Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee
I do not believe I have ever seen a 600hp Pontiac street engine that did not have headers.
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I will give you that, sure. Can't point to a particular one either. But it can be done with moderate effort if one wish's to. It would consist of your basic 462 CU in carefully blueprinted engine with aluminum heads, making 650 HP on the dyno. There are hundreds of those builds here on PY. Take headers off, put long branch manifolds on, lose 35 HP or so. You now have a street engine for cruises and power tour type duty making 600-615 HP that would be quiet, easy to drive over a speed bump and very streetable. Drop the HP number to 550 HP and you have a very docile street engine with exhaust manifolds and a 1000 RPM idle. Point was exhaust manifolds and the inability to get them is a driver in the aftermarket head world for Pontiac. If your married to D ports, your choices are very limited. So prices are high. Iron replacements would be a game changer and alter the market. They would steal 25-35% of the aluminum market IMO, and force the prices of aluminum heads down to where they belong. Competition and choice a
ALWAYS levels the playing field.