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Pics of my Oval port heads after grinding

LLADNAR

CEG'er
Joined
Jan 5, 2007
Messages
231
Location
NE Kansas
Here are the pics of one of my heads,, both are finished and looking good,, the main reason i am posting is mainly to brag,, i am not going to be using any epoxy in the injector valleys left over from the original setup. Bugzuki, one of the members on the board is making steel plates that cover the valleys, so you would never have to worry about epoxy or JB Weld falling down into your heads. You would silicone the plate to the head, and be able to use the stock lower intake gasket. But Bugzuki is working on a gasket to go under the plates,,,, the plates in the pics are not the ones that cover the valleys,(but are earlier designs of the same product) i will be receiving those next week and will post pics of the how i did it for anyone who is interested in getting some of these,, I think this is a great product. the possibility of epoxy falling into the engine at any time was very frightening to me and actually was the main reason i wanted to go hybrid cause at least the epoxy involved in that would just fall in the crankcase if it went sour. but now i am happy as hell.

IM000752.jpg


IM000753.jpg
 
Looks very nice. So was this your first time doing any sort of head work? Im thinking when I rebuild my motor down the road I want to do this to some oval port heads to get rid of the crappy EWP. I wouldnt imagine it would be all that hard, just very time consuming. Id rather just go slow and get it right if it was my first time doing it. Looks like a fun little project though. Oh yeah, where did you get the grinding kit?
 
Looks very nice. So was this your first time doing any sort of head work? Im thinking when I rebuild my motor down the road I want to do this to some oval port heads to get rid of the crappy EWP. I wouldnt imagine it would be all that hard, just very time consuming. Id rather just go slow and get it right if it was my first time doing it. Looks like a fun little project though. Oh yeah, where did you get the grinding kit?

no not my first time porting,, i was a Probe guy before and they had very similar motors. yes time consuming took about 3-4 hrs and i used a dremel and a 1/4" air grinder and the porting kit i bought from Snap-On
 
Glad to see you finished the heads. :cool: They look really good. Thanks for the plug. I will send the final product tomorrow at lunch. You should get them Thursday or Friday.

The Laser Cutter should be done with the batch of intake plates tomorrow. They work pretty quick.:D I am still trying to get a gasket company to respond.:shrug:
 
JB Weld isn't the only solution...

Why not do it right and have the heads welded? Find a reputable welder who can do it with TIG or MIG.

Although I would normally send them out and have the work done via TIG, I have the parts to convert my MIG welder for use with AL. Can't wait to try it out!
 
JB Weld isn't the only solution...

Why not do it right and have the heads welded? Find a reputable welder who can do it with TIG or MIG.

Although I would normally send them out and have the work done via TIG, I have the parts to convert my MIG welder for use with AL. Can't wait to try it out!

why do that when you can slap an inexpensive plate on top of your porting and be done with it. plus i have 2 other reasons why this is a good thing.

1. Not everybody is going to pull the heads on their oval port engines, or have a machine shop nearby they can use

2. It is my opinion that the injector valleys are cut at too shallow of an angle, but lets be honest there isn't enough material in the head to cut it out at the proper angle. but consider this, a plate that raises the intake slightly also helps that shallow angle and gives the injector slightly more spraying room.

in my opinion this is a very good option for those using epoxy, i know it wasn't the only option before, but for the reason that not everybody pulls the heads it is a GREAT supstitute to epoxy.

pulling the heads and having tons of material welded in is great go ahead and do that. i for one like the plates:cool:
 
why do that when you can slap an inexpensive plate on top of your porting and be done with it. plus i have 2 other reasons why this is a good thing.

1. Not everybody is going to pull the heads on their oval port engines, or have a machine shop nearby they can use

2. It is my opinion that the injector valleys are cut at too shallow of an angle, but lets be honest there isn't enough material in the head to cut it out at the proper angle. but consider this, a plate that raises the intake slightly also helps that shallow angle and gives the injector slightly more spraying room.

in my opinion this is a very good option for those using epoxy, i know it wasn't the only option before, but for the reason that not everybody pulls the heads it is a GREAT supstitute to epoxy.

pulling the heads and having tons of material welded in is great go ahead and do that. i for one like the plates:cool:


I like your way of thinking! :cool: I also like the job you are doing, keep up the good work.
 
why do that when you can slap an inexpensive plate on top of your porting and be done with it. plus i have 2 other reasons why this is a good thing.

1. Not everybody is going to pull the heads on their oval port engines, or have a machine shop nearby they can use

2. It is my opinion that the injector valleys are cut at too shallow of an angle, but lets be honest there isn't enough material in the head to cut it out at the proper angle. but consider this, a plate that raises the intake slightly also helps that shallow angle and gives the injector slightly more spraying room.

in my opinion this is a very good option for those using epoxy, i know it wasn't the only option before, but for the reason that not everybody pulls the heads it is a GREAT supstitute to epoxy.

pulling the heads and having tons of material welded in is great go ahead and do that. i for one like the plates:cool:

The problem is you still need to cut into the heads no matter what because they need to have an injector spot. So they will have to pull the heads no matter what. A plate will only save you the time of filling in the old injector spots. Also I would think a major step from before to after the plate is going to create some major swirling issues. Normally the welded in material is shaped to optimize flow.

The major point is that you will still need to cut into the heads though so a plate isn't gaining you much.
 
