Is attempting to port match an LS6 intake to a set of #317 heads worth it? It seems like there are a lot of views on how to do it... and the ports (intake vs head) don't even look very much alike to start. Any thoughts on this?? I have a low compression shortblock decked .010" and a set of stock #317 heads for my turbo setup.

-Dave

 

It seems you cant do much more to the ls6 intake past smoothing out the casting in the runners and opening the throttle ebody neck a little bit.

 

Can you do anything to the head ports to make them match the LS6 ports?

 

unless your moving alot of freaking air.... i dont' see the benefit... and for that matter unless you are trying to hid something at that point you might as well get a 90/90 Fast.

 

For what its worth, New era ports out the LS6 manifold and typically gains 5 to 10 HP for ~150. Jeremy formato charges 250 and he sees closer to 15 HP. Its a cost effective alternative to a FAST intake. Personally if I were going to pay someone to port my LS6 intake, Id just spring for the FAST instead, However since Im planning on porting my own, it dosnt cost me anything.

 

Good look... I will be moving a lot of air andl the FAST is always an option, but I don't think I need it for my turbo application. I would rather have a 1 piece manifold. I am either going to port the heads to match the LS6 or do nothing at all... does anybody port just the heads to match the intake??

 

Arent the runners in the heads already wider than the intake manifold runners? I thought th emanifold was the narrower of the two.

 

I think the "cathedral" ports in the head are taller and narrower than the ports on the intake but I'm not 100% sure.

 

I have read a lot on this, but not done anything yet and I am by no means an expert on the subject. But everything I have read to date states not to open the head ports to match the intake.

 

Cool... I am going to get a valve job and some casting flash clean up done on my stock #317 truck heads and wanted to see if I needed to do any port matching yet. I don't think I am going to bother...

 

I think that port matching the intake and head ports is one of the more important things you can do when looking for hidden horsepower. Imagine the air flowing down the intake manifold port and hitting the edges of the cylinder wall that are intruding into the plane of the port wall. Think of the fast smooth flowing water in a canal as opposed to the water hitting a lip and forming rapids or turbulent water. Some of you will scoff at this but thinking of air like it was a liquid helps a lot in understanding how to move it efficiently.

 

I think once you're moving so much air so quickly, it's not always so obvious... like how the holes on a golfball help it fly farther than if it were completely smooth.