Who are the top 5 LSX cylinder head porters in the country?
02-11-2008, 08:12 AM
#101
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Greg Good, Harold @ Port Pro's, Trevor Johnson, A Few at Raymac's in Dallas, etc. are some of the best out there.
You people have to understand though, most of these people can port anything. Knowing one port style would make them more limited than a guy who works on multiple cylinder head styles.
There are many other bad *** people that work for bigger companies but they would not do very much work in the LSX world as their other jobs require a ton of time.
02-12-2008, 12:19 AM
#102
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09-03-2008, 08:46 AM
#104
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I had a set of GTP stage II's back in 01 and w/ a small cam (226/226) they made 440rwhp through a 6 spd, that was a big number back then for a H/C 346 car. Also had "Lump" fix and finish a set of heads for me that made big power.
09-03-2008, 11:55 AM
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RIP Joe Mendelis. Definitely lost a great guy and had the pleasure to discuss many things with this man at multiple PRI's, etc.
09-03-2008, 07:45 PM
#106
R.I.P Mendelis You can never go wrong with good Lump stuff. Time was an issue and then other "things" happened as most of us local guys know while he was still at Naisers. (Before he left to do his own thing.) Definitely one heck of a cylinder head porter.
Let me add (since this is an older thread)
RIP Joe Mendelis. Definitely lost a great guy and had the pleasure to discuss many things with this man at multiple PRI's, etc.
Let me add (since this is an older thread)
RIP Joe Mendelis. Definitely lost a great guy and had the pleasure to discuss many things with this man at multiple PRI's, etc.
09-03-2008, 08:39 PM
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I know this is an old thread but im going to have JW cylinder heads do my heads. It is one guy John Walden and he designs heads for Navistar now but still does them on the side. He has done many many heads including c5r heads, and even duramax heads. He lives in Chicago now but travels back home here near cincy to do side work.
09-04-2008, 12:09 AM
#108
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I know this is an old thread but im going to have JW cylinder heads do my heads. It is one guy John Walden and he designs heads for Navistar now but still does them on the side. He has done many many heads including c5r heads, and even duramax heads. He lives in Chicago now but travels back home here near cincy to do side work.
05-30-2009, 07:35 PM
#111
Craig Gallant is awesome with both LT/SBC and LS heads, a rarity. Greg Good has to be top end in anyone's book, as does Brian Tooley. I am familiar with all these guys' work and it flat makes power. Some things aren't so easy to measure on a bench. I gotta think guys like Craig shaped AFR's direction and really emphasized velocity vs CFM. This list changes when you're talking certain heads. When you're talking truly gifted guys with multiple castings, the list gets short.
05-31-2009, 01:34 PM
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I can't believe nobody has mentioned Pete Incaudo, currently owner of V-Max Motorsports in FL and formerly of CNC cylinder heads, also in FL. He has been working on LS heads since day 1 and has a stellar reputation. I wouldn't even consider anyone else. He did the hand porting and finishing on my AFR 225's for my current build and also ported my Fast 90 and TB and helped me spec out the right cam for my build. Car runs perfectly and is making great power throughout the power band.
Jimbo
Jimbo
02-17-2013, 11:20 AM
#119
Let me try,
Paris Pugliese (formerly of TEA and SAM, now at RayMac, TFS heads, LS6 heads, etc.)
Casey Schnieder at Sam (LS6 heads)
Tony Darnell of TEA (5.3 heads)
Brian Self aka "Lump" (never seen an LS1 head from him, other stuff is killer)
Joe Prince (best 241 head I've seen...believe it or not)
Craig Gallant (SAM,GTP, only heard rumors)
I didn't make my own top 5, truth is most of the LS stuff we have was done by Paris or Tony, I will take credit for the digitizing and CNC programming though
I have seen some stuff from some of the other top guys mentioned, it wasn't very good on our bench.
The ABSOLUTE truth in hand porting ANYTHING once your are a "good porter", is LOTS of experience with THE head you are working on, irregardless of how successful you have been with other heads. At TEA each person tends to have a "specailty" and I did mostly Ford heads. So the bottom line is find someone who has the best flow numbers through the entire intake flow curve, and get them to do your heads. The beauty of the CNC is you can work on one port for days, weeks or even months and then the CNC lets you exactly duplicate after that.
Paris Pugliese (formerly of TEA and SAM, now at RayMac, TFS heads, LS6 heads, etc.)
Casey Schnieder at Sam (LS6 heads)
Tony Darnell of TEA (5.3 heads)
Brian Self aka "Lump" (never seen an LS1 head from him, other stuff is killer)
Joe Prince (best 241 head I've seen...believe it or not)
Craig Gallant (SAM,GTP, only heard rumors)
I didn't make my own top 5, truth is most of the LS stuff we have was done by Paris or Tony, I will take credit for the digitizing and CNC programming though
I have seen some stuff from some of the other top guys mentioned, it wasn't very good on our bench.
The ABSOLUTE truth in hand porting ANYTHING once your are a "good porter", is LOTS of experience with THE head you are working on, irregardless of how successful you have been with other heads. At TEA each person tends to have a "specailty" and I did mostly Ford heads. So the bottom line is find someone who has the best flow numbers through the entire intake flow curve, and get them to do your heads. The beauty of the CNC is you can work on one port for days, weeks or even months and then the CNC lets you exactly duplicate after that.
At Tick, we all have our specialties and we all do them well. I don't try to assemble engines or build transmissions, that's Jonathan's job that he has been perfecting for over 10 years, and that experience is hard to replicate. I spec the cams, spec the N/A and F/I builds and handle all the customer service and techincal questions because I love interacting with people. Matt does all of our blower installs, cam installs and nitrous installs because he can knock them out in very little time with very high quality. List could go on for days.
Bottom line is don't try and do something that you know you might not do well in. DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK FOR HELP!!! I see professionals and amateurs struggle time and time again because they are too damn stubborn or have too much pride to ask someone who has the wisdom they need.
Just thought I'd put my two cents in, and I am no Brian Tooley, but I hope I can be looked at one day in the same regards as you Brian.
