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D-Port Cylinder Heads
Pontiac V8 D-Port Cylinder Heads
Factory Exhaust Port, Aluminum Head — D-Port Cylinder Heads for Pontiac V8s
D-Port cylinder heads keep the factory-shape Pontiac exhaust port, so a set bolts up to the stock-style manifolds and standard D-port headers already under the car. Unported aluminum D-port is the straightforward way to get off tired iron on a 1962-79 389, 400, 421, 428 or 455 without also buying an exhaust system.
Butler stocks Edelbrock Performer RPM D-port heads complete in 65cc, 72cc and 87cc chambers, listed separately for hydraulic flat tappet and hydraulic roller cams, plus Butler Built heads assembled in our own shop on the same Edelbrock castings with Ferrea valves and springs matched to your camshaft.
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1. Chamber Volume Is the Decision You Make First
Every other choice on this page is reversible. Chamber cc is not, because it sets static compression against the piston you already bought.
| 87cc | Edelbrock's street-legal low compression chamber, intended for 92 octane pump gas. It is the safe pick for a big-inch stroker, and it is the casting Butler machines down when a smaller chamber is wanted. |
| 72cc | The higher compression, performance and racing chamber. Edelbrock rates the fully CNC machined 72cc and 87cc chambers at 9.5:1 with flat top pistons, so the 72cc is what you use when the combination needs compression the pistons will not supply. |
| 65cc | Available only on D-port, and as-cast rather than CNC machined. It builds compression without going to a domed piston. |
| Milled to a number | On a Butler Built set the casting can be milled to a custom cc instead of taking whichever of the three is closest. |
2. Out-of-the-Box Edelbrock or Butler Built
Both lanes start with the same Edelbrock casting. What changes is who assembles it and how much of it gets checked.
| Out of the box | Complete Edelbrock heads arrive assembled with guide plates, hardened steel guide plates, 7/16" rocker studs and Edelbrock's own valvetrain, 2.11" intake and 1.66" exhaust. Straight bolt-on, nothing to decide. |
| Butler Built | Butler does all the machine work in the head shop, hones and fits the guides, cuts the valve job, then assembles with Ferrea valves, Comp Cams springs, locators, retainers and locks chosen against your actual cam specs. Exhaust valve can go to 1.77", pushrod holes can be slotted for 1.65 rockers, and the Stealth option removes the cast logos with optional paint. |
| What that buys you | A head built for one engine rather than for the catalog. Give Butler the cam card and the application and the spring package is verified before it ships. |
3. Flat Tappet and Roller Are Different Part Numbers
Edelbrock and Butler both list the same chamber twice, once for hydraulic flat tappet and once for hydraulic roller. The casting is the same; the spring package is not.
| Pick the cam first | A roller's lift and seat pressure are not what a flat tappet single spring is built for. Ordering the head before the cam is how people end up buying springs twice. |
| Rocker ratio | Running 1.65 rockers raises lift over the 1.5 the head is set up for. If that is the plan, have the pushrod holes slotted while the heads are apart, not after they are on the engine. |
4. Fitment and the Parts That Have to Match
D-port is the low-drama choice on fitment, but there are still three things worth checking before the order goes in.
| Bore size | Performer Pontiac D-port heads are designed for 1962-79 389, 400, 421, 428 and 455 V8s with a 4.060" or larger bore. A 350 can run them with 1.66" exhaust valves and the block clearanced, chamfered at the top of the cylinders. |
| Exhaust | The D-port flange takes original-equipment style manifolds and standard D-port headers, and the stock valve cover and accessory bolt locations are retained. Nothing else on the engine has to move. |
| Emissions | The heat crossover is machined, which is what keeps the casting 50-state emissions legal on a street car. |
| Room to grow | The castings have extra thick port walls and a compact, high velocity port, so an unported set bought today is still a valid core for CNC porting up to 325 cfm on D-port later. |
If you are replacing iron on a driver and keeping the exhaust that is on the car, D-port unported is usually the right answer. Have your piston, deck height and intended fuel handy when you call and the chamber size sorts itself out in one conversation.
Not sure what your Pontiac needs?
Call our tech team at 866-762-7527. Tell us your engine, heads, car, and power goal, and we will put the parts together as one combination that works.