P&P question

[bullit70]

hey guys what is going on? well i have a question and maybe some of you have done this but how hard is it to port and or polish your stock heads/intake? i really don't have alot of money and if i had 1000 i would pay for some good heads however i don't have that much. if not port would it be hard and or safe to polish? or just leave them how they are. i am looking to put in a eather a CompCams 76-801-9: 200/206 .310/.300 112 N/A or maybe an Abbott Racing NA Cam: 210/220 .320/.320 112 N/A. ( i know there is a big jump ) This is my DD but i am looking for some more power and i am trying to go as much N/A as posable. FYI intake is upgraded and Headers / high flow Cati / Cat back are in the works. thank you guys.

[Sean_99_3.8]

Re: P&P question

I would suggest having a shop do it that has the right tooling to do it right.

[bullit70]

Re: P&P question

I would suggest having a shop do it that has the right tooling to do it right.

you know i thought that is what was going to be said and you are right. i don't want to **** somthing up. if there are any other comments please add. also what about a good Cam set up for what i dicribed above? i know i can't spell :cry:

[97rs4life]

Re: P&P question

yea don't try doing it yourself, way to easy to mess something up and then you are out a set of heads. Get them to those that know what to do with them

[TheGr8Schlotzky]

Re: P&P question

If you have the right tools and all, it's really not too hard, it's mostly just making things smooth. But if you don't know what your doing, I'd suggest having someone who does do it.

[Dozer]

Re: P&P question

Its not just making things smooth. Porting and polishing heads ands intakes takes a lot of experience and the right machineing tools. A lot of the difference in the porting is what is done to the bowl, valve blending, runner sizeing and consistency. With out some very expensive machineing equipment it takes a very experienced machinest to do it all by hand. If you'd want to do anything by yourself id say to just polish or just take out the casting errors and maybe to gasket match.

[camaroman1181]

Re: P&P question

whats all this talk about expensive tools to port and polish? You know what you can use? A die grinder with the proper bits. No expensive tools required unless you want to consider the Air compressor to run the die grinder.. You can have a shop do the valve job, and you can do the P&P work..

With that said, P&P'ing a head takes a lot of know how on how to make fluid flow most efficiently. You want to obtain the maximum flow possible, and that does not mean simply making the ports as big as possible. It usually means maxing out the flow velocity. If you have no idea waht to do, you can research. There are quite a few books out there that discuss this sort of thing in detail. If you are set on doing it yourself, I would research a lot and then find a set of old heads to practice on...

[RadRacer]

Re: P&P question

I'll be porting my heads. Like camaroman said, I don't think it'll be that difficult, or expensive. I have a friend that will be doing the valve job for me, the rest is just researching and finding out what the best size would be for the port. A little bit of research, trial and error, and some patience and you'll come out with a good set of heads. May not flow as well as Abbott's, but they'll flow better than stock. It also helps if you have friends who are fluid engineers (or w/e it is) :)

[Dozer]

Re: P&P question

I got a set of heads im porting also for a friend. Good luck.

[TheGr8Schlotzky]

Re: P&P question

Its not just making things smooth. Porting and polishing heads ands intakes takes a lot of experience and the right machineing tools. A lot of the difference in the porting is what is done to the bowl, valve blending, runner sizeing and consistency. With out some very expensive machineing equipment it takes a very experienced machinest to do it all by hand. If you'd want to do anything by yourself id say to just polish or just take out the casting errors and maybe to gasket match.

This I know. I'm in a automotive machining class and we've been taught the proper way to do it and I now have a bit of experience under my belt. The main purpose is making things smooth so turbulence isn't caused from the rough casting in the intake and exhaust ports. There is a some material taken off to add a little room for the air to travel, and a good amount of blending and finding the most efficient way for the air to travel, but if it's still rough, it's not going to do what you want it to.

[Pewter02Camaro]

Re: P&P question

First off i am not trying to hijack this thread, that said, just saw a good oportunity to ask some things and give my input. :D
I picked up a spare set of heads about a year ago. i have been pondering the same questions that you have all been answering and giving your input on. After reading this post in full and doing a lot of searching i have only left with one question, if i have this spare set of heads ( cost 50 bucks) is it worth trying to do it on my own? i also do not have the money to spend on heads. also would a dremmel tool with the flex extension work as well as a die grinder?

[ssms5411]

Re: P&P question

I've been working on a set for about 2 weeks now. Using a dremel and air tools, It's coming out pretty good so far. Once I get the heads milled .010, I'll post some pics. I got ZZP stock SI exhaust/intake valves and their valve guides to go back together with Comp 105lb springs, steel retainers and locks. Once you start on them , you'll see where you need to do the most work at.

[bullit70]

Re: P&P question

First off i am not trying to hijack this thread, that said, just saw a good oportunity to ask some things and give my input. :D
I picked up a spare set of heads about a year ago. i have been pondering the same questions that you have all been answering and giving your input on. After reading this post in full and doing a lot of searching i have only left with one question, if i have this spare set of heads ( cost 50 bucks) is it worth trying to do it on my own? i also do not have the money to spend on heads. also would a dremmel tool with the flex extension work as well as a die grinder?

ya i here you on that. that was somthign i was thinking of doing also is trying to get a used set of heads at one point in time doing springs and what not and it is not so much porting because i know that all the intake/exahust runners have to be the same ( in a port job ) to do what we are trying to do and have them flow right. so maybe just a polish job to just smooth out the hard spots with a dremmel and a flex head like pewter said. and doing a valve job i don't think would be to hard they make valve cutter with differnt angles at summit. with that could i start with the smallest and work my way out with like a 3 angle job? to me that sounds logical. am i on a good path just doing just the polish job and doing a recut for the valves? Pewter you are all good and i thank you for bring up a set of used heads. :rock:

[Pewter02Camaro]

Re: P&P question

ya i here you on that. that was somthign i was thinking of doing also is trying to get a used set of heads at one point in time doing springs and what not and it is not so much porting because i know that all the intake/exahust runners have to be the same ( in a port job ) to do what we are trying to do and have them flow right. so maybe just a polish job to just smooth out the hard spots with a dremmel and a flex head like pewter said. and doing a valve job i don't think would be to hard they make valve cutter with differnt angles at summit. with that could i start with the smallest and work my way out with like a 3 angle job? to me that sounds logical. am i on a good path just doing just the polish job and doing a recut for the valves? Pewter you are all good and i thank you for bring up a set of used heads. :rock:

Ya i was thinkin start by polishing it up and matching the upper/lower/heads then if i feel confident enough i might start to port them out.

[RadRacer]

Re: P&P question

First off i am not trying to hijack this thread, that said, just saw a good oportunity to ask some things and give my input. :D
I picked up a spare set of heads about a year ago. i have been pondering the same questions that you have all been answering and giving your input on. After reading this post in full and doing a lot of searching i have only left with one question, if i have this spare set of heads ( cost 50 bucks) is it worth trying to do it on my own? i also do not have the money to spend on heads. also would a dremmel tool with the flex extension work as well as a die grinder?

I plan on doing the same thing man. To me, it'll be a trial and error kinda thing. If you ported them too much and they flow horribly, you'd be set back $50. Get another used set and try again, but this time be more restrictive and see how it goes. I'm sure you'd port a decent set before you go through 20 sets of heads (approximate equivalent of Abbott's prices). I'd rather spend $500 and learn more then dish out $1000 and have no idea why they work. And a dremel with a flex extension will work.