porting heads...

[ericjon262]

I'm thinking about doing some portwork of my 3500, anyone have any reccomendations for me? any little tips or tricks? are there any thin spots in the castings that should be avoided? also, anyone know of a good place to get carbide burs from?

[alpinestar10]

Not to sound like a dick But no one here will help you with any tips. I dont have any experience or else i would..

[geoffinbc]

Check out Dr. J's http://www.j-performance.com/index.p...d=24&Itemid=39 he has a good reputation and lots of supplies and tips. There are so many tutorials and rules out there that it can get confusing. David Vizard's book "How to Build Horsepower" has instructions on how to build a $150 flow bench and great tips on porting.

[Superdave]

I get all my porting supplies from Northern Tool.


As for porting tips, http://www.popularhotrodding.com/tec...g/viewall.html seems to have decent general info.. I've got too much time into mine to hand out the specifics though.


It's very easy to screw up a 3500 head, take it slow.

[ericjon262]

Thanks for the help guys, I've heard you need to oil your carbides when porting aluminum heads, what do you oil them with? also, how often?

Superdave, when you say the 3500 head is easy to screw up, do you mean hit water or just do more harm than good?

[geoffinbc]

Aluminum has specific carbides. Just a bit of cutting oil goes a long way. Do not use carbides for ferrous metals on aluminum or they will clog up and bounce all over the place.

[ericjon262]

Aluminum has specific carbides. Just a bit of cutting oil goes a long way. Do not use carbides for ferrous metals on aluminum or they will clog up and bounce all over the place.

ok, I never noticed a difference! they'll say ferrour or non ferrous on them?

[geoffinbc]

The difference is in the spacing and angle of the tooth. Ones for aluminum look like this

[ericjon262]

thanks, I'm trying to find some, I looked on dr. J's, and I didn't see any tools or supplies, do you have to email them for that kind of stuff?

[Superdave]

On the contrary, the ones for ferrous metals work great. I give mine an occasional squirt with WD-40 and hardly ever have any clogging. They also leave a great texture.


It's easy to do more harm than good, don't try to do anything extreme.. stick to the basics like getting rid of any casting flaws, clean up the valve seats and polish up the combustion chambers. Don't bother with gasket matching either the intake side or the exhaust side of the heads.


I'd pay more attention to the LIM and UIM vs the heads since they flow so well stock. Gasket match them, get rid of the casting marks and in the UIM round out the transition from the inside of the plenum to the ports.

[ericjon262]

Thanks, I think I found place that has every burr one could possibly need,

http://www.bestcarbide.com/index.php/products/carbide-burs/

note: pricing is by request... if you have to ask you can't afford it!

[Superdave]

http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200327495_200327495

http://search.eastwood.com/search?w=carbide+burr

[geoffinbc]

On the contrary, the ones for ferrous metals work great. I give mine an occasional squirt with WD-40 and hardly ever have any clogging. They also leave a great texture.

Try the (good) ones made for aluminum and you will agree the ones for ferrous metals suck on aluminum. If you already have the ones for ferrous metals and don't want to spend much money to do one set of heads then sure go ahead and use them.

[Superdave]

I'm sure the ferrous ones remove material slower but that's not always a bad thing. Ben uses the same ones on his heads, i'd post pics but he removed the closeup ones from the store.

[ericjon262]

@ Dave, I saw both of those already too, I was looking for the aluminum specific burrs, I'm gonna email that site and see about getting some pricing.