Lots of respect DMoss69.

"You Cant Score if you Dont Shoot"

LT1 heads are pretty easy to find and cheap to replace. This is a good pair of heads to learn to port with if you have an LT1. I feel the same way you do, I don't like any one else touching my motor. Professional or not. It eats me up knowing that I have to let a machine shop do machine work to my parts because I don't have the equipment to do it myself. Porting your own heads takes *****, especially knowing that the risk is there to ruin them. I have a buddy that works at a race shop here in town. He ports heads for RACE engines all day long. The shop is called Kotzur Racing Heads, go figure. He recommended that I port the stock LT1 heads myself, then bring them to him to flow test, and check out the port quality. I recommend you get advice from whoever flow tested your heads. See what they say. Get advice from someone who ports heads all day. Not from guys who give their money to them.

I respect everyones opinion on this thread, and do agree with everyone to an extent. I don't recommend porting LT4 or aftermarket heads unless you really know what you are doing, but stock LT1 heads? If you screw up you can always get another pair for under $400. There is a price for learning. How much did it cost you guys to go to college? Not $400.

GOOD LUCK D-MOSS

 

Nothing wrong with learning... no one is arguing against experimentation. I am however going to argue your definition of learning.

I can go down to my local library, do a few searches and find books on just about anything from learning to play the guitar to the specifics of performing a triple bypass surgery. How many people want a good deal on triple bypass surgery now?

Hmm, no faith in my learning ability?

You can't truely learn anything without all the necessary tools. You can gain knowledge of things, but without the tools to analyze, critique and test theory you are pretty much stuck with book knowledge and not much else.

Same thing with flowing heads. Find me a porter worth his salt who doesn't own or have access to a flowbench, swirl meter or some form of data collecting equipment. Aint gonna happen and you aren't going to find meaningful results from guesstimation.

In the scope of this discussion and based on Dmoss' expectations... I still say he took the wrong path. If he were just looking to build a few extra horses then I'd say, "Yeah, go for it" but judging from his previous queries, I don't think his goals will come to fruition with this approach.

Sometimes it's tough to hear what you don't want to but I'm not much on beating around the bush. I wish you luck though Dmoss.

And I speak as one of those who has done his homework on head porting... I don't know many people who would consider me a dunce where heads are concerned. I've also done my own porting but didn't have the resources to properly educate myself. So, I left the job to those who did and found alot of power I had been wasting my time and money losing.

I don't mind spending money but I've always had a real problem with spending a dollar to save a dime.

My 2 centavos.

-Mindgame

 

 

i'm gonna have to agree with mindgame, you seem to want ground breaking power and a pro is one of the only ways to go for that. believe me as a college student i understand being unable/unwilling to pay a pro. and though i'm only 20 i've built a least 3x that many engines. i've talked extensively to head porters engine builders machinists etc etc and i have a stack of books to the cieling about every auto subject you can think of(engineering student). the one thing i can say for sure is that there is no stumbling into a huge power setup everything in the hottest engines is intentional. theres a lot of math and other things to be considered. for every 10 things you hear about on here that you've never heard before in regaurds to engine building theres another 100 you've never heard of and would never think about. the other end of that is you're not likely to hear it at all unless you work for an engine builder or are VERY good friends with them. if you knew and could learn everything they know from a BB they'd be out of work. and please stow the $2000 budget intake comments when you know as much as bret does you go and give your services away. figure up the cost of the core he's using and all the parts and i can already tell you the machining he's done isnt simple or quick to do.

 

I talked to the machine shop that flowed my heads, and they said to leave them alone. They were good.

The very first machine shop that I took them to after I had ported them told me that they were good, to leave them alone. That was when the 3 angle valve job was put on them.

I'm going to talk to another engine builder and what he thinks about grinding down the valve guides, which I think may reward us in some unwanted turbulance and gain CFM.

On the other hand, the machine shops told me that this isn't a good practice to do considering that it will wear the valve guides out faster on an everyday driver, but race engines, they said they would do it.

I may be grinding again for more cfm.

If not, these heads were strong on the car before, I just didn't have the cam matched for the RPM band that I wanted. but anyways, I love the fact that I did it, and I'll do it again and again. It will get better, promise.

97WRAITH--GM 847 maybe the route that I go also. Just don't know yet. Trying to figure that one out.



D Moss