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Pushrods
Pontiac V8 Pushrods
Measure First, Order Second — Pushrods for Pontiac V8s
Pushrods are the one valvetrain part that cannot be ordered off a spec sheet. The correct length depends on your lifter seat height, your head milling, your rocker ratio and your valve length, and on a Pontiac V8 the pushrod is also where oil flow to the top end gets controlled. The right rod makes the rocker sweep the valve tip properly; the wrong one wears guides and valve tips.
Butler splits pushrods four ways: stock replacement lengths for original rebuilds, non restricted chromoly rods, oil restricted rods for roller cam engines, and pushrod tools for measuring before you buy. Most custom rods are built by Smith Brothers.
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More About Pushrods
1. Stock Length or Custom Length
Pontiac used two main pushrod lengths, and knowing which family you are in is the first step.
| Stock replacement | the early 326, 389 and 421 engines use a shorter rod around 8.684" to 8.715", while 350, 400, 428 and 455 engines use roughly 9.130" to 9.150". Ram Air IV heads use an 11/32" rod about 9.200" long. |
| Custom length | once the engine has a different lifter, a milled head, a 1.65 rocker or a longer valve, no stock rod is correct. Smith Brothers builds to any length, and Butler stocks common lengths in .050" increments. |
| Butler's one-piece | the Butler 5/16" .116" wall one-piece chromoly rod is a Butler Performance exclusive and can be used in anything from a stock rebuild to an all-out race engine. |
2. Restricted or Not
Oil restriction is not a preference. It follows from the lifter you chose.
| Solid roller | all solid roller lifters require oil restrictors in the block or restricted pushrods. There is no third option. |
| Retro-fit hydraulic roller | Butler recommends a .020", .030" or .040" restricted pushrod depending on which lifter and travel you are running. The short travel Johnson lifter must have one. |
| Flat tappet | a stock or mild hydraulic flat tappet engine generally runs non restricted rods, since the factory oiling circuit was designed around them. Solid flat tappets are the exception and usually want restriction. |
3. Measure Before You Order
Every custom pushrod Butler sells is cut to a length you supply, so the measurement is on you.
| Use a checker | an adjustable pushrod length checker lays out the correct length during the build. Comp's 5/16" checkers cover the Pontiac range, and one full revolution equals .050". |
| Why it matters | correct length is what gives the desired results from the cam and ensures damage is not done to the rest of the valve train. A wrong length shows up as a wide sweep pattern on the valve tip and worn guides. |
| Guide plate compatibility | if the heads use guide plates, the rods have to be hardened for guide plate use. Note that the 7/16" dual taper rods cannot be used with guide plates at all. |
Pick the subcategory that matches your lifter and your oiling plan, and if you are between sizes send us the lifter part number and the head work and we will sort the length out with you.
Stock Replacement Pushrods Pushrods- Non Restricted Pushrods- Oil Restricted
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.