Porting Pontiac Heads
xxGriffonxx
09-19-2009, 09:18 PM
hey purchasing a 400 from a 73 grand am, edelbrock performer intake, 750 holley carb, 110gph holley electric fuel pump, msd ignition, and 2 inch diameter 4 tube hookers. Not sure how great 4x heads are. Im thinking about going with a set of #16 heads. I want to port and polish my heads to flow as close to 300cfm like the E-Heads as i can.. How much would it cost to do this. would it be possible to get the 4x heads to flow close to this or should i spend the money and buy a set of 12, 13, 16, or 62's and port those?
MrPbody
09-21-2009, 09:03 AM
Grif,
There are no 2" Hookers for the "D-port" exhaust, which is what all the heads you've mentioned except the Edelbrock are. "Round port" heads are the '68 Ram Air II, '69 & '70 Ram AIr IV and 455 HO ('71and '72) and SD heads ('73 and '74).
The iron d-ports CAN be ported to 300 CFM, but it's VERY time consuming, which means expensive. We have customers racing in F.A.S.T. (Factory Appearance, Stock Tire). They MUST use the correct castings for the vehicle. Jay DeLaigle's '74 T/A 455 car makes 435 RWHP and 588 RWT with 4Xs and "log" exhaust manifolds.
Kauffman Racing Equipment (KRE) has a very nice aluminum d-port head that can easily out-perform the factory stuff. They cost about the same as the Edelbrock, once all is "said and done". Beware the dred "CNC is best" argument. It's not...(:-
If you already have the 2" Hookers, they're FOR "round port" heads, so the E-head might be an even better choice. LOTS of "room to grow", it can be capable of over 800 HP when properly ported.
Jim
There are no 2" Hookers for the "D-port" exhaust, which is what all the heads you've mentioned except the Edelbrock are. "Round port" heads are the '68 Ram Air II, '69 & '70 Ram AIr IV and 455 HO ('71and '72) and SD heads ('73 and '74).
The iron d-ports CAN be ported to 300 CFM, but it's VERY time consuming, which means expensive. We have customers racing in F.A.S.T. (Factory Appearance, Stock Tire). They MUST use the correct castings for the vehicle. Jay DeLaigle's '74 T/A 455 car makes 435 RWHP and 588 RWT with 4Xs and "log" exhaust manifolds.
Kauffman Racing Equipment (KRE) has a very nice aluminum d-port head that can easily out-perform the factory stuff. They cost about the same as the Edelbrock, once all is "said and done". Beware the dred "CNC is best" argument. It's not...(:-
If you already have the 2" Hookers, they're FOR "round port" heads, so the E-head might be an even better choice. LOTS of "room to grow", it can be capable of over 800 HP when properly ported.
Jim
Automotive Network, Inc., Copyright ©2025