- Home »
- Catalog »
- Cylinder Heads / Top End Kits »
- Pontiac Cast Iron Cylinder Heads and Services
Pontiac Cast Iron Cylinder Heads and Services
Pontiac V8 Pontiac Cast Iron Cylinder Heads and Services
Keeping the Iron — Pontiac Cast Iron Cylinder Heads and Services for Pontiac V8s
Not every Pontiac should get aluminum. For a numbers-matching car, a class rule or a straight rebuild, the factory iron stays and the work goes into it. Pontiac cast iron cylinder heads and services covers Butler-built stock iron heads, ported iron, and the machine work that makes an old casting safe behind a modern camshaft.
Butler builds D-port cast iron heads on its castings or on yours, ports cast iron D-port and round port heads as a set of two, and converts factory press-in rocker studs to 7/16 screw-in studs. Everything is blueprinted and comes back with a blueprint and spec sheet.
Browse Pontiac Cast Iron Cylinder Heads and Services Products
Popular Brands:
More About Pontiac Cast Iron Cylinder Heads and Services
1. The Stock Cast Iron D-Port Package
A rebuild done properly rather than a hot tank and new springs. Butler will use its own castings or the pair off your engine.
| Inspection | Heads are cleaned and magnafluxed to confirm they are not cracked before any money goes into them. |
| Machine work | Competition three-angle valve job cut on Butler's Serdi machine, full bronze guides rather than liners, and the heads surfaced on all three sides. |
| Hardware | Ferrea stainless steel valves, retainers and heavy duty valve locks, tall dual springs, new 5/16 guide plates, 7/16 rocker arm studs and HP valve seals. |
| Castings and compression | 6X heads are the standard core, with other casting numbers available and possibly an upcharge. Milling is optional at additional charge — give Butler the compression ratio you want. Every set comes back blueprinted with a blueprint and spec sheet. |
2. Ported Cast Iron
Years of flow bench and track development went into Butler's iron port work, on both port styles.
| Flow | Completely ported and polished, starting at 240+ cfm, with the same Serdi valve job and full bronze guides as the stock package. |
| What the port work covers | Fully ported intake and exhaust ports, deburred chambers, pushrod holes elongated for 1.65 rockers, and excess casting material removed from the oil drain back areas. |
| Round port castings | Butler also specializes in porting RA II, RA IV, H.O. and S.D. round port heads. |
| Cores and scope | Use your heads or Butler's; most casting numbers are kept in stock and core charges vary. Butler will do port work only, or port work plus a valve job and return the heads ready to bolt on. A valve job is highly recommended after porting. |
3. Press-In Stud Conversion
The cheapest way to ruin a freshly built engine is a factory press-in rocker stud that pulls out under a performance cam.
| The problem | Press-in studs are much weaker than screw-in and can pull out when running a performance camshaft. |
| What Butler does | A CNC program measures the exact stud location, mills the boss height where needed for use with or without guide plates on 389 and 421 heads, bores and thread mills the hole, and installs a helicoil insert that accepts a 7/16 screw-in stud. |
| Guide plates | On 1967 and later 14 degree heads you can use stock guide plates or CCA-4851-8. |
Cast iron work is quoted, not shelf-priced: the casting number, the condition and the compression target all move the job. Call with what you have, send the heads bare and disassembled if you can, and crate them — iron heads are heavy and they do get damaged in transit.
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.