Mmmmmmm new toys

[Fordeatinz71]

i'd change "performance shops".  you can pretty much ALWAYS gain from port matching.  on ANY combo.  heck, you can even open your ports up a little normally, and get a little more...just be careful and you can do wonders with a dremel...

[SUX2BU99]

Good info, guys. Each shop I consult on a price to do the cam/head swap I will ask about port matching as well.

My cardomain site is:  http://www.cardomain.com/id/sux2bu99  My truck is on page 6 of the black Dodge Avenger. I still have to separate my truck onto it's own page.

[jonkmbll89]

Nice truck. You got some money and time in your stereo. You did a good job on your body work and stereo.

[SUX2BU99]

I'm trying   Stereo is in a very long process of rebuilding, but it's getting there bit by bit. Body work too. It took me 2 months to do that little cab corner repair. Most handy guys could do it in a weekend, but it was my first body repair and my available time is very limited.  I tend to do a little, then extremely thoroughly think through and research the next small step so I'm not making a mistake. Then I go and do it and usually goof something up lol  Whattya do eh?

[Captkaos]

I tend to do a little, then extremely thoroughly think through and research the next small step so I'm not making a mistake. Then I go and do it and usually goof something up lol  Whattya do eh?

Sounds like the story of my life..

[SUX2BU99]

It's probably going to be a long while until I get these heads installed (like next fall at the earliest). The heads came bare in a cardboard box. Should I bag them or oil them up or something so they dont start to rust? I presume there's an oil film on them now but not entirely sure.

[TexasRed]

When my vortec heads were gone through, I sprayed them down with a WD-40 like substance and wrapped them in garbage bags. Man I need to get on building my engine.

[VileZambonie]

yeah just spray them down with some light oil but keep them in a DRY place.

[SUX2BU99]

Sounds good. I have them in the garage right now, but our humidity in my part of the country can swing quite a bit so I should get them in the house. What I probably should do is take the opportunity to paint them. My block is orange right now, but it's not exactly fresh. I figured on painting them black rather than a stock-looking orange which I'm sure won't match the block. Any good paint prep advice for cast iron? Use engine paint I'm sure, but what about primer?

[the dan]

not to jack the thread, but since it wa mostly on port matching, how do you port match vortec heads to the intake? there is this huge gasket opening probably about 1/8-1/4" around the perimerter of the port is exposed with the gaskets that you buy, thats alot to take off..

[HAULIN IT]

Guys, Please understand that I am NOT a professional engine builder.This is only my opinion based on talking to builders & doing some limited flow bench work. You should not be grinding a port to a gasket size (this is a size made up by a company for often times several port sizes,ect.) Port velocity is your primary goal, especially on a heavy truck. Only if the head port is smaller (metal in the way of normal flow) than the intake, should you remove it. If the air/fuel comes down in intake port, gets an 1" from the end & bells out,goes down the head port 1" & tapers down, this does NOTHING for performance & may hurt. Now if you have a flow bench to accurately measure airflow & find that an area, once ground out improves flow, your on the right track, but there is still more to it. I feel "port matching" is way over rated. The improved power comes from a good radius on the port floor into the bowl area,the guide boss, area just under the valve head & the valve job itself. Some common sense enters into this, if you look at flow from the inlet (carb/throttle body) through the outlet (exhaust manifold/header) you want no intrusions. I don't want to start arguing, but in this case I feel it is wise to speak. Have the shop bolt it together & enjoy your new power & forget about if you lost any because you didn't "port match", because you didn't. Only in higher flow engines (about 220cfm on the intake) are you going to start seeing port entry size the problem. Just my free two cents, Lorne   

[ccz145a]

The term "blueprinting" come to mind here, the term is used to describe the process of coating the a surface face with buleprint ink, then while still wet, lay the other part in place and pull it off. Whatever is not inked on the other surface is what you grind off.

All Vile is saying is use the gasket as the ink and match both ports to it. It must have worked for him before, but surely you would have to verify the gasket match would not cause problems before you start.

The optimal approach would leave a perfecly smooth, straight passage, blueprinting will do that. Vile's method may leave a slight widening where the surfaces meet, but this is still better than mis-matched and offset and the tubulence that would cause.

In the end, it is your engine. Do what your comfortable doing.

[VileZambonie]

port matching your intake reduces inlet turbulence which will make porting tight radius', enlarged runners, multi angle valve jobs a complete waste of time if you don't do it! You DON'T need a flow bench to understand how simple this is. You can see how this works with running water out of your tap. Turn the faucet on and observe the stream of water. Now stick the edge of your finger into the edge of the stream. You will see the water bend and actually has a velocity gain. This is the idea behind porting tight smooth radius' ...Now stick your finger under the stream of water and watch the turbulence send the water bouncing all over the place and reducing the time it takes the water to leave the tap and make it to the basin. Air flowing in the intake and running into the side of the cylinder head if not properly matched will cause the same effect. It's a very simple and easy concept which results in a very good performance gain. If you feel that it's over-rated so be it but I speak from experience.

As far as to address your port matching question the dan, the idea is not to port match to the gasket but to the components without the gasket interfering. In other words the air stream should flow unimpeded into the cylinder head. You can make a paper trace of the cylinder head and cut out a port match. Lay the intake gaskets in place along with your paper trace aligned with duct tape. Start all of your intake bolts. Flip the tape onto intake so your trace will not move and now remove the intake. Using a fine sharpe trace the areas you will need to port. This is about as close as you are going to get it.

[VileZambonie]

If you read my post as port match to the gasket size perhaps I wasn't clear enough. In most applications you can just use your old intake gaskets as a stencil. If that wasn't clear I appologize.

[HAULIN IT]

Chad, As usual you will get varying opinions to a question asked. I'm a new guy so I don't want to ruffle feathers. In this case (you not spending "hobbie time" swapping parts, but paying someone) I see nothing to gain & possibly some shop getting "in your pocket" for something done improperly. I had just written a long post on why I feel this way & how I feel "port matching" should be done, but I've deleted that as to not "stir the pot". Dan please do not grind your Vortec heads to the gasket size,this has NO benefit. Anyone wanting to read about MY OPINION