PRI 2025: Blackbird Performance Cuts Gen III Valvetrain Costs

Blackbird Performance made a massive splash at the 2025 PRI Show with an announcement that targets the single biggest pain point for the Gen-III HEMI platform: the cost of the valvetrain. The company introduced a new direct-fit system specifically designed to solve the lack of aftermarket support while drastically lowering the financial barrier for converting these engines from hydraulic to solid-roller camshafts.

Until now, making the jump to a solid roller setup has been a prohibitively expensive exercise, often requiring exotic lifters and complex adjustable rocker arms. The current price of entry for a proper conversion hovers around $8,500 — a number that stops many builds in their tracks. Blackbird Performance set out to slash that cost nearly in half, making high-RPM reliability accessible to the average racer.

Geoff Turk of Blackbird Performance walked us through the engineering behind the new rocker arm system. “Our first step toward that goal is our adjustable rocker arm system. These are steel rocker arms that we designed and manufactured to be both lightweight and strong. You can always make a rocker arm stronger by making it bigger, thicker, and using more material, but heavier is the enemy of valvetrains. These are drop-in, bolt-in pieces with little to no grinding required,” Turk explained.

The system is scheduled to hit the market in the first quarter with a price tag of just $2,499. That includes the rocker arms, shafts, and necessary hardware — a game-changing value for adjustable components on the Gen-III HEMI. These rockers are also engineered to pair perfectly with Blackbird’s upcoming cylinder heads, the brand’s second major release slated for Q1.

“We’ve been very busy this year and have gone through several iterations,” Turk noted regarding the cylinder head development. “The port development is complete, and it’s working so well that it’s honestly a little scary. This will be one of the best cast cylinder heads available for the Gen-III HEMI. We’ve dramatically improved the rocker stand supports, which, combined with the adjustable rocker arms, create a very high-end rocker system in a true bolt-in package.”

Performance-wise, Turk claims these ports flow as well as, or better than, almost anything currently on the shelf. In a 2.08-inch valve application for a 5.7-liter engine, the heads are outflowing CNC-ported Apache heads and rivaling drag-specific packages that require relocated pushrods. It is a massive step forward for the platform.