I got a set of good used lt1 heads cheap and I am going to port them myself. I have ported heads before, but never sbc or lt1 heads. Where do most people mess up with diy porting? I was thinking of just cleaning them up ie gasket match intake and exhaust and smooth the runners taking as little material away as possible. Will this make any power or should I just break out the grinder and see what I can do? I will flow these before they are installed so if I really destroy them I will find out before I put them on. Any suggestions from people who actually know what they are talking about will be greatly appreciated.

 

c'mon I know someone has messed up some heads before.

 

yes, you screw up by either, not taking your time, taking too much out, putting too much pressure on the grinder, not roughing up the intake afterwards and keeping it smooth, so many things can go wrong, just get a junk set and practice first, or buy another set later.

 

Not that hard to port.

The bowl..no biggie.
The guide, clean it up some.
Short radii...stay away from.
Gasket match, some runner enlargement but be cautious at the pinch, very thin there(where the push rod goes).

Just take your time.