Custom-Ported Pontiac Cylinder Heads

At Nitemare Performance, we only build and modify pure Pontiacs with traditional Pontiac engines — the legendary 326-455 cubic inch V8s produced from 1964 through 1980. You will never see corporate (i.e., Chevy) or LS-series engines in our shop. We have a massive inventory of production Pontiac heads to suit all your restoration and drag racing needs. We also service and modify aluminum aftermarket heads, like Edelbrock heads, if you desire.

It's all in your heads

Cylinder heads are the most critical components of your engine, when it comes to how much power your engine can produce. The best cam, pistons, or intake are all at the mercy of your heads, in terms of how well they'll perform: poor-flowing heads will choke-off your engine, rendering other upgrades only marginally effective, at best. Good heads, on the other hand, will allow all your engine"s components to perform to the best of their abilities.

Dollar for dollar, cylinder heads are the best place to invest if your goal is to improve your engine's performance.

But you don"t have to spend big bucks to get good heads. A set of Nitemare Performance custom-ported Pontiac cylinder heads will get your more flow for less dough.

Every head gets off to a great start

No matter how mild or wild you want your heads, our blueprinting process starts the same for every head that we prepare:

• Boiled to get them factory-clean
• Liquid magnaflux tested to detect any cracks
• Sonical-tested during and after all porting procedures to determine sufficient thicknesses to minimize the risk of cracking
• Shot peened to remove imperfections and harden the surface
• Resurfaced on the deck to ensure flatness and achieve the desired compression ratio
• Resurface intake faces to ensure proper fit
• Resurface exhaust port faces to ensure flatness
• Bronze Wall Guide Liners installed "not full guides"
• Guides custom honed to fit the valve used
• Machined for PC seals
• Spring seats trued
• Street/Strip valve job on our state of the art Rottler seat and guide machine
• New Stainless 2.11" Intake and 1.77" Exhaust valves 5000 series. All valves are trued on our state of the art Rottler VR10 Valve grinding machine and feature our high-flow back cuts
• New Valve springs for your hydraulic flat tappet cam application
• New retainers
• New locks
• New 7/16" rocker studs
• New guide plates
• New valve seals
• Fully assembled with correct spring heights and spring pressure per application.

Note: Heads are priced per pair.

Click the following link to learn more about how we prep cylinder heads.

Blueprinted Stage 1 Ported Cast Iron Heads (225 cfm at 28")

Our Nitemare Stage 1 head treatment focuses on improving the intake ports and bowls, but keeps costs down by leaving the stock Pontiac exhaust ports as they came from the factory. The intake improvements makes our Stage 1 treatment a cost-effective but ideal performance upgrade for a street-driven Pontiac that sees the occasional run down the strip.

• The intake ports are ported per application (326, 350, 389 and 400 cubic inch engines)
• Exhaust port remain stock on Stage 1 heads
• Fully detailed flow sheets for one intake and one exhaust port are supplied from .100" to .600" lift from our state of the art Superflow SF-450 flow bench.

$2,000.00 outright (no core charge) for 6X heads

Stage 2 ported heads (428-455 cubic inch motors)

At 245 cfm (at 28"), our Stage 2 "D"-port heads' intakes flow comparably to factory Ram Air IV heads, while our exhaust ports are lightly cleaned-up. The modifications make Stage 2 heads a great choice for a serious street car or Pure Stock-type competition use.

$2,500 outright (no core charge) for 6X heads

Stage 3 ported heads (455+ cubic inch motors)

Stage 3 heads feature maximum-effort porting, while still maintaining a safe port. They are recommended for 455 ci and larger engines. Must call for desired casting number and pricing.

Cylinder Head Options:

Above pricing does not include shipping. All heads are shipped separately in two boxes and will be insured.