It's long been known that the key to making power is having a good cylinder head.
Although all of GM's divisions produced big-block-powered musclecars back in the day, most of which have gone on to become legendary, serious performance efforts have often been forced to rely on the best factory iron castings after grinding, cutting, welding, and otherwise manipulating them into submission.
The good news is that in the last few years, a crop of new cylinder heads and intake manifolds have been introduced through the aftermarket, and from a wide variety of sources. This hardware has made the 500 hp benchmark a whole lot easier to reach, while also opening the door to serious levels of power previously reserved for "mainstream" racers. We've complied some of the latest "B-O-P-C" cylinder head offerings along with suggestions for intake manifolds to complement them. Rats and Hemis beware.
Buick
TA Performance
For nearly two decades, TA Performance has been providing Buick enthusiasts with the hardware they seek in the never-ending quest for increased performance. TA goes beyond simple bolt-ons and offers its own aluminum intake manifolds and cylinder heads to turn up the wick for 400/430/455 engines. In fact, TA now offers six different head castings for the Buick V-8, starting with the Stage I Street Eliminator and continuing to Stage IV raised-port castings. Although the Stage I Street Eliminator appears to be an entry-level piece, it's capable of around 285 cfm on the intake side-good enough to easily support a 500 hp street/strip engine. Check TA's Web site for other versions. TA also offers its own intake manifolds, including the SP1 street/strip single-plane and the SPX race-type dual-plane. For mild street engines, TA points out that Edelbrock is about to re-release its B4B Buick dual-plane manifold as well.
Stage I Street
Eliminator
Application: '67-'76 Buick big-block V-8Casting material: 356-T6Combustion chamber volume: 64 cc Intake port volume: Not availableValve type: Stainless high-flow swirl polishValve sizes: 2.130/1.755-inch (Stage I spec)Valvespring diameter: 1.385-inch (1.500-inch available) Rocker mounting: Stock rocker shaft Valve guides: Manganese bronzeValve seats: Hardened steel
Other features/requirements: Accepts stock intake and exhaust and stock valvetrain plus all stock accessory brackets. Can be made to look nearly stock if desired.
Bulldog Performance
Although Bulldog is a relative new player in the aluminum performance engine component business, open since 2002, proprietor Dick Bradshaw has been a pattern-maker for many years, with extensive experience in the design of V-8 cylinder heads as well as intake manifolds. Assisting heavily with these efforts was Pro Stock head-porting guru Mike Duke of Mike Duke Racing. Bulldog's goal is to provide cylinder heads (and intake manifolds) that offer substantial gains in performance while remaining compatible with stock-type intake and exhaust hardware. Applications started with Cadillac V-8s and have rapidly broadened to include many other "orphan" engines.
Bulldog Buick
Application: '67-'76 Buick big-block V-8 (400, 430, 455)
Casting material: 356-T6
Combustion chamber volume: 66 cc
Intake port volume: 250 cc
Valve type: Stainless one-piece
Valve sizes: 2.19/1.81-inch
Valvespring diameter: 1.550-inch
Rocker mounting: Stock rocker shaft pedestals
Valve guides: Bronze
Valve seats: Powdered metal
Other features/requirements: Accepts stock intake, exhaust, and valvetrain, plus all stock accessory brackets. Requires longer pushrods due to longer valves