Paul Knippen's Muscle Motors

08/13/2026

Pontiac Power Tip 010

You need to remove about five lbs. of material to port a Victor that will support more than 1000 HP naturally aspirated without welding.... Or about 100hp/lbs 😂

😎

08/08/2026

Poor man's SD-455, part 3.

The camshaft break-in process was successful. For this build, we utilized a 7041270 carburetor, which is the highest-flowing factory Quadrajet. Its enhanced airflow comes from a redesigned primary booster and the elimination of the booster ring. These carburetors lose a slight bit of throttle response at lower RPMs, this is typically mitigated in a well-built 455 engine, especially when paired with standard street tires. The increase in upper RPM power makes it a worthwhile trade. This engine produces sufficient vacuum to operate all components, contradicting the notion that tight lobe separation camshafts are unsuitable for street Pontiacs, as some "experts" claim. You can't hear it but the valve train operates with zero noise, it's as quiet as dad's brand new 428 HO Grand Prix he had back in the day.

Links to Part 2 and Part 1 are provided:

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19jWpm1A2V,

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17rtTJYuT8/

07/31/2026

Pontiac Power Tip #009

Great way to store your block, keep it easily moveable and convenient to keep oiled with your favorite rust preventative.

07/29/2026

Okay how's this for the cam idle description "deep tone, provocative idle, rattles windows and sets off car alarms"? 🤔

07/24/2026

Working on the 2027 PKMM catalog and we're adding a few more cams. I'm describing this cam as "serious idle, makes lopey/poppy noises" please let me know your thoughts

07/17/2026

Couple of Bad A*z Pontiacs in the staging lanes at Norwalk. Please feel free to post up any Norwalk pictures or stories you have to share so us folks that had to work can enjoy them.

07/12/2026

Poor man's SD-455 part 2

I covered the short block in a previous post. Now for the top end. I did a little bit of port work to the heads. Working the port at the gasket was the most time consuming part. I did minor smoothing of the runners, minimal work in the bowls and smoothed the short turn. My goal was to optimize the ports and seat. I wanted to increase the efficiency of the port and remove as little material as possible. I did a considerable amount of work on the valves and seats to improve flow but didn't recut the valve job.

Flow numbers

Intake

Lift Stock ported
100 70 80
200 139 148
300 197 200
400 227 236
500 241 252
550 246 257
600 250 262

Exhaust

Lift Stock ported
100 67 66
200 126 130
300 157 163
400 170 192
500 173 199
550 175 202
600 177 204

I put notes with each picture

07/04/2026

HAPPY 250th BIRTHDAY USA!!! I hope y'all celebrate and enjoy! USA! USA!! USA!!! 👊 💪 🤠 🇺🇸

06/29/2026

Poor man's SD455

I wanted to share a few details on a 455 we needed to build in short order. To keep the budget down we used a lot of good used parts that were on the shelf, along with several reliable OEM pieces. The goal was to get a good running, reliable engine that could be assembled quickly without any "Covid delays". (Yup, can't believe that's still an excuse).

There's a bit of information with each picture. I'll cover the short block now and the heads and valve train in another post later.

06/25/2026

This popped up as a recommended video ..... Good recommendation 😎

In Kevin's own words: My father became a single working parent of ...