zacharyhorn

iTrader: (1)

Combo is in signature. I still haven't had a chance to get my car on the dyno and tuned but I was sort of curious to see if it would be worth the money on having my heads ported. What would be a ball park increase in power over what i have now? (heads are out of the box) Does anyone know ball park costs in having this done? I'm on a tight budget with my work and this economy. Right now I am working on running new larger fuel supply and return line. (return line is too small for my pump)

Thanks,

brutalform

You have a nice package there. IMO, the heads can be improved with some porting and cleaning up. Find out from the manufacturer what flow numbers the heads have now. You already have 215 runners with a 355 engine. They might be optimal now with the camshaft lift you have. Dont make sense to have the heads flow more at a determined lift, if your camshaft is not large enough. Especially if you are on a buget. If someone ports them, and the flow will signifigantly increase, you might be shelling out for a larger cam as well to get the benefit. Now, on the other hand, you may need some work to optimize the cam you have now. I would get the flow numbers, and at what lift before shelling out any bucks.

BTW, what numbers does the car run now?

brutalform

Sorry, I re read the part about not having any numbers yet.

zacharyhorn

iTrader: (1)

As soon as I get my fuel line situation taken care of and get the car running again I'm going to take it to the track and shoot for trap speed. My E.T. is going to be terrible anyway due to traction.

brutalform

What tires do you plan on using? DR, or slick?

zacharyhorn

iTrader: (1)

Since I'm still using the 10 bolt rear end I will be using a 255 DR on the stock wheel. (stock look, stock hood and wheels)

brutalform

Yea, if you were running an auto, your rear would probably survive for a bit, but with the T-56, its going to take some more abuse IMO. Though a few members on here have had the 10 bolts survive, and yours is at least upgraded.

My old 92 Formula used to kill rears with the T-5, and Tremec TKO. I went with a Currie 9 inch, and eventually with a 700R4, and that was pretty much a done deal after that. Drivetrain problems were a thing of the past. Hope you can 60 ft hard enough to get some good numbers!!

zacharyhorn

iTrader: (1)

With money tight I'm going to have to keep this rear end around for quite awhile. My goal this year once I get my combo running good and everything else up to par, I just want to run about 115 - 116 mph trap speed. I'm not to concerned about E.T. just yet.

brutalform

Good luck, and post up the results when you get them.

xpndbl3

iTrader: (5)

i wouldn't bother porting them if you have to baby the rear end already figure 800 for a starting estimate on a hand porting and it only goes up from there.

anthony714

iTrader: (5)

for starters porting isnt a good "dollar for horsepower" mod..it doesnt increase horsepower as much as folk would think. it good for maximizing your entire package and also to give a person that extra boost of horsepower so to speak. with that said stop...........you have a relatively smaller cam ,215 ccs heads. i dont see why youd want or need porting at this time. bigger is not always better. look at 60s heads. the thinking wa s big big big..well over 7000 rpm great but on street they suck. nowadays its all about "velocity" of the air flow,not necessarily the cfm..your current heads have good enough flow #s for your set up. is there room for improvement,yes but for thwe money no, at least not yet. also get cf, #s for your stock heads then compare them with same heads ported buttttttttttttt dont go right to the 500-600-700 lift #s like everyone does. yes those are the big #s but you have a 530 cam...ummmmmmmmmm youll never see 600+lift and you will see 500 lift but for only a small percentage of the time. your main focus should be the 300-500 lift#s. thats the reality of a street motor. them are the numbers you should be concerend about since that is where you engine will live. porting helps throughout but not as much in the lower lifts and thats why folk get disappionted with port jobs. they spend tons on a port job,increase flow over 500 lift yet have a 500 lift cam...you have better optins to spend your money on right now.
oh word of the wise...you want to port 215cc heads yet you have a 190-200 cc intake manifold?????? dont make sense to use 215 cc heads with a 195cc manifold. id suggest you use some money on a manifold if you want to increase airflow. imho.....good luck and burn em down

