I am doing a cam swap soon, I have a 00 WS6 M6, gonna do all the bolt on's.

I have a friend that is really good at building engines, porting heads........ He has never ported LS1 heads, where can we find info on what to port, how much ect......

I don't want to spend a ton of $$ on CNC ported heads, but I thought the TSP 233/239 would appreciate some head work.

 

you can do a google search on "head porting" and see what you come up with. The articles you will find are generic, but a seasoned engine builder will know how to a basic port and polish to ANY head on ANY engine to an extent. This is one area you don't want to skimp on. Save your pennies on a good set of CNC heads from a sponsor on this board.

 

personally, i wouldnt trust my heads to a first time head ported.

 

 

What's ?

 

He is from the other lsx board, the social forum.

 

It means he agrees with him. lol

 

thats putting it nicely

 

He is a very well experienced engine builder, just never ported LS1 heads, just wondering if there is anything out of the norm with porting LS1 heads.

 

Just print off a few of the threads that deal with this topic, there are a ton of them just search for "home head porting" that will get your guy all the info he needs. There is still trial and error that goes into the heads though for improved flow and hp, I wouldn't expect the best from a guy that has never done an ls1 head before even if he is a great sbc head porter.

 

exactly my point

 

ls1s arent exactly black magic. an internal combustion engine is an internal combustion engine. ls1s are far from 'special'

 

so most motors are the same huh, why do they keep getting better then? Why aren't we still driving ford flatheads then if they are all the same? It is pretty funny how ls1 head porters have significently improved the flow #'s and power produced from what they were say 4 years ago. Granted the ls1's aren't an indy motor or a mystical perfect motor that produces 150hp/liter and gets 50mpg but they do have alot of differences that make them perform better than most on the market today. i think gm engineers would love your statement. Do you port ls1 heads btw?

 

Granted, air flow is air flow no mater what kind of engine it is. But there are some unique things about porting an LS1 head. Not that it's rocket science, it's just that a lot of porting guys are not even close to being scientists; they just follow a routine. You could probably do a good job of porting those yourself if you took a scientific approach and did some research in advance. A junk set of heads and a flow bench are what you need.

I just got done home-porting my heads, but since I also changed cams, hard to say what the effect was. I'm sure I didn't do a perfect job, but after the first test drive today I must say that my car moves VERY well.

 

head "poting" should left to the "pofessionals", imho, if you want some serious results.
its always a great project if you have an extra set of heads layin around tho.

 

Seeing as how you can buy a used set of heads for 200 bucks, doesnt seem like too much to risk if you attempt it.

 

The main thing about porting LS1 heads is the ports are so well designed from GM they are "less forgiving" on mess ups than older style engines. The velosity is what is the most easiest to mess up on these heads, you must keep the air flow even and constant or the port will back up- much less swirl. I have done quite a few sets and will testify that much. The main thing is to let air flow were it will naturally, do not try to move were the air flows- rather work with the port and the natural flow path of the air stream. Mostly the roofs closest to the outside of the cylinder centerline will net the most gains and 1 inch behind the seat is very important. Like all cylinder heads, consistency is important as well.

 

as a matter of fact, yes i do.

 

like what? i have ported many sets of ls1s on a professional level, and guess what? the same principals apply to it as do any other heads ive ported. there are some differences but airflow IS airflow and tailoring your work to any particular head is not hard once you understand more how an engine works than just 'call a sponsor and they will tell you what to buy'

 

I almost didn't reply here because I'm not a sponsor. But in interest of the question at hand, I think it's worth my $.02.

I think Bo and Trendsetter hit on a few good points. As for the heads and airflow..An engine is an engine, and airflow is airflow (If you consider area under the curve, swirl/mixture, velocity etc)

Being that I port a lot of LS heads, and done quite a bit of research...What I've honestly found is that it's easy to go after too much on the flowbench for many applications. Any of the LS heads outflow any other OEM heads (at least from Chevrolet) Their design is part of a well designed package. If you try to wander too much outside of this package without making adjustmnents on the rest of the combination it nets little results. I'm speaking about cylinder heads mostly, and that in my opinion is a lot to do because the intakes available right now, combined with the fact that factory heads actually outflow the HP that most customers need. This is one of the reasons that the AFR head is so popular/successful...It is actaully smaller and has a better chamber design.....So even if you throw away flow numbers it will perform better for most people with common combos out there right now. When someone ports a factory GM LS head....The port becomes bigger unless you weld it..So for guys with little mods, a ported head may show little gain. But if a guy is trying to make big HP with more mods and turning higher RPM it pays off bigtime.

SO..After all my novel.....If you're on minimal mods and don't have access to lots of testing...Keep your focus on the outside wall of the intake port, and if you're running a small/close to stock type cam and less than optimum exhaust....Leave the swirl ramp in also. Another thing to consider....Don't open the throats of the bowls up (venturi). All that "may" net is high-lift flow numbers at the expense of low lift.

What makes it hard in the LS community is that most of the customer base is fed off the internet and the market is very trendy. Me being from the absolute HP community, I've had to learn these lessons.....So don't chase big flow numbers unless you are going hardcore and can make the rest of the combination step up to the plate...Let's face it.....I can make 700HP with a <325cfm head with old archaic SBC stuff...So why does everybody think they have to have a 330+cfm head to make 500? Ooops...I get it...The intake manifold is designed for a tractor LOL. Maybe unpopular opinion.....But just my take. Food for thought anyways.

Felber