Home Head Porting - Attn. DEE

[jonny985]

I am getting ready to port a spare set of heads I got off Ebay and I don't want to mess them up too bad by just jumping in unprepared.

I have this kit/guide and I just bought an compressed air die grinder.
http://www.sa-motorsports.com/diyport.htm

Any suggestions?

For DEE or anyone else that has done their own porting,

Did you practice on a junk set of heads first or did you just jump right into porting your good ones.

You have any suggestions?


Thanks,
jon

[DEE97GTP]

Hmmm, I need to ask, have you ever ported anything before? Heads are not the easiest project to start with. I did practice on a junk head.

I borrowed a book called "Building a smallblock chevrolet" or something similar to that. My local hastings has it on the shelf. It doesn't tell you everything, but it has alot of good info in it. You have to understand that people in the headporting business wouldn't tell you everything you need to know. ;) I also spent alot of time looking online.

You need to keep in mind that one slip up in the wrong spot can mean disaster.

Another thing, more is not better, meaning don't go making the port bigger and expect to see gains. In some situations that is necessary, but I can tell you on our heads, the ports are a reasonable size to start.

I am putting together a flowbench for my personal use and may decide to port heads here and there in my spare time. I might be willing to port yours for alot cheaper that others once everything is setup. A flowbench is a good idea to get the most out of the heads. But if you are doing a mild P&P then you can usually get away without it.

I have a few pics on my website. However, I believe I would do the outlet a little different next time.

I would almost suggest doing it with a wizard(black and decker dremel). That is what I used on my heads. It took along time, but that was good considering I wasn't proficient in it yet. On my other porting I used my airtools, etc.

Take your time..... It is hard for me to say
"go ahead and get started", because I know the work and risk involved. Wear, google, mask, etc.

DEE

[jonny985]

The extent of my porting experiance is my trottle body. I am underexperianced and don't really know what I'm doing, but I'm willing to learn. My main goal is to smooth out the ports and do a minor porting job, nothing too radical.

I have searched the net and many of the sites that sell ported heads to get a little idea and what I'm looking to do.

I plan on using this car as practice for future projects kinda like you, but I plan on doing older cars that could REALLY use a good porting job.

I think that the right thing to do is to get a junk set of heads and practice a lot.

Where did you get your junk set and how much did you pay if you don't mind me asking?

[ January 21, 2003: Message edited by: jonny985 ]</p>

[DEE97GTP]

<blockquote>quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by jonny985:

Where did you get your junk set and how much did you pay if you don't mind me asking?

[ January 21, 2003: Message edited by: jonny985 ]<hr></blockquote>

Junkyard, it was off an series I 3.8L. I think I paid like 10 bucks because it was junk.

DEE

[67-03 RIP]

Power House Products (www.powerhouseproducts.com)
has a decent video on porting for 19.95
Porting Video . As mentioned you don't want to just "hog out" the ports as this will hurt the flow velocity. If I can find them, I have a couple of HotRod/Car Craft articles on porting I'd send to you. If I locate them, I'll shoot you an email and get your address if you're interested.

Ron

[jonny985]

I'd be interested in those articles if you wouldn't mind. My email is in my profile. Thanks for your help.
-jon