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Exhaust Port on Heads

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Old Oct 17, 2005 | 04:19 PM
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Default Exhaust Port on Heads

Exhaust ports on LS1 heads are anywhere from 1.57" to 1.60", my question is, would it be beneficial to a H/C engine to port match the exhaust ports to the size of long tube headers, such as 1.75" or a 1.875".

Since the intake ports flow usually over 300cfm on after market heads and then the exhaust ports only flow roughly 230-240 cfm on these engines, the restrictive stock intake manifold would let the exhaust ports flow perfectly, but if a ported FAST 90/90 was used and the intake manifold now flows near 280-290 cfm, wouldnt the 1.57" and 1.60" exhaust ports be restrictive on a H/C engine?
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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 12:12 AM
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Anybody have any information on this subject?
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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 12:49 AM
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Seems to me that port matching anything would keep airflow better.
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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 09:02 AM
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Good luck fitting a valve that big in there. Simply increasing diameter does not necessarily mean youll increase flow. And even if you do increase flow, you stand a good chance of lowering velocity. Just like on the intake side velocity helps you out bolstering your low end torque through proper scavenging much the same way headers work in general. Matching the port exit to the header is a good idea, but opening up the valve throat, even if it were possible, would likely hurt performance.
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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 12:57 PM
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Originally Posted by GuitsBoy
Good luck fitting a valve that big in there. Simply increasing diameter does not necessarily mean youll increase flow. And even if you do increase flow, you stand a good chance of lowering velocity. Just like on the intake side velocity helps you out bolstering your low end torque through proper scavenging much the same way headers work in general. Matching the port exit to the header is a good idea, but opening up the valve throat, even if it were possible, would likely hurt performance.
Alright thanks alot, good to know, after I posted this I found a post that mentioned that the exhaust actually is forced out alot faster then the intake pulls in, so that the exhaust actually keeps up with the intake.

So wouldnt a larger lift/duration camshaft on the exhaust perform as if the exhaust ports were larger?
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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 01:05 PM
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yes to your Q on lrgr lift/duration to an extent, to much can hurt flow, however match porting will smooth exhaust flow which will improve engine performance.


fuerzaws6
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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 02:12 PM
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Yes, keeping the exhaust port open longer allows more exhaust gasses to exit, but conversly, that means there either has to be less time with both valves closed after the power stroke, less time for the intake valve to fill the cylinder, or simply more overlap which raises the powerband and affects idle quality. The name of the game is finding a good compromise. There's a reason why these components were designed the way they were - Im sure they did extensive testing and found a good compromise of valve sizes, port flow and cam profile.
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Old Oct 19, 2005 | 04:10 PM
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Originally Posted by Brodiemans
Exhaust ports on LS1 heads are anywhere from 1.57" to 1.60", my question is, would it be beneficial to a H/C engine to port match the exhaust ports to the size of long tube headers, such as 1.75" or a 1.875".

Since the intake ports flow usually over 300cfm on after market heads and then the exhaust ports only flow roughly 230-240 cfm on these engines, the restrictive stock intake manifold would let the exhaust ports flow perfectly, but if a ported FAST 90/90 was used and the intake manifold now flows near 280-290 cfm, wouldnt the 1.57" and 1.60" exhaust ports be restrictive on a H/C engine?
Won't fit (physically) and completely un-necessary. An exhaust port is under tremendous pressure early in the opening phase and is therefore much more effective at moving air than say a normally aspirated intake port which simply relies on engine vacuum (atmospheric pressure) to create airflow. An exhaust port that flows approximately 76-80% of the intake will get you covered every time, unless its a blown engine which could benefit from a slightly higher Exh/Int relationship.

Also, Do NOT open an exhaust port opening to the size of the header....BIG mistake. You will kill the airflow of the port by creating a port that flows less (due to destroying the short side radius), and obliterate the velocity by having a much larger "hole" that flows even less air. Also, the engine is more likely to experience increased reversion due to the perfect match of the exhaust port and header flange. The typical small mis-match is beneficial at helping to reduce the reversion common with aftermarket performance cams and the overlap they create.

It's easy to turn an aluminum race head (or intake manifold) into a pretty paperweight with the wrong approach to modifying it...

Tony M.

Last edited by Tony Mamo @ AFR; Oct 19, 2005 at 04:36 PM.
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Old Oct 23, 2005 | 09:34 PM
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What Tony said, but some builders match/align the header tubes to the tops of the ports, but always leave the bottom of the port untouched, to form an anti-reversion step-up to the pipe diameter. (Not sure what to suggest if the tube is smaller than the port!)
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Old Oct 23, 2005 | 09:36 PM
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Originally Posted by MadBill
What Tony said, but some builders match/align the header tubes to the tops of the ports, but always leave the bottom of the port untouched, to form an anti-reversion step-up to the pipe diameter. (Not sure what to suggest if the tube is smaller than the port!)
Time for a new set of AFR's!
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Old Oct 24, 2005 | 08:49 AM
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Originally Posted by Brodiemans
Exhaust ports on LS1 heads are anywhere from 1.57" to 1.60", my question is, would it be beneficial to a H/C engine to port match the exhaust ports to the size of long tube headers, such as 1.75" or a 1.875".

Since the intake ports flow usually over 300cfm on after market heads and then the exhaust ports only flow roughly 230-240 cfm on these engines, the restrictive stock intake manifold would let the exhaust ports flow perfectly, but if a ported FAST 90/90 was used and the intake manifold now flows near 280-290 cfm, wouldnt the 1.57" and 1.60" exhaust ports be restrictive on a H/C engine?
Dont ever forget that 1.75" headers dont mean 1.75" port works. You have to account for the thickness of the tubing. So 1.58" or so is about as far as you want to push it with 1.75" tubing. On 1.875" you can have a port opening of about 1.7". Like Tony said, there is no benefit to pushing the walls out that far. You just run into transition turbulence from port to header.

Also, dont think that it is common for LS1 heads to flow 230+ on the exhaust side, unless they have the pipe extension. An ls6 head usually tops out in that range, but you are doing well to hit 220 on an LS1 exhaust port.

Brandon

Brandon
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