I got my 243 ported heads back from Patriot Performance and I'm not sure if I should work on the intake at all. I know not to polish the intake runners, but is it a good idea to get rid of the track lines from a CNC machine? Smooth it out a bit with 120 grit rolls?

What areas would I have to be careful of so I don't go through the other side into a water jacket or something?

Thanks!

 

Personally, I would hand finish everything smooth with 120, then do 220 and scotchrite pads on the exhaust runner and bowl. Just smooth, do not remove any material though. And watch the valve seats.

 

the intake runner does not need to be polished smooth b/c the roughness helps to atomize fuel with the incoming air for better combustion. you want smooth exhaust ports but not intakes.

 

So I guess you voted to leave them alone?

Through the reading I've done on this site, I don't think atomization is something that a fuel injected engine has to worry about. Carbed engines do though. I guess since the fuel is being sprayed on the hot intake runner, it's not a big deal.

Someone correct me if this wrong or isn't the consensus.

 

You are correct here... Fuel atomization is an old wives tale. Our injectors spray right on the back of the hot intake valve which vaporizes the fuel. If youve ever pulled your intake you can see that very little of the intake runner wall has been washed down by fuel spray from the injector. There is some truth to leaving it a little rough in terms of creating a boundary layer, much like the dimples on a golf ball. However I decided id take my intake runners down to a nice smooth satin finish.

 

if you're not sure what you're doin you could do more harm than good. thats my 2 cents.

 

Gotta learn somehow. Why else use this site? I doubt I can harm much by smoothing out the intake runner.

Don't the ETP and hand finished AFR's have smooth Intake runners? I'm pretty sure they do, so why not have the intake runners smooth (not polished) in my 243's?

 

Thats how I feel... As long as you dont change the shape of the port.

 

I think you would be OK to polish the intake ports a LITTLE bit.

 

My ETP 215's still have CNC track lines on both the intake and exhaust runners.

 

I thought ETP's were all handfinished...

I did look through the Port Pro's web site and it looks like they smooth it out.

 

Pretty sure Port Pro's only hand port heads. Altering the material in the runner can change the flow of the cylinder head. If you do hand finish these, make sure as you stated before not to polish the runner. Keep in mind that any material you remove can change the flow of the head. We suggest that the heads remain the way we send them out unless the person doing the finishing has knowledge of porting. We have seen cases where "just cleaning them up" has reduced the flow on a set of heads.

 

well if you gotta learn how about learning on a junk head instead of a thousand dollar set of heads

 

Point well taken. They are very nice heads!

Learning doesn't mean screwing up though Besides the exhaust ports I did came out wonderful.

It's not rocket science. All I'd be doing is smoothing it up a bit. So far it's 13 to 5 in favor of not taking out the track lines. Keep'm coming! It seems pretty decisive so far.

 

I just received my TSP PRC Ls6 heads amd Im not going to touch any of the track lines. Personally I think it is a waste of time.....

 

Every little bit helps! If there's a few extra ponies left, I'm gonna try and get them, and especially on the exhaust ports. You want those as smooth as possible.

Thanks everyone for the responses. I think if I rephrased my initial question to ask if there is any performance left on the table by smoothing out the intake runners, I might have gotten different responses. I'm sure that the difference would be marginal, but unless I changed the design of the port by actually taking out material, it would be safe to say I wouldn't get decreased performance.

 

I agree 100%. There is not enough to gain from doing that to be worth your time. The main thing patriot heads need, is a better blend of the valve guide.

Brandon

 

I dunno about Patriot, but if it was my business, you touch those ports and you void any warranty on them no matter what the issue is.
You ask for advice and even though professionals and hardcore modders are telling you not to touch them, you are doing it anyways.
Why post in the first place?
In any case with a 224 your gain will be huge if any

I have race prepped PRC's and the intakes are not smooth. Only exhaust and chamber.

 

Im with Predator here. You very easily could have did more harm then good. If I touched my heads I would definitely have them reflowed before and after just to make certain I didnt screw things up. It doesnt matter how a head looks, it is how it flows....

 

If the design of the intake port wasn't changed, which it wasn't, it's safe to assume that I increased flow. I'll post pics as soon as I can get access to a digital camera.

There are inherent flaws from CNC machines that hand porting can take away. There seemed to be a ridge from where the CNC machine couldn't go any further from one direction that I was able to take down and make it smooth. I've seen this in many different pics from different companies. It's hard to see, but you can feel it when you run your finger over it. That itself convinved me why I should touch up the intake. I have plenty of time until I'm going to be installing these, so I decided to go the extra mile.

I'm not staying with the 224 cam for forever, so maybe one day my efforts will pay off

No disrespect here, I appreciate all the posts. Many of you have much much more experience than I do.