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So im self porting my ls1 heads at home and I think I may have just destroyed them.
I was porting them and accidentally put a deep gouge in the face of the intake side of the cylinder head. My fingernail definitely hits it. Is there anything I can do to fill in the hole? Or should the gasket be enough?
Epoxy should be ok to fill that in; Zspar or Splashzone brand. Fill it in then scrap off the excess wth a razor. Be sure to clean it out really well with acetone or paint thinner first.
A very good reason head porting is best left to professionals with CNC equipment.
No just a lesson learned. Hot rodding was built on people doing it themselves and learning. So as said little epoxy and brands stated and let her rip and the experience he'll remember forever.
Honestly even standard jb weld would fix the gouge.
I agree that true hot rodding is about doing stuff yourself, and mistakes are part of that, so I'll try to be encouraging first. I first ported 2 cylinder bike heads in the 80's with just a little knowledge from articles written by Brian Hines from Vance & Hines, which was dominating their drag racing classes at the time to the point of having to add weights to allow others to compete. Of course he didn't share all his secrets, but at a time when others were polishing the intake side, he'd leave them slightly rough for better atomization & not having fuel droplets build up. Exhaust side was polished. Getting gains from just hogging the whole thing out are MUCH more difficult for anyone without a flow bench for testing to do more good than harm. Much of the gains are in the immediate bowl area under the valves & around the valve guide stem. Pretty much leave the rounded floor area rounded, don't flatten it to enlarge it or you will loose flow.
Spoke with Tony Mamo in pm's before about an intake project I started on. It's pretty cool that he started out by himself at home in his garage. He's not too bad at what he does, right??
Point to the original poster is you may want to do a little more how to port research before you continue & ls port specific. That little gouge is the least of your problems from what the picture shows, I know you weren't finished yet, but still. Try to be even with each cylinder in what you do & do a little more moving around with the cutter rather than trying to dig in as much in in spots & then having to try & even it out. CNC machines can cut out large amounts at a time & stop where needed, your hands can do that kind of control. The surface you're trying to cut on will challenge your hand control.
I'm super out of practice on porting & considering doing my own ls heads, will not do so without a better die grinder, a few more aluminum specific cutters & some updated knowledge.
Honestly even standard jb weld would fix the gouge.
I agree that true hot rodding is about doing stuff yourself, and mistakes are part of that, so I'll try to be encouraging first. I first ported 2 cylinder bike heads in the 80's with just a little knowledge from articles written by Brian Hines from Vance & Hines, which was dominating their drag racing classes at the time to the point of having to add weights to allow others to compete. Of course he didn't share all his secrets, but at a time when others were polishing the intake side, he'd leave them slightly rough for better atomization & not having fuel droplets build up. Exhaust side was polished. Getting gains from just hogging the whole thing out are MUCH more difficult for anyone without a flow bench for testing to do more good than harm. Much of the gains are in the immediate bowl area under the valves & around the valve guide stem. Pretty much leave the rounded floor area rounded, don't flatten it to enlarge it or you will loose flow.
Spoke with Tony Mamo in pm's before about an intake project I started on. It's pretty cool that he started out by himself at home in his garage. He's not too bad at what he does, right??
Point to the original poster is you may want to do a little more how to port research before you continue & ls port specific. That little gouge is the least of your problems from what the picture shows, I know you weren't finished yet, but still. Try to be even with each cylinder in what you do & do a little more moving around with the cutter rather than trying to dig in as much in in spots & then having to try & even it out. CNC machines can cut out large amounts at a time & stop where needed, your hands can do that kind of control. The surface you're trying to cut on will challenge your hand control.
I'm super out of practice on porting & considering doing my own ls heads, will not do so without a better die grinder, a few more aluminum specific cutters & some updated knowledge.
There isn't a pro in this world that was a pro their first attempt. Keep going man. But might I suggest you practice on some crap heads first. Maybe stop where you are and find a scrap head and work out the bugs with your tools, your approach, etc first. Then go back at it.
Your head will be fine. I'd clean it with brake cleaner or alcohol, brake cleaner is good it's meant to remove any and all oils. I would take the advice KCS gave for filling the hole. He's in the business of fixing things like your issue.
LOL, bought my car like 8 years ago and they came with the car. My car is a late 2000 and had 241. But previous owner started porting on the 853 and quit.
12-27-2017, 05:51 PM
Deep scratch in face of intake port side head 
