Porting stock heads
 

I came across the idea of porting the stock Iron heads on my 89 302 motor. I like it, because its cheap (it'll be a homemade port job, I know someone who'se really skilled with a dremel) which saves me money towards my 351 engine.

Anyone ever tried this, know anything of the potental, how effective it is, and how exact the ports have to be to prevent the car from running like crap? I guess there's some sorts of sheets that you put on the intake and exhaust ports which you can use as templates for the port job, but I'm more worried about all the runners inside that will be ported, I don't know of a way to keep them in line with eachother.

Re: Porting stock heads
 

does he have a flowbench??

i dont know i dont think its gonna make much of a difference without having them flowed and what not. a dremel is nice for gasket matching, but i wouldnt recomend going that route with cylinder head porting personally, but thats just me.

Re: Porting stock heads
 

I Have A Set Of D80e Heads That I Hand Ported Heres Some Pics:

Re: Porting stock heads
 

Wow, looks much messier than stock...Hmm...so a flow bench would be very important in this project? Nope, don't have one of those...was just going to carve out the runners with a dremel and see how close it could be matched.

Hmm, well that sucks, you don't think I'll see much gains from it? Guess I should just fork out 1300 for some Victor Jrs. and swap them over to my 351 with professional porting when I'm done?

Sucks, I was looking forward to asking people to run a stock Mustang with spray and dusting the heck outta them :)

Re: Porting stock heads
 

Absolutely nothing wrong with ported stock heads. Id just take them to a shop to have it done. Best thing is it don't cost alot and its improves flow drastically.

As stated above, without a flow bench your kinda blind. It is very easy to really screw up a head.

Re: Porting stock heads
 

Im Sorry My Heads Arent Pretty Enough For You But It Way Better Than Stock,............he Asked About Porting Stock Heads Not No Vic's Thank You Very Much ,............and For The Record Those Pics Were Half Done Any Way And I No That They Flow Better Than Som Gt 40's With Stock Valves............

Re: Porting stock heads
 

Get carbide burrs to do most of the port work and sanding rolls to clean up. The carbide burrs will eat through the iron very fast. The exhaust is easy, just bolt up and old gasket and match it.

I personally didn't screw with the intake other than just a bit of smoothing since it already is close to matching my GT-40 lower. I had bigger valves put in, so my buddy at the maching shop cut the seats and cleaned up the bowls a bit.

I saved a ton of money and the labor I didn't mind. I don't race, but my cars pulls damn hard all the way to the red line and makes a ton of torque down low!

Re: Porting stock heads
 

I'll probably slap a Performer RPM or a Victor Junior intake on it, but it seems as if the flowbench which I do not own is pretty important, so I might just send them off if nothing else. I was just trying to save a few bucks by doing it homestyle, although I'm sure flow benches would cost more than sending the heads off to have them ported/milled/whatever else needs to be done to them? How exact is exact for the car to run right, anyways? And I'll look into the carbide burrs and sanding rolls, thanks for the info, jrgoffin.

83Mustang, they don't look bad, just messier than stock :) Although, mine will probably look worse, was just asking about porting those cheap stock iron heads - I'd never home port a set of Vic Jrs. I wouldn't mind having homedone heads that flowed better than GT40s...

Re: Porting stock heads
 

Remember flow isn't everything. Lots of things work together to make a good set of heads. Port velocity, turbulence, flow etc. etc. You aren't going to sit down the first time and get a set of D7e's to perform like a set of AFR 210's ... but it's pretty easy to improve the performance of stock heads ... Just a little short side radius work, some simple bowl and valve guide cleanup, some port matching and you'll usually have a much better performing head.

Lots of info floatin around out there in cyber space, get an old set of heads and try it, you might be the next Joe Mondello ? :D

Rod

PS: someone posted (on this board i think) quite awhile back a link to some info on porting heads using a thread wand ... i've lost that link and i'd sure like to have it back, anyone remember that ? :(

Re: Porting stock heads
 

I'll have to look into the details of porting heads then, I always thought it was as simple as, 'shave away some iron, and you're good' but it seems that there's much more to it.

