How hard is head porting?
02-22-2009, 07:52 PM
#6
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to gasket match use the gaskets your gonna use. put blue dykem on the heads tape the gaskets in place, scribe the ports around the gaskets remove gaskets and take a die grinder to them. have a shop vac laying next to the port running and wear a filter mask. grinf the metal down to the scrribe marks and blend back into the ports. ,there is alot more than that to it. and thats not gonna give you any noticeable gains, you prolly actually just mess them up, no offense. i would recomend if your wantin to try this to do it on a set off damged heads that are gonna be tossed
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02-22-2009, 07:59 PM
#8
http://www.sa-motorsports.com/diyport.aspx
There ya go
I wouldn't recommend doing anything else other than cleaning up the bowls/ports and gasket matching just because you start to effect the flow characteristics too much.
Btw, go to the junkyard and grab a set of heads to practice before working on your own.
There ya go
I wouldn't recommend doing anything else other than cleaning up the bowls/ports and gasket matching just because you start to effect the flow characteristics too much. Btw, go to the junkyard and grab a set of heads to practice before working on your own.
Last edited by TasTe_GOOD; 02-22-2009 at 08:00 PM. Reason: btw
02-22-2009, 08:18 PM
#11
gasket matching is not hard to do since the average depth is 1.5 - 2" in. with that said why limit yourself to just a port match and this is where an experienced hand comes into play. you have to know where to touch up,where to leave alone you raise the roof and leave the floor alone. i would advise you to send them out to the previously mentioned machinists to get them done nicely for a nice price.
02-22-2009, 08:53 PM
#12
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do yourself a favor and listen to all the previous, dont do it yourself and these friends you are taking them to to get them ported i hope they do this on a regular basis it really isn a shadetree mechanics forte here your gonna want experienced hands doing this kind of work
02-23-2009, 03:22 AM
#14
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There is very little to be gain in gasket matching, the power is in the bowl area, short turn & roof.
Before i would let my friends start whittling away at my heads, they BEST know what they are doing, there is nothing wrong with learning how to port heads, you just need to get a spare set & practice 1st., do LOTS of reading, & practice, a flow bench comes in VERY handy also, so if your very handy/steady with your hands, i say give it a try, it'll be messy, get some good cutting bits & sandpaper rolls, take your time, you'll know in the 1st. hour or 2 if this is for you, i did a set of BB Mopar iron heads, had a good 25+ hrs. in them, I'll never do that again
, what a bitch, but i will tackle aluminums, my work paid off, i gained 44 CFM on the int., & 49 CFM on the exh. The mid-level lift. #s were strong, but they fell off at around .550 lift. sharply, this is to be exspected on these heads, only gained very little from .550 too .600 lift., get you some "how to" porting books on the LT1 head, start reading before you start grinding.
Before i would let my friends start whittling away at my heads, they BEST know what they are doing, there is nothing wrong with learning how to port heads, you just need to get a spare set & practice 1st., do LOTS of reading, & practice, a flow bench comes in VERY handy also, so if your very handy/steady with your hands, i say give it a try, it'll be messy, get some good cutting bits & sandpaper rolls, take your time, you'll know in the 1st. hour or 2 if this is for you, i did a set of BB Mopar iron heads, had a good 25+ hrs. in them, I'll never do that again
, what a bitch, but i will tackle aluminums, my work paid off, i gained 44 CFM on the int., & 49 CFM on the exh. The mid-level lift. #s were strong, but they fell off at around .550 lift. sharply, this is to be exspected on these heads, only gained very little from .550 too .600 lift., get you some "how to" porting books on the LT1 head, start reading before you start grinding.
02-23-2009, 10:19 AM
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Also remember, all that port work WILL NOT pay off without a top notch valve job, a good "back-cut" on the valves is also very benificial, so get that done as well.
Last edited by LM97Z; 02-23-2009 at 10:27 AM.
02-23-2009, 10:34 AM
#17
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If you want to try your hand at porting, I suggest finding some junk heads (cracked or overly warped) and practice on them. Make sure they're aluminum though as porting cast iron will be fairly different due to the harder metal, like crushing an aluminum can with your hands, such as beer, vs a "tin" can (actually not tin anymore heh).
It's actually pretty fun if you have the patience, but you can easily screw something up if you're not careful! Make a wall too thin or take too much off in a certain area that could make the air flow worse by creating a low/high pressure pocket (total educated guess, but I think theoretically it's possible). The most head work I've done was just mostly cleaning up casting imperfections and kind of doing a polish job. I mean I didn't use any polishing bits, all I was doing was smoothing the walls of the intake and exhaust since they were kind of bumpy (cast iron heads). Then on my TPI motor I did some upper plenum work for the 58mm and also since I had plans to run the SLP runners, but never got around to getting them.
It's actually pretty fun if you have the patience, but you can easily screw something up if you're not careful! Make a wall too thin or take too much off in a certain area that could make the air flow worse by creating a low/high pressure pocket (total educated guess, but I think theoretically it's possible). The most head work I've done was just mostly cleaning up casting imperfections and kind of doing a polish job. I mean I didn't use any polishing bits, all I was doing was smoothing the walls of the intake and exhaust since they were kind of bumpy (cast iron heads). Then on my TPI motor I did some upper plenum work for the 58mm and also since I had plans to run the SLP runners, but never got around to getting them.
02-23-2009, 10:45 AM
#18
get an extra set of heads (like everyone else said)
get the proper cutting tools (cutting bits, sandpaper rolls, etc etc etc etc)
set alot of time out to do the porting part
just try to gasket match and make things as even as possible, any inconsistencies here is a huge problem. keeping the port shape the same but just expanding it slightly is the overall goal.
and again, schedule alot of time for this.
get the proper cutting tools (cutting bits, sandpaper rolls, etc etc etc etc)
set alot of time out to do the porting part
just try to gasket match and make things as even as possible, any inconsistencies here is a huge problem. keeping the port shape the same but just expanding it slightly is the overall goal.
and again, schedule alot of time for this.
02-23-2009, 10:47 AM
#19
I know a few people who paid cylinder head shops to gasket match their heads and they barely made more power than with stockers but were out some money for the work.
like stated above, porting can take a while. I know people who spent weeks working on a pair
like stated above, porting can take a while. I know people who spent weeks working on a pair