[72 blackbird]

Hi Larry,
Welcome to FBN- you'll find this forum to be filled plenty of knowledgeable people, not just in 1st and 2nd degree Firebirds but 3rd and 4th gen Birds as well.

I've been building classic Pontiac V-8's for over 20 years, so I'd be happy to offer a few pointers on building a Pontiac V-8 to run on today's gas. It can be done using the stock no.12 or 13 heads, but clearly you will have detonation problems running 91 octane on 10:1 SCR (static compression ratio).The most straightforward solution is to run 14cc dished pistons, which will lower your SCR to around 9.5:1, the limit for 91 octane. Not all forged pistons are created equal as well- the Sealed Power/TRW units are heaviest but the cheapest, the KB/ Icons are lighter and more costly, and the lighter Probe SRS, JE SRE, Ross lightweight race style pistons even more costly. I find the forged Icons or Probes to be the vest values overall in price, weight, and quality.

Stainless valves in a head rebuild are definitely a good ideal, since they're stronger and far less prone to failure than 40- year old spin welded OEM valves. New valve keepers and locks will have to be used to match the stiffer valve springs required for a roller cam. The typical small chamber 72-75cc D-port, like the no. 12, 13. 16, 48,or 62 can be ported to flow in the 240-250 cfm range- I've done a few sets and have had great results in performance, even with hydraulic flat tappet cams (.5-.6 sec decrease in ET). The Jim Hand book outlines how it should be done- the pictures alone make the book a must have for any Pontiac builder.

Running stock cast rods is something that should never be done on any Pontiac performance build- these 40-year old rods are at the end of their life cycle and can fail when they reach their elastic limit, shattering like glass. The current available forged rods for Pontiac V-8s are so inexpensive now that omitting them in your build is a false economy- even the least expensive RTR 5140 steel rods cost $240/set, have ARP bolts, and are good to 500 hp. The stronger 4340 H and I-beam rods sell for around $400 and are good to over 750 hp- plenty for any 400, 428, 455, or 400 stroker build. My favorite poncho rods are the PPR 4340 A-beam rods ($406/set), which are the lightest 6.625 rods currently made- most builders like the 4340 eagle H-beams, but they are substantially heavier.

Cam choices are numerous,even with roller cams- some builders prefer using hydraulic roller lifters over solid roller lifters, 108 vs. 110 vs. 112 LSA's, etc. Go with your builder's recommendation as he will build the engine and knows what cam will meet your needs. I recommend a roller cam over a hydraulic flat tappet cam, as engine oil manufacturers are now removing the zddp addivite necessary to prevent metal wear in the older cams (EPA deems the zddp too toxic for the environment). Many builders still use HFT's, but once zppd is totally banned by the feds all of us will have to run roller cams.

Geno