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Head Bolt Kits
Pontiac V8 Head Bolt Kits
Read the Casting First — Head Bolt Kits for Pontiac V8s
Head bolt kits for a Pontiac V8 are chosen by cylinder head casting number and year, not by cubic inches. Bolt length, shoulder diameter and the center exhaust-side bolt all changed between the early 389-421 heads, the 1967-and-later D-port heads and the round port castings, and using the wrong kit either bottoms a bolt or leaves it short of thread.
Butler stocks ARP head bolt kits covering 1961-64 heads, 1965-66 389-421, the 1966 091-095 castings, 1967-79 D-port and RA II / RA IV / SD / HO round port, plus kits for Edelbrock and KRE aluminum heads and the step washers and step reamer that go with them.
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More About Head Bolt Kits
1. Factory Iron Heads by Year
Four different factory groups, four different kits. Get the casting number off the head before you order anything.
| 1961-1964 | ARP-190-3608 is the Pontiac head bolt kit for 1961-64 heads, with Super Duty heads excluded from that coverage. |
| 1965-66 389-421 D-port | ARP-190-3602 covers '65 and '66 389-421 D-port heads — but not the 1966 092 and 093 castings, which use a longer center bolt with a reduced shoulder. With the standard kit you would be reusing the stock head bolt in that center exhaust position. |
| 1966 091 through 095 heads | ARP-190-3602-66 is built specifically for the 1966 389-421 heads cast 091, 092, 093, 094 and 095, with the longer center bolt and reduced shoulder those heads need. |
| 1967-79 D-port | ARP-190-3607 is the D-port kit for 1967 and newer heads, which is what most 400 and 455 rebuilds land on. |
| Round port iron | ARP-190-3601 covers RA II, RA IV, Super Duty and HO round port heads and replaces the older ARP-190-3603 number. |
2. Edelbrock and KRE Aluminum Heads
Aftermarket aluminum castings do not use the factory bolt pattern kits, and Edelbrock's round port head split by build date.
| Edelbrock RPM round port made before 3-15-02 | ARP-190-3604 is the early-style kit. Check the date on the heads, not the date on the car. |
| Edelbrock RPM round port made after 3-15-02 and KRE D-port | ARP-190-3605. These are ARP High Performance series bolts rated at 170,000 psi, which ARP calls 15 percent stronger than Grade 8, with hardened parallel-ground washers. The reduced wrenching hex and wide-area flanged head let you re-torque the heads without pulling the valvetrain apart. |
| Edelbrock D-port / Performer heads | ARP-190-3609 is the head bolt kit for 400-455 engines wearing Edelbrock D-port Performer heads. Edelbrock's own EDL-85612 kit covers the same aluminum Performer D-port heads with cold-formed, heat-treated bolts, reduced-diameter bolt heads and hardened parallel-ground washers, rated at 170,000 psi. |
| Watch the crossover | several of the factory-pattern Pontiac bolt kits specifically will not work with Edelbrock heads. Do not assume a D-port kit is a D-port kit. |
3. Step Washers and the Reamer That Installs Them
Aluminum heads that have been torqued several times, with exhaust heat working on them, start to let the aluminum collapse down into the top of the bolt hole. Step washers fix that permanently.
| What they do | a chromoly step washer with a .500" I.D. presses permanently into the top of the bolt hole and spreads the load so the aluminum stops sinking. |
| How they are sold | B&B-30430-20 is a set of 20; the LPI step washers come as a single (LPI-U0001-1), a set of six (LPI-U0001-6) or a set of 20 (LPI-U0001-20) so you can do one repair or a full pair of heads. |
| Machining is required | the bolt hole has to be cut with a step reamer / spot face tool, which is not included with the washers. B&B-30470 reams the hole to diameter and depth and spot faces it in one pass. |
| Install sequence | with the step washers in, the studs go into the block at 30 ft-lbs. Re-torque the heads to 120 ft-lbs after the first heat cycle, then again after you have put miles or passes on the engine. Cometic MLS five-layer gaskets are the recommendation for boosted or high cylinder pressure combinations. |
4. Torque, Thread Prep and the Parts That Go With the Kit
A head bolt kit is only as good as the holes it threads into.
| Stock-style torque | Butler's Pontiac torque chart lists cylinder heads at 95 ft-lbs with engine oil on the threads. That figure is for factory-style hardware. |
| ARP hardware | if you are running ARP bolts, use ARP's specification and their lube, not the factory number. |
| Chase the threads | a thread chaser set cleans the block holes so the torque wrench is reading clamp load instead of dirt. Butler's six-piece set and ARP's five-piece set both live in the Kits, Sets & Misc Fasteners section. |
| Deck dowels | 5/16" x 5/8" block and head deck dowel pins are sold singly or as a set of four, with an extra-long 5/16" x 3/4" pin available for decks that need it. |
If the heads on the bench are not the heads the block came with — an early 389 pair on a later block, or aluminum heads on a factory short block — call the casting number in before you order. That one number settles which kit is right.
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.