Diy Port & Polish

jlenko · 04-17-2005, 05:05 PM

I'm in the middle of porting my 99 Cavalier 2.4L.. I have a spare head.. actually two. I just finished cutting a 98 head in half (yes, I know it's different) for comparison purposes.. I want to see where the oil and coolant passages go, and see how much room I have to work with.

I'll be using Standard Abrasives head porting kit.. I have a die grinder and access to air supply at work. After hours engine work RULES :grin:

I'm planning on port-matching the 2.3L HO intake manifold to the head.. also the Bill's i-Performance header.. I have 1mm oversize stainless steel valves to put in as well. Running stock lifters, but with the 'secret cams' for a little more breathing room. No PCM mods.. sticking to stock 6500 rpm redline.

Anyway.. anyone here done any DIY head work before?? I pretty much know what I'm doing here, just looking for any pointers that you may have

thanks..

04-17-2005, 07:36 PM

I just did it to my head! It turned out pretty nice, i didn't go too agressive but just opened it up and cleaned it up. Just take your time with it, don't rush it cause you will f#ck it up real easily! oh yeah, clean! lots of cleaning!

jlenko · 04-18-2005, 02:06 AM

Given that it's aluminum.. I didn't want to hot tank it like I do my steel parts.. I'm planning on using "Release All" it's one of those generic orange cleaners... says it's safe on aluminum heads...

we'll see

got any pics of your head work? love to see it. All I've got to work with so far are the Induction Dynamics race head shots.

04-18-2005, 03:50 AM

I ordered a kit and had it done. My Corolla is getting bettter response and pulls slightly faster in the higher rpm range. But it also consumes more gas now. I would do my 2.4 but I don't want to F up my manny.

Oldsman · 04-18-2005, 08:41 AM

i did my 2.4 head also just for back up.

take your time and make sure you remove the smae amout of material off all sides and each port. best thing to do is to figure out how big you want to go and use a marker and mark it out around the stock port and open it out to that. also make sure you open the intake manifold and exhaust manifold to match the port that way you benefit from the porting.

jlenko · 04-18-2005, 04:04 PM

Yes, it's true. I cut my head in half...

And then quarters... oh yes.. that is a 2.4L head sitting in pieces on top of my stove..

Much easier to see the water passages this way... so I know exactly how much material I can take out in my port & polish project, without cutting into them.

Intake port... pretty big compared to the little tiny baby-size exhaust ports...

Can't wait to port those suckers....

And.. I have stainless steel 1mm oversize valves from Car Customs... plus the 'secret cams'.. so.. just about set

AnderbrA · 04-18-2005, 04:44 PM

i was going to do this myself, but the machine shop that is rebulding my motor said they would clean it up a bit for me...do a valve job etc....and i am having them install the cam swap as well.

BLK03GXS · 04-24-2005, 05:01 PM

sexy head Lenco... haha

jlenko · 06-09-2005, 02:29 PM

Alright folks!!

DIY port & polish... $200 for 1mm oversize SS valves from Karo @ www.CarCustoms.net... Fel-Pro valve stem seals... stock springs, retainers, locks...

The new head:

Close up of one of the exhaust ports. I didn't really do much to the intake ports, just removed the ugly slag bits.. I did quite a bit to the exhaust ports though, port-matched it to the Bill's i-Performance header.. and the exhaust gasket. Probably took off about 1/8th of an inch all the way around.. knife-edged the piece between the two runners in each port..

Here's a stock head vs the ported one:

And with the valves installed:

It's no Induction Dynamics head... nor RSM or J-Body Performance.. but aside from time and the parts, it cost me very little to do it... about 6 hours with the die grinder and various carbide bits, sanding rolls and cross-buffs.. then $250 (Canadian) for the oversize valves to be put in. I'm guessing the total is close to $1000 Canadian now.. just for the head! Yow!

ptrudel · 06-09-2005, 03:45 PM

whats the best way for me to mark off the ports? i wanna port match to the 2.3 HO intake mani i just got...really really weary about doin it if i'm not sure of myself...

06-09-2005, 04:28 PM

beautiful...Just beautiful, Nice job man

johny_boy32 · 06-09-2005, 04:36 PM

that right there is a very nice job. congrats on the turnout.

Oldsman · 06-09-2005, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by 2000_olds_alero@Jun 9 2005, 01:45 PM
whats the best way for me to mark off the ports? i wanna port match to the 2.3 HO intake mani i just got...really really weary about doin it if i'm not sure of myself...

Quoted post

first thing to do is to port the manifold. use the 2.4 gasket for this. and then if you have the head off then you can cut the 2.3 gasket to match the manifold and then port match the head to the gasket. but you have to be carefull.

Oldsman · 06-09-2005, 08:34 PM

not a bad DIY job.