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Porting BBC Iron Heads

3K views 15 replies 10 participants last post by  jeff swisher 
#1 ·
I plan on performing some lite port work on my old chevy 063's soon. Just some cast flashing removal and short radii smoothing is about all, no extensive work.

I do not have any porting items required to do this work. Is there a good kit available that contains everything?

Thanks, Charles
 
#3 ·
Guy's, just a "heads-up", just about every piece in that kit in that link is "useless" for porting any cast iron heads??

You may make them "shine" some with it, but that's about it.

Just my opinion here! We were porting iron long before aluminum was ever "rampant".

Thanks, Gary in N.Y.

P.S. It will take some very decent "carbides" to get through iron, unless you have nothing better to do for the rest of your life!!
 
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#4 ·
^ what he said.
I have a couple of burrs, one with a pointed tip and the other round. I think they're 3/8" diameter. Got 'em on ebay.
You'll wear a die grinder out before you remove enough material with nothing but sanding rolls.
 
#5 ·
My first time porting, a $20 dollar black and decker electric drill from walmart and an assortment of those cheap grinding stones you can find at about any hardware store for 50 cents each.

My bbc dropped over 3 tenths in the 1/4 mile and picked up 5 mph trap speed for my effort. And that was back to back testing with only the porting done, everything else was the same and same weather.

As time went on, I got better at porting and finally went to carbide burrs the extra reach is nice. Stones still come in handy.

I would say go with stones they are forgiving if your just starting out, they are slower than burrs, but they still do a good job cutting the casting down.

Sanding rolls .............I still have a big box of those from the early 90's, they really don't have a place in porting heads- at least not for any real material removal.

Leave the intake side "rough" with the stones or burrs, don't spend any time what so ever trying to polish anything.

Hope this helps
 
#6 ·
I plan on performing some lite port work on my old chevy 063's soon. Just some cast flashing removal and short radii smoothing is about all, no extensive work.

I do not have any porting items required to do this work. Is there a good kit available that contains everything?

Thanks, Charles

Charles,
Get yourself a die grinder and some 1/4 burrs and 1/4 stones off of ebay.
Using the dremel with 1/8 shank tool bits will take forever and you will use up 5 X as many bits as the 1/4" die grinder will.
Here is a link to an example of the die grinder. I'm not suggesting to get this one, but just wanted to get you a pic for clarification.


Ingersoll Rand Die Grinder — 1/4in., Model# 3107G | Air Grinders| Northern Tool + Equipment
 
#10 ·
ss454 be careful with those long shafts especially if you are new to carbide cutters.
You can get a helicopter and take an eye out.
Wear a full face shield and ear plugs along with a dust mask.. Use a well lit area and Extra lighting is always good.
I have lights that shine into the ports or chambers to aid in seeing what i need to remove or shape.



When using a non adjustable die grinder with carbide bit I noticed my bits lasted for 4 heads if I let them do the cutting and not apply a lot of force.
If i applied force i would get some very hot carbide and some turned blue. and dead after 2 heads.

Now I have sat and ran the bits for up to 4 hours non stop.
Once my compressor did not stop running for 8 hours. I had multiple tools to swap between with different shaped bits.


The stones were used for my first heads.
I do still use them, as some exhaust ports in iron heads are very hard and a dull carbide or even a new one does not cut as quick as some of the stones I have in that situation.

I did eventually get a speed controller and slow down the electric die grinder and the carbide cutters last much longer.
I think force and the excessive RPM dulled them fastest.


EZ Nova was it the speed turning too fast that dulled my bits ? 25,000-30,000 rpm.
I know mine lasted longer if i did not push on them when spinning high RPM. I was even told by the guy at KP Supply not to apply force to them let them do the cutting.

What is a good speed ? Does Speed matter?
 
#14 ·
I do run mine slower now.
I use electric die grinders mostly now.
I got tired of my compressor constantly running and if you regulate the air pressure down you do not have the torque.
The bit will spin fast until you touch the surface and then it slows.

I bent my trigger on the air tool so that it only goes so fast as it bottoms out against the body of the grinder.

MY line has max air pressure and volume that way.

After you do a few heads you will find you get really good at making things really close to the same.

Carbide single cut works better for me on aluminum. I avoid heating the tool and keep an oil handy to apply to the cutter to keep aluminum from loading up on it.

You have a good port and a bad port on some heads, the flow is not the same.

Worry more about shape than what the ultimate air flow is.


Think about this for a minute.
Unequal length intake manifold runners or a different amount of heat in a different runner.
Header tubes are not all equal length most of the time. that is ok also.

What this does is make each cylinder peak at a different rpm and you end up with a broader power curve.

You make everything all exactly the same you will see more HP but with a narrower Torque curve.
So that is my understanding.
 
#15 ·
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