Basic Cylinder Head Porting 1
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Basic Cylinder Head Porting 1 D.I.Y. Basic Cylinder Head Porting Here's an interesting head porting fact: In many cases, the greatest performance gain per dollar spent comes upon application of basic porting procedures to a production cylinder head. These basics can be done by any do-it-yourselfer, even those with no porting experience, using the Deluxe Porting Kit and the Gasket Removal Kit (part nos. 260001 and 260005) from the Standard Abrasives Motorsports Division, along with a die grinder and some common hand tools. There is a significant difference between basic head porting for a street- high-performance or weekend racer application and the very complex cylinder head work you see in a Pro Stock drag race motor or a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race engine. Doing full-on race heads requires the services of an experienced cylinder head professional, so Pro Stock, It is easy for the do-it-yourselfer to port cylinder heads. NEXTEL Cup and similar heads are best left to experts. Basic head All you need is the Standard Abrasives Deluxe Porting porting, however, is easy...so easy that even beginning hot rodders can Kit, some common tools and some free time. do it well. Basic Porting Will Once your porting project turns to that, you're beyond Improve Your the scope of basic porting techniques. Engine’s Performance. Why is basic port work important to your engine's Basic cylinder head performance? It reduces the restriction in the engine's porting will improve intake and exhaust tracts. Reduce that restriction and the performance of you let more air into the cylinders. If you have more air, any production you can add more fuel. The result is increased cylinder head by horsepower. removing flaws that Most of the work in a basic porting project is focused on come through mass The components of the Porting Kit are production. Basic neatly packed in a compartmented box. reducing those restrictions which are caused by: 1) There are enough abrasive materials to port "steps" that may obstruct intake air flow as it transitions porting does not a set of V8 heads. attempt to correct from the intake manifold to a smaller intake port entry in any design or the head; 2) casting bumps, ridges or other marks, such engineering deficiencies. as those you may find on port floors or roofs; 3) sharp edges, such as those you will find around the valve guide bosses at the top of the valve pockets; and 4) the point where the intake port floor curves down to the valve seat. Basic porting, while somewhat time consuming, is not A more significant point of restriction is where the intake or hard work. It takes about 10-12 hours to do a set of exhaust port floor curves down to average V8 heads. Some week nights and a weekend meet the valve seat. Called the invested in your heads and your basic porting project The area of the valve guide that "short side radius," it is also a protrudes into the intake or place where sharp edges and will be complete. exhaust port is always a place roughness pose a threat to flow. In where sharp edges and this cutaway of a production Time is money, so we are not going to tell you doing restriction to flow are found. A cylinder head, the short side basic porting project seeks to radius has not one but two very your own heads will save a lot; however, most smooth those sharp edges. sharp edges. professional cylinder head porting businesses will © 2006 Standard Abrasives Basic Cylinder Head Porting 2 charge $400-$600 for what is sometimes known in the powered by motors rated at trade as a "street/strip" port/polish job. Your basic porting 2.5 horsepower or more will project, done with the Standard Abrasives Porting Kit, work well. The air system will allow you to spend that $400-$600 on some other should be equipped with an performance enhancement you want. adjustable pressure regulator. The abrasive The project is made up of six sub-tasks: products' maximum safe 1. Intake port entry enlargement, surface finishing speed is 18,000-20,000 and port matching. rpm. If an air grinder's 2. Smooth the intake short side radii, valve guides maximum rpm exceeds that, and valve pockets. you must reduce the air 3. Smooth the exhaust short side radii, valve pressure with the guides and bowls. regulator so that speed is 4. Exhaust port and bowl polishing. not exceeded. 5. Combustion chamber polishing. 6. Intake manifold port matching. While the never-exceed This particular air compressor speed is 18,000-20,000 has a built-in pressure regulator. Five of these six tasks reduce restriction in the intake The pressure control on the rpm, best durability of the and exhaust tracts. The remaining step, polishing the panel selects the regulated abrasive products is combustion chambers, inhibits carbon build-up, pressure. The gauge on the achieved when the grinder panel reads regulated pressure decreasing an engine's tendency to detonate or "knock" not the tank pressure. If you use runs at 10,000-12,000 rpm. under heavy load. an air grinder, whatever Obviously, measuring the compressed air source you use die grinder's speed is should have an adjustable After we touch on materials, tools and safety regulator. difficult; however, most tool precautions, we are going to walk you through the manufacturers cite the specifics of a basic port job. As an example, we'll port a maximum speed either in the unit's instructions or on a standard cast iron head as used on a 5.0-liter Chevrolet specification plate attached to the tool. Suppose Small-Block V8; however, all basic porting techniques maximum speed of your unit is 20,000 rpm, but you can be applied to the head or heads on any engine, want to run it at 10,000. Operate the grinder at half regardless of its manufacturer, configuration or number throttle and listen to the noise it makes. Then, run it at of cylinders. full throttle and adjust the pressure regulator such that the noise is about the same as before. That will To illustrate the improvement that comes with basic approximate 10,000 rpm. porting work, at the end of this web page, we'll post flow test results, both before and after porting. The pressure regulator is important for another reason. You hold a die grinder in both hands, one on the rear of Materials, the tool and the other on the front of the unit. The front Tools and hand controls the grinder and operates the throttle. It is Safety easier to manipulate a die grinder with the throttle wide The first items open than it is to both control the grinder and modulate you need are the throttle at the same time. our Standard Abrasives You may be using an electric die grinder. That is Deluxe Porting acceptable as long as its maximum rpm is below the Kit and our This display shows all the items one needs to 18,000-20,000 rpm limit. Because electric grinders are port a set of heads the easy, Standard Abrasives often capable of exceeding that by a significant margin, Standard way. Abrasives 3-inch an electrical device allowing the user to reduce the tool's Gasket Removal Kit. These contain all the abrasive speed is necessary. Additionally, speed regulation of an products required to perform a basic porting job on a electric grinder will be necessary if you want to use the pair of cast iron or aluminum cylinder heads. abrasives at 10,000-12,000 rpm. The components in these kits are designed for mounting Additional tools and materials required are: A 5/64-in. in a die grinder having a maximum speed of 18,000- hex key (Allen wrench), the die grinder's chuck 20,000 rpm and a 1/4-in. diameter collet or "chuck." Do wrenches, a set of the intake manifold gaskets you will not use an 1/8-inch collet grinder of the type used in use when you assemble the engine, a set of intake hobby or arts and crafts work. manifold bolts, a scribe, machinist's bluing (either brush- on or spray-on), a pair of four-inch long 2x4 wood blocks An air-powered die grinder is desirable because of its and junk intake and exhaust valves that fit your heads. relatively low cost and variable speed. An air grinder will require a compressed air source. Most compressors None of the techniques used in a basic porting project © 2006 Standard Abrasives Basic Cylinder Head Porting 3 are dangerous when proper safety procedures are The point of this exercise is to get a feel for the die followed; however, misuse of the tools or failure to grinder fitted with different tools. Prior to starting your observe safety procedures may result in injury. practice, use the wood blocks to support the head in a manner that makes the head deck and intake and Porting work throws lots of metal chips around, so the exhaust port surfaces easy to reach. Lift up the head first thing you need to protect are your eyes. The and place a block between your work bench and a head minimum protection is shatterproof eye wear designed bolt boss or other surface of the head that will sit on the for industrial use. Better is a set of goggles with a block. shatterproof lens. Best is a face shield made of shatterproof material.