SlowMaro

anyone willing to port and polish these heads? i dont feel too confident doing it. anyone know of any good machine shops thatll do it? NONE around here will do it. i have early lb9 heads just sitting in my garage begging to replace the l03's heh ..ill obviously pay for the work, not asking for freebies....

PaveTim

What exactly are you looking to have done. I did a gasket match on my intake, polished the chambers, polished the exhaust port and smoothed the intake ports on my trick flow. Are you looking to hog out your ports of just smooth and gasket match them?

SlowMaro

i could prolly do the gasket matching and polishing myself , i just wanted the tricky stuff done by someone whos done it before y a know

Dewey316

it is really pretty easy, go to the scrap yard and get a junk head to practice on. take your time, and don't take too much material out at a time.

wesilva

iTrader: (35)

Where is your location? I am in New Mexico and I use W2 Racing Heads here in Albuquerque. Very reasonable and there is nothing like the advice from a knowledgeable porter with years of flow bench experience.

five7kid

iTrader: (14)

http://www.sa-motorsports.com/diyport.htm

These same instructions come in their Deluxe Porting Kit in poster form.

SlowMaro

im in south carolina.....ive checked every machine shop around here, no one will do it for some reason....stupid question, how do i get the valves out????

Sitting Bull

Have a machine shop strip the heads and do the rest yourself.

You don't have confidence in your own porting abilities? Welcome to the club. EVERYBODY FEELS LIKE THAT THE FIRST TIME!

Do the things you consider "easy" to begin with. After you've gasket matched 8 intake ports you WILL have a good "feel" for the die grinder and cutter.

I'm not kidding!

You will "grow" into it as you go. And you'll find a deep sense of satisfaction at the quality of work you are coming up with. By the time the bowl blending comes up you won't have any troubles.

If you need any help or advice feel free to contact me. You CAN do this

johnsjj2

I agree. The first set I did I didn't do to well on the first half. I was getting use to checking what I had done, grind, check......half way through it, I got the hang of it. The heads I have now I felt pretty go doing. Its not hard, just a little intimidating at first. Take your time, its easier to go slow and get it right, than to try and fix a bad spot.

camaronewbie

Slow Maro -
I live in NC - Raleigh area. I just did mine - I NEVER even removed a head until this job! It was no problem. Just take time, play with the grinder and get a feel for it. I'll assume I could have done more with mine with more knowledge/experience, but I didn't break anything, it didn't hurt, and it's GOT to be better than stock.

www.harborfreight.com for:
grinder - $50 - i think it was "Pittsburgh" brand
electric reostat (sp) for electric router - $25
www.discount-tools.com for:
carbide cutters - about $13 each

The electric "reostat" I used to slow down the grinder - it wants to run at 22,000 RPM's. This gadget is like the variable speed switch for your ceiling fan. I used 3 cutters - one long cone shaped, one short cone shaped, one long flame shaped - get the double ground ones - they jump/vibtrate less. The Standard Abrasives kit I only used 1/2 of- kinda a waste of money - BUT, I'd be happy to sell ya the remaining half of mine for cheap - there's plenty of it left to do a set. I'll also be happy to tell ya part numbers for this grinding stuff if you like - let me know and I'll pull my invoices. I'd also be very happy to explain in further detail exactly what I did where on the heads through email or phone - again let me know. I haven't installed mine yet. It was actually fun, and I can say "I did it!"

SlowMaro

lol ive used that line to get into virgins pants :sillylol: :sillylol:

my problem is, im not seeing what all im supposed to grind down.
i need to do a bit of research on this, and a set of trashed heads to practice on.

im not even sure these lb9 heads are even worth the effort.
im still trying to figure that part out.
if indeed these ARE early lb9 heads.

casting # 14014416...specs ..80-86...305..........1.84"/1.5" valves, 58cc chambers

i found this off some random web wite with 100 other casting #'s with specs.

Sitting Bull

Look on top of the heads for an 8 digit number. If the last three digits are 081 then those are the ones.

If they read 416 then they are identical except with perimeter valve cover bolts and slightly different angled centre intake bolts. You can grind the intake manifold bolt openings open a little more if you have a post-1986 intake.

Follow the link at the end of my sig for LOTS of pictures and how-tos. Everything you need to know is there. You can even rent a die grinder to cut down the cost. You don't need the Standard Abrasives kit, just buy 3 or 4 carbide cutters like I have pictured.

Including the folks who have generously offered FREE help on this thread, there are half a dozen more who are on this forum everyday who will jump right in to help you. What more could you want? Once you've done your first set you can make a few $$$ on side doing it for others.

The easy road to more hp and torque awaits you!

camaronewbie

Last three digits 416 - that's the head castings I just did - they are supposed to be worth the effort. Hell, just watching all those metal shavings fly was worth the effort! I practiced on the inside of the exhaust manifold for about 2 minutes to see what the grinder did - then I jumped right in. It really doesn't remove that much at a time, and really ran smooth for me - very little vibrating or chattering. Slowmaro I don't know where in SC you are, but you are even welcome to bring your heads to me in Raleigh, NC and I'll show you first hand what I did - I haven't installed mine yet.

SlowMaro

well ..heres the funny part about this whole manifold deal, i just bored out the 86 and earlier performer manifold to fit onto my l03 maybe 1 month ago lol, so theres no doubt itll fit BACK o nthe same heads it came off of.....anyways im in columbia, 4 hours away, i might just have to come to raleigh after all, my best friend lives up there and its due time to see her anyways....ill bring the heads, and i have a plae to stay for however log i want to stay. so if you feel up to showing me what all im supposed to do, we will do it where ever. hell maybe even swap the heads ...i had never pulled a head before a week ago so im reallly new to this....i dunno if the heads even need to go to a machine shop ...they were off of a reman engine that had 16k on it. so i think the heads are good to go...ill have machine shop take a look first just in case. have em pull the valves and all....seeing how i dont know how to do it... oh well, we will figure something out, im in no real rush, i got a tranny to pay for first before any more mods. hopefully in 6 months ill have somewhere near 300hp out of a l03, which would be fairly impressive. seeing how it was 70 stock :rockon: :rockon:

Vader

'416s are great heads to port. Plan on 1.94" intake valves and a little chamber work around that valve to unshroud the perimeter.

These templates are a good guide to opening the ports for flow. Scale up the graphic until the scale is exactly 6" long and print it:

wesilva

iTrader: (35)

Vader,
Very nice! This is the first time someone has posed that there is definitely a method to the porting madness. There is a port shape you are striving for to achieve optimum results. These are all different for different castings. Many before us have reached this. Why reinvent the wheel?!

SlowMaro

i seriously dont know how to bore out the intake valves.....im not touching that job, that has to be done like, PERFECTLY...

Sitting Bull

No one told you to do the enlarging of the intake valves, or valve guide replacement or milling for flatness or enlarging the valve spring seats if you go that far. Those must be done by a machine shop.

Everything else you do yourself and thereby save major $$$

Momar

Man, now if I could just find someone that has made templates like that for the sportsman II's it would be awsome. I will be pulling the 416's off of my motor after I get the sportsman II's ported. They have been ported, but still have the stock valve size. We will be putting the larger valves in and reblending so I will use those to check to see how it compares to the job on my 416s. They will be going on my brothers car when I get the sportsmans on so those will probably come in handy.

Ben