Porting and Polishing? Worth the cost?
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blown okie
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ALWAYS worth it on the heads!! period!
if you want your heads done there is more work to be done then just porting i wouldnt waste my money on a 400 buck port job on the heads. either contant nick micale at arizonagn.com for some killer heads or you could go with some champion iron heads. if you spend the 400 you will be going back later to do them again and you will be kicking you self in the ass wishing you would have done it right the first time.
$400 is very cheap. For a port match, it's not worth it. If they're going in and actually porting the ports and cleaning up the bowl area, $400 is very worth it. You can get most of the benefits of a set of $1200 ported heads pretty easily and quickly. The extra little bit takes a lot more time. I've gone in and removed metal very quickly from the ports, run a mill down in the bowl area which took all of 45 minutes for both heads, and they worked very well.
If you port the heads, you really want to port the intake manifold as well. It should be pretty cheap because it doesn't take long to do and it really makes a difference. While you're in there you might as well swap in a bigger cam to take advantage of the heads.
If you port the heads, you really want to port the intake manifold as well. It should be pretty cheap because it doesn't take long to do and it really makes a difference. While you're in there you might as well swap in a bigger cam to take advantage of the heads.
BRAD_PADGETT
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Matt- I agree 100 % with your comment as well as Boost231. I ported my heads and intake last year and the improvement was great. I have the flow tests and the flow improved 37% both on intake and exhaust on the heads. After this project the improvement was good but on my setup opening the can was the integrated 2 1/2 inch downpipe which eliminates the turbo elbo. My last mod is a ported throttle body which I will install in the next several weeks. Take care- Brad
Glad yours came out ok. My first attempt was at age 18 and when I was done, the car had no low end, no top end, worse than stock. Ended up working for a guy who was on the Buddy Ingersol team back in the 80s when they were making 1,500hp with the Buick V6 with mechanical fuel injection. I felt like I should have been paying him just to learn the things I was learning.
And yes, something we've always agreed on, the stinking elbow lol.
eastwoodad
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- May 23, 2003
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If you want to do it on a budget, pick up a Standard Abrasives Deluxe Porting Kit. For $40 and a bit of patience you can clean the heads up pretty good. I just did a set of 8445 heads and when I took them to the machine shop, they had a hard time believing it was a home-ported head. It took me a couple full Saturday's to complete them. The key is to take your time, and know what material to take out. Get a copy of the Ruggles Stage 1 guide or Powersource Manual, also the porting kit comes with some pretty darn good instructions.
Aaron
Aaron
eastwoodad
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- May 23, 2003
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Do you mean you hurt performance or you cut into a water jacket?
Killed performance. I was warned but being 18 had to prove it to myself and the experts were right. I had plenty junkyard heads laying around and I went into the water jackets on purpose on a set just to see how much material I could take off the "real" heads.
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