I've had my Z since March now and have done nothing mods wise. I'm planning on getting Pacesetter no emissions LT's with 3" duals and a CAI before I put her away for the winter. I want to start the real mods in the spring (more aggressive cam, ported heads, intake). The thing is I'm wondering do I have to have my heads sent out to be ported or can I have them done locally? What are your suggestions? I live in the Boston Ma area.

 

i personally would send them off to someone how is highly reputable in porting LT1 heads such as lloyd elliott (www.elliottsportworks.com) or advanced induction(www.advancedinduction.com). both of them will sell you a great head and cam package that will work great for what you want out of the car. don't ask which one is better cause you will start a war!

 

Depends on what kind of porting is available in your area. There are, no doubt any shortages of those who claim to know what they are doing, but truth is in the results---flow numbers using 28". I went with a local shop because so many told me how good this guy was. When I got my heads back, I was not particularly thrillled. They used 22" for the flow test and I had to convert the numbers to 28" for comparison--which probably gives a bogus result. Also, when I ordered the porting, their order stated to port the heads x number of hours worth----which is stupid way to put it. The optimal way would be to say that you want the best numbers you can get---providing optimum performance.

One method would be to use CNC--computerized porting which results in having all the cyls flowing the same as the optimum ported cyl. Might cost a bit more, but if you go with a reputable CNC porter it may be worth it.

Another option is to provide your heads as cores and get a set that is already cnc'd with good flow numbers.

But again: local is ok if you have plenty of proof that they can and will do a great job with guaranteed results based on the flow numbers including volume and velocity. JMHO

 

Where are you? I'm also in Boston.

As has been said, both Lloyd and AI both have good reputations on here and other boards as well.

Sorry to hijack but newb question about head porting flow #s. What does the 28"? 28" of water right?

 

28" h2o

 

LS1Tech search function is a piece of shart so I couldn't verify, but I thought that EB Porting was up in that area. Eric Bradby if you want to search and get some background.

 

Read alot and learn a few tips then do it yourself. The things you learned and performed yourself will be priceless.

 

i would let LE do them. Head porting isnt something thats easy.

 

Head porting is easy. Doing it right is the hard part.

 

It isn't black magic either like you 2 are suggesting either. Every single good cylinder head person had to start somewhere by doing thier first set of heads.

If he is patient with his work I bet he could achieve his performance goals by doing the work himself.

 

And.....if he fs up he will have learned a lesson. If you are going to DIY, then wouldn't you want to know how they flowed or if they were consistant or anything else? There are lots of other things to learn by doing that represent less of a risk. There are classes you can take if you want to learn how to port heads, however unless you plan on doing it for a living, it will be cheaper to buy a set of AM heads for your applicaition or have someone CNC your stockers. UR choice. JMHO

 

Never said it was black magic. You can't just go in and grind the snot out of them, either. Every good person had to get a start somewhere but I highly doubt they woke up one morning and just starting grinding away on heads. If you don't know where to take material out or what to blend, then what good is that?

 

I agree, here. I even paid someone good money to port my heads and the ports were all over the place. Suppose to be at 195cc and the ports were all over between 195 and 208.... Ports that were ground thru and rewelded.... etc. I think if you were to do a very good job, you would probably put in over 50 + hrs into a set and you would want to have them flowed. Isn't that really how you would base your cam decision?

 

Wow you guys can really suck the fun out of a great learning experience. So your saying it can't be done at home then even if the time is taken to do it right and money is saved doing it?

I see now why there are so many under performing cars in here, most feel like performance can be a simple call and a credit card exchange away.

 

Ditto

Kinda like taking your car to a mechanic to get your car wrenched on