Porting Questions

[dylan]

How hard is porting to do on your own? What tools would you need? How long do different pieces usually take?

I obviously don't know much about porting but I am interested. Please post anything good you know.

-Dylan

[1QUICK4]

What are you trying to port?

[1ViciousGSX]

Is this a question about porting in general or about porting a specific part?

A little more info would be great or I'm gonna move this to the Parking Lot.

[dylan]

Porting turbos, heads, o2 housing. I am looking for more information on all kinds of porting.

[john]

Porting is a pain in the ass. Not that difficult (exhaust mani, o2 housings, etc.) but is very time consuming. I have ported a little bit but always get too tired to finish the job. The tools you need are a die grinder and bits. That is it. Different size bits for different jobs. Get good tool though. They will help you alot. I have used a die grinder (pnumatic) and a dremel (electric). Both work ok but there are probly better tools for the job.

[AJ]

You also have to know what your doing. As Mike and Jet can tell you it's more than having the right tools. You can really fuck some things up if not done right.

[JET]

There is a lot more to porting a turbo and head that just removing material. Where to remove it is very important. An O2 housing isn't as critical. There are a lot of people out there that think they can port, but actually end up hurting performance. I know Mike has seen several cases like that and I have seen a couple.

[john]

I would have someone who knows what they are doing port a head or turbo. With time, you should be able to do an exhaust mani or 02 housing though.

[Raptor]

Allan and JET are right, unless you do some research by reading (there is a fair amount already online about porting various parts) and get a good understanding of fluid dynamics, you can really do some damage. There have been some porting jobs come into the shop lately that would do nothing but damage to performance bad enough that these parts would have been much better left stock. At any rate, there is a bit of talent involved in operating the tools as well, types of stones or carbides or a combination of both that do better on specific jobs. Some things I only use stones on and some only carbides, just depends on the job. At some point various sanding and flappers come into play as well.

A dremmel makes for a horseshit porting tool that takes forever BTW. If you have a couple extra years to spare go for it.

Am I trying to talk you out of it? Not at all, but I will say that it isn't a lot of fun and the real details on how to do it well are kept guarded by many. So with that said good luck and do a lot of reading first. And lastly, wear a full face shield, the mounted points blow up on occasion, I have cracks and gouges in one of my face shields to prove it.

[dylan]

Thanks for the info. I haven't seen much posted in reguard to this topic so I was just wondering.

-Dylan

[Jacek]

Lean about thermal expansion if your going to play with heads. I have read of people who have taken heads to shops and have had them ported and made everything way too big.