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There is a guy near me who ports LS heads for what seems like a reasonable price. He typically sells 799 and 243s for around $750 ready to go. Trouble is I'm not exactly sure what a quality porting job looks like and if they'd be worth it. Any input would be appreciated. Here are some pics of his work.
The pics show a nice port job! But every port will have minute differences that is unavoidable with hand porting. CNC porting is identical port to port. That's what you want.
Texas Speed will take your 243/799 heads disassemble and clean them, then do a CNC valve job, CNC porting, reassemble and pressure check, for $750. Every port will be identical.
Does $750 include selling you the heads? Or is it $750 just for the port work?
It looks like really good work. As stated above it's preferred to have them CNC ported for consistency, but a good hand port job is still a good port job that will make power. And hell we went for over 50 years with hand port jobs and motors survived.. most of them anyway lol.
Put it this way, if I paid $750 for port work and the heads showed up looking like that I'd be real happy. Looks like the bowls were done too. Make sure and get a valve job done too, not just sealed but like a 5 angle or whatever he offers. If he doesn't offer it get it done at a machine shop, it does make a difference.
Does $750 include selling you the heads? Or is it $750 just for the port work?
It looks like really good work. As stated above it's preferred to have them CNC ported for consistency, but a good hand port job is still a good port job that will make power. And hell we went for over 50 years with hand port jobs and motors survived.. most of them anyway lol.
Have to agree with you here for sure and will add, Just because something is CNC machined doesn't automatically make it superior to something done by hand. The fact that a CNC port is an identical copy of something that was first done by hand means that the CNC port is only as good as the original. Granted many of the CNC programs being used were tested extensively and are huge improvements over stock that still doesn't mean a hand ported set of heads aren't capable of producing equal or even greater power in the end.
The main reason CNC ports are all the rage is because it brought the price down to where just about anyone can afford great heads that used to out of the reach of most people cost wise. Hand porting is very time consuming and in the old days someone might have spent days if not weeks on one set of heads, Now they can be done in hours and produce identical results.
If you're getting finished complete heads for that price, I'd seriously consider them. One thing I always try to find out is if the person doing the work has a good reputation in the field that he is in. I know a few local performance engine building shops in my area and two of them are small shops that don't advertise and don't have a store front. One is a one man operation and the other has help but does all the machine and assembly work himself. They have a reputation for making serious power and I don't hesitate to take my stuff there even if it means waiting in line to get the work done right the first time.
These are the guys that are so good at what they do that other shops send them stuff to be worked over because they are capable of doing it themselves.
Have to agree with you here for sure and will add, Just because something is CNC machined doesn't automatically make it superior to something done by hand. The fact that a CNC port is an identical copy of something that was first done by hand means that the CNC port is only as good as the original. Granted many of the CNC programs being used were tested extensively and are huge improvements over stock that still doesn't mean a hand ported set of heads aren't capable of producing equal or even greater power in the end.
The main reason CNC ports are all the rage is because it brought the price down to where just about anyone can afford great heads that used to out of the reach of most people cost wise. Hand porting is very time consuming and in the old days someone might have spent days if not weeks on one set of heads, Now they can be done in hours and produce identical results.
If you're getting finished complete heads for that price, I'd seriously consider them. One thing I always try to find out is if the person doing the work has a good reputation in the field that he is in. I know a few local performance engine building shops in my area and two of them are small shops that don't advertise and don't have a store front. One is a one man operation and the other has help but does all the machine and assembly work himself. They have a reputation for making serious power and I don't hesitate to take my stuff there even if it means waiting in line to get the work done right the first time.
These are the guys that are so good at what they do that other shops send them stuff to be worked over because they are capable of doing it themselves.
Im with this guy. A good hand porter is better than a Cnc job. The problem is time and cost.
those ports look good but pictures dont always tell the whole story. short side radius is make or break on heads and its really easy to ruin them that way. the flip side is even looking at them in person if you dont have lots of experience you wont know the difference.
good luck!
Is it just me or do the before Flow numbers seem really low for 243 heads?
Pics look amazing but thats just 1 runner on 1 head......
But! for $750 total price Id just eyeball each runner and if they looked even close to that picture it would be worth a shot!
Since we know not all flow benches flow the same etc I like to look at the gain reported compared to the stock starting point.
Intake and after porting
Lift stock after porting, cfm gained
.200 140 after 217 = +57 cfm
.300 197 after 245 = +48 cfm
.400 236 after 266 = +30 cfm
.500 240 after 279 = +39 cfm
.600 243 after 286 = +43 cfm
.700 244 after 289 = +44 cfm
Looks to me like the Porter tried to concentrate on improving the mid lift and low lift numbers and did a good job except for that .400 lift number. See if he has any flow numbers for the heads with an LS6 intake manifold or Fast 92 manifold attached to the heads. The flow drops a lot with , the intake manifold in place but that gives a better picture of what you really have to work with.
Exhaust and After porting
Lift stock after porting, cfm gained
.200 101 after 104 = +3 cfm
.300 134 after 134 = 0 cfm
.400 155 after 158 = +3 cfm
.500 177 after 206 = +29 cfm
.600 193 after 218 = + 25 cfm
Not sure that I like the exhaust numbers. The .200 to
400 numbers gain very little.
I would probably buy a set of Land Speed Cylinder Heads ported 241's, 243's or TEA ported anything over these.
.
Last edited by 99 Black Bird T/A; Dec 13, 2018 at 10:04 AM.
Before & after porting - intake
Lift B4Cfm after cfm
.200 140 after 217 = +57 cfm
.300 197 after 245 = +48 cfm
.400 236 after 266 = +30 cfm
.500 240 after 279 = +39 cfm
.600 243 after 286 = +43 cfm
.700 244 after 289 = +44 cfm
Looks to me like the Porter tried to concentrate on improving the mid lift and low lift numbers and did a good job except for that .400 lift number
.
I agree those are good low lift numbers, at first look it appears the flow bench is conservative as stock 243 @ .500 should be 250s ......... but his low lift numbers are high for stock heads ! His exhaust numbers before and after appear about right !
$750 for ported heads. INCLUDING the heads, not yours dropped off.
I'd say in the world of getting what you pay for, that $300 port job is pretty damn good (243's can easily go for 400-500)
It may not compete 100% with the best, but it's also a third of the cost, or less in some cases than heads that do a little better.
Also, the stock numbers are a little lower than some other advertised stock flow numbers, so his measuring may be all down a hair. If that's the case move all the numbers up approx 10
cfm. If I were interested in these heads I would look into this part further and get some solid stock flow numbers and compare to where he is. I saw that katech says stock flow on the intake side is 254 at .650 this guy is showing 243-244. So if that's the case his .600 intake number may actually be mid 290's
So being we know all machines and styles test out a little different, I'd say there's a good chance all of this guys numbers are down a hair.....?
We don’t know how many inches of water column, bore size, exhaust pipe or not, etc, etc. A lot of variables can be used to make flow numbers look better or worse when testing heads.
For example...if you are testing at 28” of water with a 4.125” bore pipe and no exhaust your numbers will likely look better than if you are testing in a 3.905” bore with a 1 3/4” curved exhaust pipe. Higher end heads like AFR will list the exact test conditions while budget heads often do not.
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Buying Ported Heads 
