rebuilding my 79 302

[bmxmon]

Awesome. I already have a dremel, but no carbide bits. Would it be ok to just use regular bits?? I put my intake manifold back on, so i can lift it into the back of my truck and bring it to school. When i was putting it on, i looked into the intake and exhaust ports of the heads, but didnt see any of the large humps of the emissions stuff. Will i be able to see them once i get the heads off?? It wasnt real rough inside, but i know i can get it smoother. Thanks for all the help everybody, you all rock. I dont think my car would be anywhere close to running if it wasnt for mustangworks. Ive had alot of questions, and everybody has answered them all, again, you rock!!

*Also, again, what is the combustion chamber shaving thing, that would build up my compression?? How much does that run?? I would guess that would be a huge improvement, but probably cost a pretty penny. Always something to consider down the road though.

[88fivepointoh]

the ports are filled with oil and carbon that has filled in some of the grooves and bumps.. once you clean it up, you'll see the roughness..

[bmxmon]

My school has a parts washer, so it looks like i will put that to good use. My school also has satalite clocks, which seems like it could be a bit of a waste of tax payers money....

[BLOCKER]

Man, I say good luck to you,
I would like to offer a peice of advice.
1. Establish a plan and follow through with don't change your mind half way.... (end up costing more)
2. take your time, don't rush anything, be meticulous... patience will pay off in the end...(the one part of the rebuild you state "that will be good enough" will be the part that fails and causes you to go through this whole process again)

[bmxmon]

Yeah, that seems like good advice. I think my plan is to use that rebuild kit from PAW, and then to port my heads. If i dont get it done during school, i dont think that its that big of a deal. When porting my heads, do i just make the entire port the size of the gasket for my headers/intake manifold?? That one article someone posted a link too seemed like it would have been awesome, but requires a subscription. I did find some pages all about it though, I just need to read through the information i printed off. I pulled the valve cover off of it the other day, and was expecting to see rockers mounted on a rail. What i got is that they arent, mounted on the stud thing or something. I will add a pic. Is this how its supposed to be??? I thought the 79 heads had a rail system.

[Ieatcamaros]

Those are pedestal mount rockers. That is right for the 79.

[crazypete]

Go here:

http://www.cmc.net/~xero/Mousesporting.html

This site has wonderful visual guides to porting both the e7te's and ther gt-40's. I dont think the 79's have either but the principles are the same:

1. Port match as the good gentlemen have aready mentioned. Match both the intake and the heads to the gasket
2. Smooth everything till it's smooth as glass. This includes the combustion chamber and the runners. Yes, regular dremel bits work but take longer. I use the rotary file attachment and the 3/16 flapwheel for the combustion chambers.
3. Cut the combustion chamber sides out to the gasket next to the valves (unshroud the valves)
4. Cut back the valveguides. Grind each side till it looks like a football with the walls sloping up to it, not sharp or angular. I went in and shortened them a bit too.
5. Smooth and round anything else that looks like it's restricting
6. From the valveseat down the throat to the bowl just smooth it all and make sure the valveseat ring doesnt have a lip.

Most ford heads benefit a lot from exhaust port work since these tend to be anemic.

Have fun!