8. Cylinder-head airflow is a critical element when building a high-winding, high-horsepower mill. Lee selected a pair of rare No. 44 Ram Air V cylinder heads for his engine. These castings were previously milled and have a combustion chamber volume of 65 cc. The original exhaust port runners had already been removed back in the day by C.J. Batten of Detroit, Michigan, to raise the runners and increase velocity. Marty Warden of Indian Trail, North Carolina, performed the port work to the R/A-V heads and installed new 2.25-inch intake and 1.75-inch exhaust valves. Average airflow of the eight intake and exhaust ports at 28 inches of water pressure is shown below.
| Flow Numbers |
| Lift | Int | Exh |
| 0.100 | 87 | 71 |
| 0.200 | 154 | 118 |
| 0.300 | 223 | 155 |
| 0.400 | 283 | 187 |
| 0.500 | 330 | 220 |
| 0.600 | 366 | 245 |
| 0.700 | 371 | 257 |
| 0.750 | 371 | 265 |
9. Camshaft selection is another key element to the success of a forced-induction engine. Duration must be long enough to allow the engine to ingest the volume of air the power-adder displaces; the amount of valve overlap must be limited so that the intake valve opens later in the cycle, allowing cylinder pressure to exert as much force on the piston face as possible to increase torque production. Lee's camshaft is a custom-designed solid-roller from Comp Cams. And though he wouldn't disclose the exact specifications, we were told that 0.050-inch duration is in the 280/290-degree range. And the Intake Centerline is advanced 4 degrees from the LSA to improve low-end power. To utilize all available airflow, lobe lift is a lofty 0.460/0.440 inches, which equates to a gross valve lift of 0.759/0.726 inches when combined with 1.65:1-ratio roller rocker arms.
10. The foundation for this blown Pontiac engine is a cast-iron IA II block from AllPontiac.com. Its thick cylinder walls, reinforced lifter galley, and splayed four-bolt steel main caps make it ideal for withstanding the stresses of a super-high-horsepower mill. Lee's block was bored to 4.250 inches, which improves cylinder breathing by unshrouding the oversized valves. The resulting total engine displacement is 397 ci.
11. The added combustion pressure from forced induction exerts a significant amount of torsional stress onto the crankshaft. Without any mass-produced Pontiac forgings on the market, Lee purchased an original forged-steel Pontiac crank from Tom Vaught. It began life as a raw 366ci NASCAR forging and was machined by Moldex Crankshaft of Dearborn Heights, Michigan. It contains a 3.50-inch stroke, 3.0-inch main-journal diameter, and 2.20-inch rod journals. The counterweights were also modified to reduce internal windage.
12. Butler Performance of Leoma, Tennessee, assembled Lee's short-block. The pistons are Ross No. 70229 forged-aluminum units, which are specific to blown or NOS-injected applications. To control heat, the top ring of these units is located 0.350 inches away from the crown. And the piston faces contains a custom 33.5cc dish to accommodate a target compression ratio of 8.5:1.
13. Tapered-wall big-block Chevy wrist pins secure the Ross pistons to set of 6.800-inch-length Eagle forged-steel connecting rods. The entire reciprocating mass should be safe to roughly 9,500 rpm, according to Tom, though it is regularly shifted at 7,000.
14. Teddy Houser Race Cars fabricated a pair of R/A-V headers that contain 2-inch-diameter primary tubing and an equal overall length of 34 inches. The company also fabricated the supercharger and crank-trigger mounting brackets, and engine-block plate. Tom Vaught modified a BDS crankshaft pulley. Ken Simpson took care of final assembly of the engine, plumbing, and wiring and thrashed to have it done for VMP.