243 heads Cnc porting or not?
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: May 2011
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I scored a nice set of 243 heads with new springs and seals for $500. Cam selection is down to two. I was looking for some discussion as I am hearing from some good sources that porting the 243 is a waste of $$$ and I'm going to lose low end TQ.
Staging Lane
Joined: Jun 2012
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Is this a trick question?... You will see + gains from working them over.. what kind and how much depends on who does the porting..
Cam selection should be based on the heads your going to run as well so decide on the heads first and then the cam and you wont lose bottom end if speced properly.. I'm a fan of custom cams not on the shelf cams
Cam selection should be based on the heads your going to run as well so decide on the heads first and then the cam and you wont lose bottom end if speced properly.. I'm a fan of custom cams not on the shelf cams
What the gains are and any potential lowend loss with be decided much more by WHO you trust to CNC port your heads not if you have them CNC ported. The cam plays in as well but that is not the topic.
If you look around some specific CNC'd 243s outperform highend CNC'd aftermarket castings so I suggest you stop listening to whomever is telling you porting 243s is a bad idea.
If you look around some specific CNC'd 243s outperform highend CNC'd aftermarket castings so I suggest you stop listening to whomever is telling you porting 243s is a bad idea.
Since you already have the heads why not?
Total Engine Airflow and Advanced Induction have good CNC programs for this. I also think Texas Speed will work them over for you too (not sure).
Since you don't have a location posted I can't say but I would use someone as local as possible.
Do a search there are plenty of people knocking on the door of what people are making with Aftermarket castings using 243's.
Wait until you decide to port your heads then pick a cam.
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Verdad Gallardo Read one of the billion threads in this forum...People are getting 420+ RWHP with ported 243 castings
Staging Lane
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 92
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What the gains are and any potential lowend loss with be decided much more by WHO you trust to CNC port your heads not if you have them CNC ported. The cam plays in as well but that is not the topic.
If you look around some specific CNC'd 243s outperform highend CNC'd aftermarket castings so I suggest you stop listening to whomever is telling you porting 243s is a bad idea.
If you look around some specific CNC'd 243s outperform highend CNC'd aftermarket castings so I suggest you stop listening to whomever is telling you porting 243s is a bad idea.
You need to think of the cam and heads together when porting OEM stuff.. if you dont you could have a dog off the line and not be happy one single bit
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: May 2011
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I have done lots of homework, and was looking for some additional input. In all honesty dyno numbers mean absolutely nothing to me. Car is a 99 vette with full bolt ons and a 4.10 gear. I've been 12.2-12.3 @ 114. Motor is bone stock down to the thermostat.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: May 2011
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Well if you were starting from scratch I would say just buy aftermarket but since you already have them just have those ported.
There have been great results on here from ported 243's
There have been great results on here from ported 243's
Actually the cam is the topic as well as the heads as it all goes together considering the concern about loss of low end tq.. deciding on the cam first is putting the cart before the horse and is a major concern if your worried about the chararcteristics your going to have when driving the car.. simple as that.. TEA or AI or HKE would be good choices for head porting they are some of the better ones out there but would cost more money than say Patriot or TSP...
You need to think of the cam and heads together when porting OEM stuff.. if you dont you could have a dog off the line and not be happy one single bit
You need to think of the cam and heads together when porting OEM stuff.. if you dont you could have a dog off the line and not be happy one single bit
The "vast importance" of matching heads and cam is grossly overstated. The cam need be matched to the characteristics you want. You pick a reasonable head that goes with the characteristics you want and it will work.
Now if he were talking about looking at the largest aftermarket heads he could find then yeah there could be a mismatch.
I wasn't told it was a bad idea, in that it's not worth the $$$.
Maybe to that source of yours, spending $1000 on 30-40rwtq under the curve is not "worth" it.
It's really up to you to decide if it's worth if, as it is your money. You have the facts (how much you gain, how much it costs), so you decide if that much money is worth that much gain in power.
Another example, my gf doesn't think it's worth it to drop $800 on a torque converter for my car...I think it's very much worth it.
Also, I don't think it's worth it to drop $300 on a pair of shoes...she however thinks it's very much worth it.
See how two different opinions can differ so much. You don't have to listen to that one source and make your decision based on his/her opinion alone.
We have been porting on 243 heads for quite some time and it has showed to pick up power. Obviously if you are willing to spend more money for an aftermarket casting you can see a better power curve, but whether its worth it or not is up to you. Typically with our stg 1.0 port on a 243 head we are looking to pick up anywhere between 15-25 rwhp on average over a stock head.
I would hope so. I'm over that on the stock head and cam in my ls6. once I get tuned with my current changes I'm hoping to get close to 440rwhp.
I would hope so. I'm over that on the stock head and cam in my ls6. once I get tuned with my current changes I'm hoping to get close to 440rwhp.
Listen to this guy right here. Ed Curtis is a master at optimizing setups. Over on LS1GTO, as guy with an 04 GTO (LS1) made over 450 rwhp and over 410 rwtq with Ed's ported 243's (stock valves) and a custom cam that was in the high 220's intake and low 230's exhaust. Let Ed port your heads, setup the valvetrain and custom spec you a cam. You won't be dissapointed. 