Edelbrock's new Victor-series...
Edelbrock's new Victor-series cylinder head for Pontiac V-8s is nearly ready for production. Available with valve angles of 12.6 or 11 degrees, the high-flow casting is presently offered in the company's Pro Port Raw line only, which is delivered semi-machined and requires professional port and chamber finishing. The appearance of this prototype closely resembles the production unit, which should be available by the time you read this.
Edelbrock developed its Performer RPM Pontiac cylinder head during the '90s as a high-flow replacement for the desirable round-port originals. With as-cast intake airflow peaking around 280 cfm, it quickly proved its ability for strong street performance. Professional porters increased airflow capacity by nearly 100 cfm with a wide-port design, making it an excellent option for racers as well. The Performer RPM is arguably the most popular aftermarket casting used for street and race applications today.
In last month's HPP, we brought you Edelbrock's latest entry to the Pontiac cylinder head market-the new Performer D-port. With an intake airflow capacity of 270 cfm out of the box, the aluminum casting features a modern combustion chamber and is intended to complement the Performer RPM. It's sure to be a popular performance option for hobbyists seeking to easily replace cast-iron D-port originals.
The new Performer D-port isn't the only excitement heralding from Edelbrock, however. While developing the Performer D-port for street-type applications, the company has developed a new high-flow Victor-series cylinder head for racers regularly competing on the dragstrip with Pontiac engines. HPP has the prototype Victor Pontiac cylinder head and will provide you a sneak peak as we share its developmental story, with comments from two key Edelbrock insiders and a Pontiac professional.
Raising and lengthening intake...
Raising and lengthening intake ports influences airflow, and the characteristic generally lends to the "high-port" nickname. Edelbrock raised and lengthened its Victor Pontiac's intake port to allow the use of a traditional intake manifold. The Pro Port Raw intake port is very small (right) and must be finished by a professional. Butler Performance used this particular prototype for port work development. Its wide-port effort (left) is presently capable of flowing more than 410 cfm.
"Our customers were competing very well with modified wide-port Performer RPM cylinder heads," says Ray Garcia, Edelbrock's technical sales representative and resident Pontiac guru. "As racers ran quicker and engines got larger, the modified Performer RPM just wasn't enough, however. We received requests for a 'high-port' Pontiac cylinder head, and once we started seeing competitors produce new castings and racers move up to theirs, we knew we needed to develop our own high-port for that market."
"The Performer RPM Pontiac cylinder head has always been a great seller for us, so we felt we could do well with a Victor-series Pontiac casting too," adds Rick Roberts, lead designer at Edelbrock. "We must give credit to our competitors though. They brought a few different high-flow castings to the hobby and proved that the market existed. While we received numerous requests from individual racers to produce our own, Butler Performance was a driving force."
Edelbrock set out to create a casting that would be a fairly significant upgrade from the Performer RPM, but not one that was completely over the top. "David Butler described what he thought the market needed," says Roberts. "He advised against deviating from the look of a true Pontiac, and for retaining the use of traditional intake manifolds, rocker arms or shafts, and exhaust headers. That would allow racers to upgrade from an existing Performer RPM at minimal cost."
The exhaust flange of the...
The exhaust flange of the Victor Pontiac casting is raised the same amount as the intake, and accepts a typical round-port header. The bolt holes contain Helicoil thread inserts for added strength. Butler Performance has modified the basic Pro-Port Raw exhaust port (right), which is presently capable of flowing as much as 280 cfm (left).
He continues, "I started planning and sketching Victor Pontiac designs in early 2007, and sent them to David Butler and our own Ray Garcia for comments and suggestions. We kept refining the design and it just kept getting better. The final plan debuted at the Performance Racing Industry (PRI) trade show in December 2009 and consumer response was incredible." Vic Edelbrock approved the Victor Pontiac project, and full-scale development began shortly thereafter.
Development
Roberts incorporated into the Pontiac casting many of the tricks he learned while developing Edelbrock's Victor castings for Chevy and Ford. "Valve location in relation to the cylinder wall and spark-plug positioning are all new to the Victor Pontiac casting," he adds. "We found that moving the intake valve close to the bore centerline to reduce shrouding significantly improves high-lift airflow, while allowing for the use of even larger-diameter intake valves."
Until '67, the valves within in a stock Pontiac cylinder head were at an angle of 20 degrees from the piston centerline, and it was revised to 14 degrees after that. "Rolling the valve angle toward the piston centerline influences airflow," says Roberts. "We created two distinct Victor Pontiac castings for customers. One has a valve angle of 12.6 degrees, which is intended for those racers competing in classes where valve angle cannot deviate more than 2 degrees from stock. The other contains a valve angle of 11 degrees to promote maximum airflow for racers under no limits."