The problem is you still need to cut into the heads no matter what because they need to have an injector spot. So they will have to pull the heads no matter what. A plate will only save you the time of filling in the old injector spots. Also I would think a major step from before to after the plate is going to create some major swirling issues. Normally the welded in material is shaped to optimize flow.

The major point is that you will still need to cut into the heads though so a plate isn't gaining you much.

actually if you you alot of packing and make sure the valves are closed on the port you are working you DO NOT have to pull the heads,, i left mine fulley assembled, and just sealed up everything so aluminum flakes wouldn't get in the motor, and then vacuumed the material out before removing the packing. And i seriously doubt a 3/16" plate will cause any swirling,, we aren't building 6000hp drag cars here.
 
actually if you you alot of packing and make sure the valves are closed on the port you are working you DO NOT have to pull the heads,, i left mine fulley assembled, and just sealed up everything so aluminum flakes wouldn't get in the motor, and then vacuumed the material out before removing the packing. And i seriously doubt a 3/16" plate will cause any swirling,, we aren't building 6000hp drag cars here.

This has been covered long ago. Packing the intakes and using care is just fine. Pull the cams and put the valve covers back on, tape off the front of the engine with a garbage bag and go at it is another good way.
 
There are several reasons I decided to make the intake plates.

First I wanted a porting aide. The first head I ported using the trace the LIM method. First it was hard to get an accurate representation of the LIM runners - hard to get a sharpie down there and mark close enough to the runner wall. It also took a fair amount of time - trying to make sure all of the ports are the same and redrawing the lines everytime they disappeared.

Second - a couple time the bit would jump out of the port. It would then touch down on the intake gasket area - leaving some sort of scrap or defect.

Third - forming the JB weld. As I formed the JB Weld (JB Stickweld worked the best) each port was turning out different.

After talking with LLADNAR we changed the templates to be able to replace the epoxy. This change greatly reduces the time to complete a head porting.

Here is a picture of one of the final renditions of the plate:
Port_Template_full.jpg
 
You would silicone the plate to the head, and be able to use the stock lower intake gasket.

But Bugzuki is working on a gasket to go under the plates,,,,

i will be receiving those next week and will post pics of the how i did it for anyone who is interested in getting some of these,,

I don't really follow you on what gaskets you would use with the plates. Can you use stock or are you guys designing a custom gasket or both? Sounds like a great idea you got there. I really want to see more pics when you're done. I'm almost done grinding my heads and I'm still undecided about using the JB weld for the same reasons you have stated.
 
I am looking into gasket materials. If you wanted to you would be able to use the standard gasket. The standard gasket is thick, so with the plate would offset the LIM further. If I can get the gaskets at a reasonable price I would supply two per head. My Laser Cutting place should be able to cut the gaskets for me, once I decide on a material. I will put some more pictures up. For now here is a Block Diagram.

EQBD.bmp


I am also looking for a place to do some flow bench testing on the head, for all those out there that are curious.

The plan is to use my second head,
  • port the first cylinder to the SVT LIM and use JB weld (with and without the template),
  • Port the second cylinder to the SVT LIM no JB weld with the template
  • Leave the third cylinder unported with the 3L oval LIM.
I have not had good luck finding a flow bench yet, but I am still looking.
 
I don't really follow you on what gaskets you would use with the plates. Can you use stock or are you guys designing a custom gasket or both? Sounds like a great idea you got there. I really want to see more pics when you're done. I'm almost done grinding my heads and I'm still undecided about using the JB weld for the same reasons you have stated.

well on my car it is going to be in this order from bottom to top,, Head, silicone, plate, stock lower gasket, lower intake stock upper gasket, upper intake.

Bugzuki is working on a gasket that would go between the head and the plate. but since i am getting some of the first ones silicone will work great for me:laugh:
 
Damn it Bugzuki i walked away from the computer for about a half hour and when i get back you answered it. oh well this post just explains why i said some of the same things you did,, its cause i walked away in the middle of my last post not that i am retarded
 
I am almost to this point in my 3L process, and I am considering buying these plates. Do you guys think it will hurt the flow at all?!?! And I am assuming that you are going to continue to use the stock lower intake bolts!?!?
 
1. Not everybody is going to pull the heads on their oval port engines, or have a machine shop nearby they can use

2. It is my opinion that the injector valleys are cut at too shallow of an angle, but lets be honest there isn't enough material in the head to cut it out at the proper angle. but consider this, a plate that raises the intake slightly also helps that shallow angle and gives the injector slightly more spraying room.

I agree with your point that for convenience sake, the plates are best. Welding is still the best as it will duplicate, as close as possible, the correct casting shape.

I disagree with your second point. Unless the plates are at least 1/4" thick, there will be no significant change in the angle of injector spray. This is simple to figure out using a set of sine tables. IF you did use say a 1/2" thick plate and you could somehow deal with the loss of clearance at the hood, I'd suggest that is the way to go. Those plates appear to be 1/8" thick or less.
 
I am almost to this point in my 3L process, and I am considering buying these plates. Do you guys think it will hurt the flow at all?!?! And I am assuming that you are going to continue to use the stock lower intake bolts!?!?
yeah use the stock bolts, plates are only 3/16" or 1/8" thick
i really don't think it will hurt flow since they are the same size as the origional gasket, and you are cutting the ports to this size.
 
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