Among the Pontiac faithful, the Ram Air V is legendary. The brainchild of John DeLorean, the package was developed quickly during the late ‘60s as a bullet proof performance engine aimed at delivering reliable on-track dominance.
Pontiac planned to introduce its Ram Air V in March of 1969 as a high horsepower option for Firebird and GTO models. Its released was delayed and the engine was ultimately cancelled during the summer of 1969.
Pontiac came ever-so-close to releasing the 400-inch Ram Air V for its new-for-1969 Firebird Trans Am and GTO Judge on the drag strip, and a 303-inch variant for the Firebird Trans Am for SCCA’s Trans-Am series racing. While tunnel-port 303 production was mostly limited to developmental prototypes with hopes of homologating the small-cube mill for SCCA competition, engineers forged onward with plans to make the large-cube Ram Air V as an extra-cost option mid-model year.
In anticipation of the Ram Air V’s release, production components were cast and/or sourced, complete engines were assembled, and A- and F-car engine applications were assigned. Development even toyed with it expanding into the 428-ci platform. Then, not long after DeLorean departed Pontiac in February 1969 to head Chevrolet, the plug was pulled on the entire Ram Air V program.
To make the new-for-1969 Firebird Trans Am compliant with SCCA’s maximum displacement limit of 5-liter for Trans-Am series racing, Pontiac developed a short deck 303, which it originally fitted with tunnel-port cylinder heads.
The on-hand inventory of Ram Air V engines and individual components were sold through Pontiac’s parts departments and racers and savvy enthusiasts snatched them up. Today Ram Air V pieces are highly coveted by a small-but-dedicated crowd of hobbyists, and they command a premium.
Most Pontiac enthusiasts are familiar with the Ram Air V’s most distinctive feature—its tunnel-port cylinder head, which features cavernous intake ports bisected by a pushrod, and separated exhaust ports. Virtually every component that comprised the Ram Air V was different than its standard production counterparts, however. And that includes its mechanical (or solid lifter) camshaft that was stamped with a “V” as its identifier.
The Ram Air V’s most unique component it its tunnel-port cylinder heads.
Despite sharing 308/320 degrees of advertised duration and intake and exhaust valve opening and closing points with the venerable 041 hydraulic, the “V” camshaft featured unique lobe placement to accommodate the tunnel-port cylinder head’s distinctive intake and exhaust port layout. It was also the first Pontiac camshaft equipped with the small distributor drive gear. But nowhere in any Pontiac-printed source have I located any mention of valve lift in any form.
I, like many, generally assumed that because of its similarity to the 041, the “V” cam’s gross valve lift would follow suit and also peak around 0.520-inch. While writing my Firebird books, I wanted the Ram Air V sections to include the most accurate information possible, so I reached out to several respected Ram Air V hobbyists and asked for their insight. Unfortunately, none had ever degreed the “V” camshaft nor measured its gross valve lift. I proceeded with the 0.520-inch value in my book, but was bothered by the uncertainty. That’s when I thought to turn to Lance Kramer.
The Ram Air V was equipped with a mechanical camshaft that was identified by a “V” stamped into its snout.
Lance is a hardcore tunnel-port Pontiac collector. He’s owns or has owned countless Ram Air V pieces and I knew that he had an NOS example of the “V” camshaft. In fact, I photographed it for my book. I asked Lance if he’d allow me to carefully measure its lobes with a caliper and he happily agreed. We’d made arrangements to meet and I was excited at the opportunity to solve a mystery, if even only to quell my own curiosity.
While its widely accepted that the Ram Air V camshaft provided 308/320 degrees of advertised duration, never once have I found any Pontiac-printed document that notes its valve lift.
When that day came, Lance went above and beyond and brought not one, not two, but three Ram Air V camshafts! Two were in NOS condition and the third was lightly used. Two were production units while the third was a developmental piece stamped with the “D” series number. I couldn’t believe what I had in my hands!
I quickly went to work methodically measuring a lobe at peak lift and the width of the base area. By subtracting the peak value from the base value, I could then determine actual lobe lift with a reasonable degree of accuracy. And then by multiplying lobe lift by the Ram Air V’s 1.65:1 rocker arm ratio, I could calculate gross valve lift. For accuracy, I took a sampling of various intake and exhaust lobes on all of three of Lance’s Ram Air V cams. The results among all three were eerily similar.
Lance Kramer allowed me to use his Ram Air V camshafts to measure lobe lift. In his collection are NOS “V” camshafts as well as this developmental grind that Eonic supplied Pontiac. The “DS-1068” stamped into it was Pontiac’s internal D-series number for the Ram Air V camshaft before it was released for production and assigned part number 545713.
So how did it shake out? I was expecting to find lobe lift measuring around 0.313-inch like the 041, but the Ram Air V camshaft actually came in noticeably less. Gross lobe lift on the intake side measured 0.297-inch while exhaust lobe lift measured 0.302-inch. When multiplied by a rocker arm ratio of 1.65:1, it put gross valve lift at 0.490-inch on the intake and 0.498-inch on the exhaust. It doesn’t end there, however.
Since a mechanical (or solid lifter) camshaft requires some lash for operational clearance, the lash amount must be subtracted from the gross value to determine net valve lift. When factoring what Pontiac seemingly recommended for a cold lash setting for its Ram Air V—0.012 to 0.018-inch—net valve lift of the “V” camshaft will likely average slightly less at normal operating temp.
Why did Pontiac limit the Ram Air V camshaft to less than .500-inch lift when its cylinder head could sustain more? Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to arrive at a conclusion. Could it have been related to valvetrain stability at high RPM? Or was it that Pontiac achieved its target output level and didn’t see a need to lift the valve any higher so as to maximize longevity and/or reduce warranty claims? We may never know.
I carefully used a caliper to measure the lobe at peak lift and on the base area. I was then able to calculate lobe lift and gross valve lift with reasonable accuracy.
Although I was expecting more valve lift than the result I’d found, and I was disappointed that my book contains an inaccuracy, I am elated in the fact that the hobby now has a hard number, and best of all, the sampling came from more than one V camshaft, which adds validity!
Do you have any experience with the V camshaft? I’d be interested in hearing about it!