Is it possible to make a homemade flow bench? I've had several ideas that reached so far even as to use those little things hospitals give you to test your lung capacity to monitor flow. Obviously, I don't have the money to buy one done right, but I was wondering if theres any way to make one equally as gitter'dun as my heads will be? It doesn't need to be PERFECTLY exact on a set of stock heads for the car to run well, does it?

Oh, and I also want to let ya guys know that I really appriciate all the help I've recieved here. Very nice to be able to ask these questions to such a large audience of experienced people. Thumbs up to ya'll and the site.

Re: Porting stock heads
 

It Depends On What What Your Trying To Do With Them,..... Most Heads That People Use Aint Flow Tested Anyway They Just Want A Little More Power Out Of Them. And If People Want 400-600 Hp They Would Not Waste Time Getting Stock Heads Ported, Shave, Milled, Bowls Blended, New Valves, New Springs, Ect... All That Money......they Could Have Just Went An Got Some Edel's, Afr's, Holley's, Ect....right.........so Poeple Including My Self Just Want A Little Extra Power Out Of What We Already Got (stock Heads)!!!!!!!!!!!!

Re: Porting stock heads
 

Thats EXACTLY what I want from the 302. I mean a little more power will come form a mild cam (not expensive), an intake (I need a carbed intake anyways), a decent carb (nothing special) and spray (which will be put on the 351 engine anyways. Keeping costs down and I should make a decent amount of power with that setup, eh?

Re: Porting stock heads
 

a flow bench would be ideal, but really is not needed here. Kinda kills the whole fun of doing it old school style anyhow. But what I would recommend, is finding a friend whom you can trust has been around this block a few times. That way he (or she) can show you a few tricks here or there. You can use a guage, kinda looks like an adjustable T, and use it to check the dimensions of your ports to see how close you are keeping them.

I ported mine also, although the engine is not installed yet, but I can't wait!!
Ryan

Re: Porting stock heads
 

Hmm...a simple adjustable T-shaped gauge. Sounds so simple I couldn't screw it up TOO badly..and if I do...hell, the'r estock 302 heads, I could probably get people to pay me to pick up the old heavy things for them. :) Any tips or tricks you found while porting yours?

And best of luck with them, I'd love to see what kinds of numbers they make if it ever becomes public knowledge.

Re: Porting stock heads
 

Porting stock heads is a waste of time if you do it yourself and a waste of money if you get someone else to do it.

You can find GT40 heads for 200-250 bux if you look around. There are several sets of aluminum heads that I have seen go for 4-500 bux here lately.

I had 700 bux worth of porting/polishing/milling/blending/valve springs/valve job in my stock heads.

I went with my Canfields that I bought used for 600 bux and ran about 8 tenths faster with 6 more mph.

Re: Porting stock heads
 

"FordMuscle", here's a good article on head porting:

http://fordmuscle.com/archives/2000/...ng/index.shtml

I wouldn't say it was a waste of time at all. I agree that you can get Gt-40's cheap, but for the DIY types, it doesn't take much to get a ported set of stock heads flow even better. For a pure street car, why spend the big bucks!

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I agree that it is probably a waste of money to pay someone to port stockers, but if you have the time to waste....I think it is well worth the while.

A set of aluminum heads for 400-500. Send those my way!!
Ryan

Re: Porting stock heads
 

http://www.anythingcars.com/forums/v...ic.php?t=25625

you snooze you lose. ;)

Re: Porting stock heads
 

http://www.anythingcars.com/forums/v...ic.php?t=24557

This guy sold his stage 3 ported GT40 heads for 300 bux. ;)

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Good to know they are out there, not so good at finding them though :(
Ryan

Re: Porting stock heads
 

I am so glad to see you take on such a project. I did the same 8 years ago and I still learn suff about it all the time. The reward for porting your own is wonderful. I did a set of stockers last week, I will try to send you some pics. The first set I did was good for .3 tenths, then the next set was good for .5 tenths and 4mph. I did a set of camel heads and the guy spun about half track and blew the bottom end to hell(stupid chevy man) then came back bragging that it was because of the added power. GO FOR IT, you will be happy

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Between the good air where you live and your light car the results you are able to achieve are unattainable for most of us.

