Critique my head port work

[DougsfastZ]

After many hours of research, and lack of funds, I decided to port my own 8445 heads.

Just to be clear, I'm not trying to break any records with the car. Before I blew a head gasket, it was a 11.2x @ 117 ish car with the mods listed in the second half of my sig.

The goal is to run mid 10's @ 125ish with a 215/220 roller cam, with the same mods as below.

Here are some pics of the intake valve bowl and port work. I used 3 different double cut burs and some 40 grit sanding rolls. I don't plan on going to the 80 grit rolls on the intake side, but I want to polish the exhaust side.

Please tell me what you guys think. What am I doing right and what do I need to work on?

Untouched intake bowl:

Original intake runner with a bit of cleaning to port match the gasket from last year:

After about 2.5 hours of porting. I tried to make what was left of the guide boss the shape of a tear drop, but it didn't come out the way I'd like::

I just took off the casting marks of the floor, since that's dead space. I raised the roof a bit:

My attempt to make the port roof blend into the bowl area as smooth as possible:

I left the guide the same length as stock, just blended the boss. I also made the short side radius smooth to the touch:

Runner comparison:

 

[d0n_3d]

That doesn't look that bad to me. Any kind of port job is better than stock for sure! Stock heads flow like crap unported.

 

[charlief1]

Here's some of my work Doug. Not finished yet though.:frown: Got a lots of work to make sure the runners are done right. You've got a good begining but there's a lot you can do to improve flow through them.

 

[Otto J]

It really doesnt matter that it looks good,put it on a flow bench and this will tell the real story.
You could quite possibly make them flow worse if not done correctly.

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

cool stuff guys

 

[turbofabricator]

Valve seat job and bowl porting is the biggest improvement. Port volume needs to be as big as possible with out killing low lift flow numbers. There are things that a flow bench will not show as a gain, but if executed correctly, it will net big gains. Widen the port floor as much as possible, but just keep a decent radius on that lump on the short side of the intake, or you WILL hit water. (right lower corner when looking into the intake port you have ported) Remove the entire exahaust valve guide in the port. Be careful near the inbord side of the exhaust bowl (opposite the short side radius) as it is pretty thin there. Just remove minimal material on the intake port floor to clean it up. (1/8" max.)

 

[charlief1]

Like Ken said, if you're not careful you'll hit water. Here's some reference pics for you. I didn't take the pics but I keep them so I can make sure I don't go overboard.

 

[DougsfastZ]

My buddy Al (Slamming 6 on here), came by tonight and did a few hours of porting. He fixed a few issues I had on the intake side, and went ahead and showed me what needed to be done on the exhaust side.

My biggest issue on the intake side was that I needed to point the tear drop in the center of the port, not simply straight forward in relationship to the head. I also needed to open up the back side of the intake bowl a bit more.

Here are the pics of just the carbide bit work that has been done.

The exhaust guide has been laid flat to the port roof. Same as what Ken said to do:

I feel much better using this cylinder as a templete for the rest.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

[charlief1]

Looks much better Doug. You must have a good friend since he didn't charge you to do the work.

 

[yullose]

I've always found it easier when porting heads, to do all the same ports at the same time... to keep them consistent.

Think of them like an assembly line.

Do all the intake ports... hit them all in the same area, then flip the heads and hit them in another part of the port... do each one the exact same way. I will sometimes count the number of strokes or time spent in each port too...
In other words... lay the head on the bench on the exhaust side, deck facing you... then grind each of the six intake ports from the 3 O'clock to 9 O'clock position... counting the number of strokes in each port. Once they are all done, flip the head onto the intake side and do the other half of the intake ports from 3 O'clock to 9 O'clock. Repeat as necessary... then use the same procedure on the exhaust ports.

Hogging material from the ports isn't always the safest thing to do when you are just starting to learn. What you want to do is "blend and smooth" things, removing sharp edges and softening sharp turns.
The short turn radius under the intake valve is always a good place to work on. Simple "pocket porting and gasket matching" is safe and effective... especially for someone new to it.
That port you spent 2.5 hours in, will be damn tough to match five more times. If you spent that same 2.5 hours working on all six intake ports, you might not have as much trouble keeping them alike. :wink:

Oh, and don't forget about the chambers... there's lots of power to be found there too.

 

[rw87tt]

Does grinding down the exhaust or intake guide boss down to the floor of the bowl shorten the guide life? Are there any down sides to doing this?

 

[DougsfastZ]

Does grinding down the exhaust or intake guide boss down to the floor of the bowl shorten the guide life? Are there any down sides to doing this?

I'm guessing it would. I only drive the car 1k miles a year and plan on getting the right length pushrods so the rocker to valve stem sweep is dead center. I hoping that will help with guide wear.

 

[Pablo]

It really doesnt matter that it looks good,put it on a flow bench and this will tell the real story.
You could quite possibly make them flow worse if not done correctly.

This is absolutely true.

I'd be surprised if you found any extra airflow doing anything other than the bowl and throat.

The throat is the number 1 area by far to gain flow.

What % of the valve diameter did you open yours?

I took mine to 90%, next best thing is basically what you did to the bowl area already. Grinding on the rest of the head looks nice but really did nothing that I could measure on diy low buck flow bench.

 

[WarWagon]

Looks great Doug keep it up.

Charlie I'm still loving that your going to do my set of 8445's :biggrin:

 

[charlief1]

Just waiting on you Adam.

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

Looks great Doug keep it up.

Charlie I'm still loving that your going to do my set of 8445's :biggrin:

mines too

Are you sending him your heads?
If so how are you packing them?
How much is it costing you?
Who are you using for the shipping?

 

[charlief1]

We haven't set a price yet David. I'm waiting on Adam.

 

[WarWagon]

Oh sh!t I'm the hold up I didn't realize.
Okay well Charlie i have to yank the heads off of that 3.8 then. strip them, pack em, and ship em, Then I'll know all that Info (moneys, weights, packing methods and can pass it along to all whom are concerned.

 

[charlief1]

Oh sh!t I'm the hold up I didn't realize.
Okay well Charlie i have to yank the heads off of that 3.8 then. strip them, pack em, and ship em, Then I'll know all that Info (moneys, weights, packing methods and can pass it along to all whom are concerned.

Well get going Adam.:biggrin:

 

[TURBOPOWERED68]

We haven't set a price yet David. I'm waiting on Adam.

Sorry dude
i should have been clearer

i was asking For shipping cost not your price as all of my questions whir shipping related.