Has anyone on here ported thier own heads? Im interested in porting my 5.3 truck heads. What is the process and what are the possible downfalls of doing this yourself?

 

you can do it. Jay (itchygomey98) did one of mine and I did the other. With 5.3 heads you might as well stick in some larger valves.

On the exhaust side I cut down one side to make a d shaped exhaust port to give the exhaust a straighter shot. I left the other side alone. I smoothed out the valve intrusion and polished her up quite a bit.

On the intake I pretty much just smoothed out the valve intrusion and grinded away the rocker bosses.

It's really hard for me to explain as I don't know the technical jargon for it. Just look at how the air would enter and exit the head and just try to make everything a straight shot in the exhaust and don't mess with the intake too much or the swirl ramp unless you have a flow bench handy.

If I get time I'll post up some pics of my heads for you.

Nate

 

picks would be outstanding.

how much material did you take off, I was thinking I could use a dremel tool to do it. Were there any problems in working with aluminum, Ive been told there isnt much clearance between the water jacket and the ports any problems with that?

 

When you look into the intake port with the combustion chambers facing upward and the valve cover side of the head facing downward the area to the right of the valve guide does not have much material before you hit the water jacket, ask me and my welder how I know. I think the swirl ram is also fairly close to a water jacket. Those are the only spots I know of if you don't go crazy. Don't forget to do a lot of unshrouding in the combustion chamber or the bigger valves will not work. Good luck.

 

You'll probably have to use a carbide bit at a low speed otherwise you'll just have metal shards everywhere and what used to be a head.

I wouldn't touch the swirl ramp too much unless you have a flowbench readily available.

pics will come as soon as I can get into Jay's garage.
Nate

 

what gaskets should I use as a template for the porting,

anyone know of any how to videos for porting 5.3 heads

 

I just ported mine. I think you need a small air die-grinder and a larger one; a dremel doesn't have enough reach to get deep into the port, especially where that rocker bolt bulge is. Try to get some carbide burrs with long shanks and large teeth that are less likely to clog with aluminum. Every so often, stop and rub the teeth with a bar of soap to prevent loading up.

On the swirl ramp, some people take most of it out, others leave most of it there and everything inbetween. I think it depends on whether you are going for high rpm power as a priority or not. If you take all of the ramp out, it is said you will hit the water jacket. I took about 2/3's of it out, and no porblems.

 

There are alot of articles on here about doing this, try searching for "home head porting" there is a great article from jantzer that will help you alot. Just take out the rocker stud that is in the intake, it will leave a hole but don't worry about that. There are a couple of other things you can do but don't mess with the intake too much unless you know what you are doing. You can polish the exhaust and combustion chambers to help prevent carbon buildup, and a little work on the bowls. With these few simple things you will get a decent amount of flow for alot less than aftermarket heads, but not near as much as you could. I wouldn't put larger valves in the ones you do yourself since the stock valves and valve job are good already and why spend 350+ for maybe a few cfm with the little porting you will do. Jantzer ran 10's with his H+C combo and stock valves. Best thing to do is search and read the articles from the guys that have been doing it a long time and make your own decisions though.

 

You can use a dremel though, you just need the attachment that makes it into a wand to do a really good job, and an adjustable speed one. It will take longer but for your first time porting heads you don't want a carbide cutting tool on an air grinder. You can also use wd40 to keep the bits from clogging with alum. it works really well.

 

if your gunna use a carbide bit on aluminum use a single cut style, the double cut will load up and then be useless

 

i used a dremel with a double cut carbide bit. to keep material off the bit and **** flying everywhere, use wd-40 or any spray lube. it also helps in cutting material faster. go over everything with a grinding stone or such to smooth out your work.

 

I don't reccomend anybody porting LS1 heads with out experience,they are not first timers friendly. Increasing port size with out checking effects on airflow is a bad recipe for power. Doing any chamber relieving work had better be consistent because it only takes a 2cc difference to cause missfire detection codes. A dummy test head and access to a flow bench is the best way to prepare for doing your own heads, also studying a professionally ported head couldnt hurt. Good luck.

 

i used my S3 GTP as a guide. not the best way, but better than going in blind folded.

 

How does it run sotp and 1/4?

 

what does? the dremel, my car or the heads?

 

Your kidding right? I mean with your heads how does car run?

 

Well, i'm waiting?

 

well since the topic was about heads, i didnt know what IT meant... but since you are asking, those home ported heads where for a buddy and his car is still apart as well as my car. but i will PM you once the results are in.

 

I'm not being a dick, i just think peoples results from doing their own headwork would be usefull on this thread.Thanks

 

if it helps any, my friend Taqwache(member here also) turned 11s on home ported heads, mild cam(by todays standards), and full exhaust.