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I can't say one way or another if it is worth it or not to port stock heads. Not much to lose though. Anyway, I had to clear up the "adjustable T" gauge part. If you are referring to what I think you are, that is called a telescoping gauge.

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I know that what you do to them right now will not Gain the results that I will tell right now. Do yall remeber when MM&FF did the test on POWER HEADS. JUST a head change was good for 42 HP if I remeber correct, JUST THE HEADS. Throw in a cobra and an E or B cam and an easy 50 to 70hp gain for the whole project( on the high side) But the thrill of doing it yourself is priceless

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I gotta agree, Doing it yourself gives you a since of satisfaction. Always a good starting point too.
Ryan

Re: Porting stock heads
 

Power heads have bigger valves and are cnc ported. Wish i had a cnc machine in the garage. :D

When I went from being stock to installing an explorer intake, ported heads and 1.7RR I went from a 14.46 to a 13.66 and from 96mph to 102mph.

Re: Porting stock heads
 

Interesting thread, but are all stock heads worth the time to port, I heard that the E5 and E6 heads are boat anchors, is this true?

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these HEADS HAVE A SMALLER COMBUSTION CHAMBER (HIGHER COMPRESSION RATIO)THEY WOULD BE GOOD CANIDATES FOR A PORT JOB...............

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I am not sure about E5's but E6's are junk.

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He has been talking about the e7's, unless I am mistaken. The e7's respond well to porting.
Ryan

Re: Porting stock heads
 

Update...The engine turned out to be an 86 Lincoln engine...

I'm an idiot for not running the casting numbers on the block...I'm going to go ahead and assume that these heads are completly and utterly useless? Looks like I'll be shelling out the 1700 for a good set of AFRs.

Re: Porting stock heads
 

If you were going to be porting stock heads, the e7's would definately be better.
Ryan

Re: Porting stock heads
 

Vip
The heads are the best place to start. Stock heads can be ported to gain an HONEST 25-30 HP with a good valve job. It is a job for a professional or someone very experienced with a die grinder(a Dremel tool WILL NOT get the job done). A good set of heads with a weak cam will outperform a hot cam with weak heads every day. It depends on your budget & goals between iron or aluminum. I just did a set of GT40 heads picked up 21cfm on intake, 12cfm on exhaust! I am in No. VA if you are interested.

Greg Parker
Steadfast Performance
Cylinder Head Porting
Flow Bench Testing
703.609.1200
www.steadfastperformance.com

Re: Porting stock heads
 

Well, I decided that due to the heads not even being decent heads on the engine, I'm going to cop out and buy a set of AFR 185s. They come CNC'd, so I won't have them ported professionally even, but they should slow nicely. Maybe down the road I'll buy a few tools and practice a little - maybe I'll just practice on these shitter heads I have just to see what I can do, but I'll just stay with my 302 and build it up with good heads.

Re: Porting stock heads
 

I've only went to track once since I ported my intake & heads and had them milled, added 1.7's, valve job & springs, 65mm TB.
went from best of like 8.89@78.3mph to 8.75@78.9mph 60ft stayed same 1.86-.190 range, again I've only been back once since mods (both in cold weather 11/03 11/04)
Hope to get back soon! With NITROUS!! ON A 150,000mi. short block!!!!!!

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my buddy just starting porting my factory heads the e7's i'll get you guys the stock flow numbers tomorrow and then follow up with teh after numbers.

Re: Porting stock heads
 

Sounds good, I look forward to hearing the results.

If they respond that well to porting, I might have to find somebody's junk E7s and port them myself, since the price of AFR heads could really be put to good use in beefing up other parts of the engine.

I guess at least I have a set of heads to practice on with these 86 Town Car heads...?