DIY head porting info?

[scgamecock]

What are some good websites, books, YouTube videos for porting Ford heads? I want to learn more about how to do it, what tools to use and what not to do.

Wade

 

[Paul of MO]

What are some good websites, books, YouTube videos for porting Ford heads? I want to learn more about how to do it, what tools to use and what not to do.

Wade

What heads do you want to port? 2V Clevelands respond well to some porting.

4V Clevelands do not need anything. In the past we actually added port plates and intake side "Stuffers" to for lack of a better term to "unport" them.

- Paul of MO

 

[scgamecock]

What are some good websites, books, YouTube videos for porting Ford heads? I want to learn more about how to do it, what tools to use and what not to do.

Wade

What heads do you want to port? 2V Clevelands respond well to some porting.

4V Clevelands do not need anything. In the past we actually added port plates and intake side "Stuffers" to for lack of a better term to "unport" them.

- Paul of MO

Paul,

I am gathering parts now for a 460 build so either 460 or 429 heads. From what I have found so far it is the exhaust ports that need the most help.

Thanks

Wade

 

[TommyK]

Yours is a 351CJ right? That would be open chamber 4V heads.

I agree with Paul here. The 4V heads just need casting flash cleaned up. You don't want to make anything bigger. The best thing you can do for the heads is to have one piece valves installed and get a performance valve job and then blend the bowls.

Someone who really knows what they are doing can find some gains in shaping of the short turn radius but I personally would not try it myself because it is easy to make it worse and hard to make it better.

Edit: For 429/460 heads see here:

http://www.460ford.com/forum/37-engine-tech/143753-simple-std-valve-dove-exhaust-187-cfm-pics.html

 

[barnett468]

I am gathering parts now for a 460 build so either 460 or 429 heads. From what I have found so far it is the exhaust ports that need the most help.

Thanks

I just happen to have a set of DOVE 429 heads bare and already cleaned that I was going to list for sale . If you are interested just send me a pm . You can get pretty big hp from these.

Also, are you going to stroke it?

How much power and rpm are you looking for?

.

 

[Paul of MO]

What are some good websites, books, YouTube videos for porting Ford heads? I want to learn more about how to do it, what tools to use and what not to do.

Wade

What heads do you want to port? 2V Clevelands respond well to some porting.

4V Clevelands do not need anything. In the past we actually added port plates and intake side "Stuffers" to for lack of a better term to "unport" them.

- Paul of MO

Paul,

I am gathering parts now for a 460 build so either 460 or 429 heads. From what I have found so far it is the exhaust ports that need the most help.

Thanks

Wade

460's are all over the place as far as water jacket location and port sizes. You almost have to be an expert in the each specific year and style of heads to not cut through to a water jacket.

Put an early 460 head next to a later one and it looks like there is a quarter of an inch of metal that can be removed from the later one. Actually there is less than 3/8th of an inch before your ruin your day by cutting into a water jacket.

I built many Boss 429's and know those heads well. I did a very few 429/460 builds and we did not do much more than smooth out all of the rough surfaces and gasket match to the intake and header openings. More polishing rather than porting.

See if you can find some junk heads that exactly match the year and casting numbers of the ones you want to port so you can practice. The nice thing is that 460's are like armpits - everyone has a couple.....

- Paul of MO

 

[scgamecock]

Paul,

I am gathering parts now for a 460 build so either 460 or 429 heads. From what I have found so far it is the exhaust ports that need the most help.

Thanks

Wade

460's are all over the place as far as water jacket location and port sizes. You almost have to be an expert in the each specific year and style of heads to not cut through to a water jacket.

Put an early 460 head next to a later one and it looks like there is a quarter of an inch of metal that can be removed from the later one. Actually there is less than 3/8th of an inch before your ruin your day by cutting into a water jacket.

I built many Boss 429's and know those heads well. I did a very few 429/460 builds and we did not do much more than smooth out all of the rough surfaces and gasket match to the intake and header openings. More polishing rather than porting.

See if you can find some junk heads that exactly match the year and casting numbers of the ones you want to port so you can practice. The nice thing is that 460's are like armpits - everyone has a couple.....

- Paul of MO

Paul,

What would be considered late model for the preferred 460 head? I am hoping to find a complete late model 460 near me in South Carolina.

For the porting I was looking to do nothing more than what you are talking about as far as smoothing the surface and port matching. The port matching on the exhaust side seems like it would be a must???

The actual chambers I was just going to use the sanding rolls, This would not put me at risk for removing to much material would it?

Thanks!

Wade

 

[Paul of MO]

Wade,

Good answer! Smooth out the rough stuff and life will be good.

You other option is after market aluminum heads. For close to the cost of having old heads rebuilt you can get some some very nice performance gains and loose some weight.

- Paul of MO

 

[barnett468]

For the porting I was looking to do nothing more than what you are talking about as far as smoothing the surface and port matching. The port matching on the exhaust side seems like it would be a must???

The actual chambers I was just going to use the sanding rolls, This would not put me at risk for removing to much material would it?

Thanks!

Wade

If you are looking for big power you need to do more than that, especially if you build a stroker . You can also install bigger valves . The exhaust will likely have an injector port that needs to be ground down . Failure to do the injector port will cost you a LOT of power . You also need to modify the short turn radius on the exhaust and you can easily loose power here if you do it incorrectly . Doing less grinding is always safer than doing more.

Tommy K posted a link to an xlnt thread about porting the DOVE heads which includes detailed photos and flow numbers but you need to join the site to see the photos . I am a member and can post them for you later today . There are also a few other sites that have some very good proven techniques for porting these exact heads.

As far as these heads being common, well, you are going to find out very quickly that that is not the case because they only made the DOVE heads for a couple years and they made far more 289's and 302's than they did 429 engines, plus they are now 46 years old and 46 year old FE parts are fairly scarce . Also, these are the most popular heads to put on these engines, so when they do come up for sale, they often sell very quickly if they are reasonably priced and in a buyers vicinity.

.


Yes, sanding rolls are far safer to use than grinders, however, you will quickly find that some grinding will be required because the sanding rolls simply can't do it all.

 

[mjlan]

http://reincarnation-automotive.com

Check out his site.

 

[barnett468]

http://reincarnation-automotive.com

Check out his site.

That is the guy that has the thread that TommyK posted, and that link is in that thread . That is a great site but it costs $30.00 to join if you want to view the head porting section, however, it is money well spent imo.

The guy calls himself The Mad Porter and he takes a minimalistic approach to porting which is safer for do it yourself guys, and he knows his stuff.