HP and 575 ft-lb. |
| 575 to 700+ HP pump gas tier | The same idea on Butler's ported heads. The 325 cfm round port package is built for up to 600 HP on pump gas, the 340 cfm version for up to 700 HP, and the wide port 370+ cfm packages are offered in hydraulic and solid roller. |
| Intake choice | Performer RPM is the dual plane with the broader curve and Butler's pick for most street cars; Torker II is the single plane with a little more on top and less off idle. Both sit taller than a stock intake, so Trans Am shaker cars need a drop base air cleaner or a stock height intake instead. |
| Whole engine packages | Butler also pairs a top end package with a balanced rotating assembly for 461 to 474 cu in builds on a 4.250" stroke and 4.150 to 4.211" bore, shipped for your block. |
If you are unsure which way to go, call with the block, the intended bore and stroke, the fuel you will run and the converter and gear behind it. That is enough for Butler to point at a chamber size and a port, and cheaper than finding out on the dyno that the heads and the cam never matched.
All Pontiac/Tiger Cylinder Heads Pontiac Cast Iron Cylinder Heads and Services CNC Porting and Head Services Top End Power Packages Complete Cylinder Heads- CNC Ported
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.