DIGGLER

iTrader: (1)

port size is very important, as is the port shape, and valvejob. a 40-50+ rwhp gain from port work is not uncommon on an n/a street car motor. good luck getting that out of a cam or some other single component.
i went from 375rwhp to 425rwhp with my gta by getting the LT1 heads ported.

anthony714

iTrader: (5)

it means nothing if the porter knows nothing. ive seen too many guys take the die grinder,hollow out ports,shine em up and say "here" look how big these ****ers are.........60 hp on a street car from a port job????? when youre starting with a decent 215cc head? i doubt it and a good port job well over 1000 dollars,more like 2000+........id be suprised if they could be done in under 20 hours..more like 30-40 depending on the work x hourly rayes of over 50 bucks........there aint no simple rule of thumb but simply put he doesnt need porting "at this time"

cp87GTA

What I'm about to say isn't meant to be a smart *** or any thing, but the heads are probably to big for the engine. Throwing good money after bad will keep you broke. To make them a good set of heads you're looking at many hours of porting by hand. If it is primarly a street car, putting another 50 or 100 hp will do nothing but tear up parts faster. MOST guys start at the wrong end when building a car, myself included. Build it from the the back to the front, you'll much more money ahead when you're done. Build yourself a new engine when you know how much power you really want, and match your parts then. More flow is NOT what you need in my opinion.

anthony714

iTrader: (5)

i agree heads may be a tad too much but i assumed he has them already and is mor eor less stuck with them. they do make a good base though for future improvements.

zacharyhorn

iTrader: (1)

Yes I have them on my motor already. This is a street / strip car. Mainly run it around on the back roads on the weekends. I eventually want to go with a decent size solid roller cam in due time. Just getting opinions here.

crazy_hotrodder

I am working part time for a Machine and port shop, 90% of the port work in the shop has nothing to do with any substancial increase of port volume. The number one thing you have to know when you port is what mods, where, move air smoothly and more efficiantly. every model of heads from every single manufacturer is different. I can't even begin to tell you the answers myself but I am around people who know exactly what your Iron eagles need to flow better. Bob the owner of the shop, does some crazy stuff and if you are looking for someone I can see what he can do for you but he is here in Southern California. I can at least ask him what will make these better. Most of the time the best flow improvements are to be found in the bowl transition, with most heads benifiting in the short turn radious, he also smooths out the sand casting texture in the ports nothing crazy but takes maybe 10 min a port. Those kind of mods yield better flow numbers up top but the more time someone spends the better flow you will have. You will probably see in the neighborhood of a 10-20 cfm difference on a full port. There is more to consider than just cfm too you are also messing with fuel suspention, and improving your motors ability to scavange. The biggest improvements will be had on the top end most likly and if that is where you are looking to improve, I would look into what you can do in that performer rpm too at the same time, a shop will likly charge you less if they can stand at the bench with more work and they can stay focused on what you have and what you need for longer. Sorry that this is so long just wanted to help.

radical82

I agree with those who said your heads are too big now.... Porting is not a matter of making things bigger, but more a matter of equalizing the flow and minimizing restrictions in the runners, around the valve guid, and on race engines the valve size itself. Porting heads without checking and verifying the work on a flow bench is nothing more then guesswork and usually results in decreasing the overall performance of the engine. A street engine the size of yours would probably do better on the dyno with a set of 180 to 185 cc heads, they would make the best power at the rpm range normally used on the street. .

Your money would be better spent on a good rear end, gears, suspension, and tires so that you could actually hook up the power you have now. There's a whole lot more that goes into a hi performance car then just big horse engines!!!!

jbenge

iTrader: (2)

There is a lot of power to be gained by having the heads ported. Those dart heads respond very well to porting. Be sure to have a reputable shop do the porting, like others have said you can do more harm that good if you don't know what you are doing when it comes to porting. I've had great luck using cfm performance. http://www.cfmperformance.com/


As always though its about putting a well matched combination together, gearing, converter, cam etc.