67 Cutlass Freak

We had some fun tonight. I finally got to see my engine run in Don's car, and man did he put on a show.
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This was really only the second night he got to try to mess around with this combination. The car was launching soft but going straight. We were struggling with a bog off the line. John from Rocket Racing suggested we try a smaller carb. Don was using a 750 that was modified to put out 830 CFM. He made two passes @ real close to 12 flat. He is foot braking with a 3500 stall. We messed with the timing a bit pulling 6 degrees out at the big end and that slowed us down. We couldn't get rid of the stumble so we switched to the 700 CFM and spun the tires first pass. The stumble was gone. Now we pulled a little timing out at 2500 RPM and lowered the rear tire pressure to 18 PSI. Man the MSD grid system is incredible. I wish I had one for my car.
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Don was shifting at 6000 RPM and going through the traps at 6500. The air was real good, like 60 degrees. Here's the time slip -
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The stumble was gone. Don cut a hell of a light and made an 11.50 pass. We bumped the timing just a little in the middle of the RPM range, just a couple degrees. Don was dead nuts on the tree, and the car backed it up with another 11.50-
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We really didn't expect this car to perform as good as this. We were hoping for 11.80 or 11.90 in the quarter. I can tell you we're both pretty stoked. This engine was under my bench collecting dust a few weeks ago.
My hat is off to Don. This man can cut a light. A lot of racers go their whole life without ever cutting a perfect light. I was more exited about it than Don. He gets out of the car and was cool as a cucumber, like no big deal, just another day at the track. There is more in this combination. We haven't even started messing with the chassis.
Back to the topic of BB heads on a SB. I just wanted to point out again that these heads were ported. Nothing too crazy. For a car that was built for primarily street use, I think non ported BB heads would work out great. I would use the RPM Performer intake with a fairly mild cam of approximately .520" lift. I would shoot for 9.5:1 compression. Anyone who was dreaming about putting some E-brock heads on Their SB, that was broke, should find some BB heads, and just get the compression ratio back up to where it needs to be. I do see an upgrade of connecting rods, in our future, for this little thumper.

Bernhard

I was talking about the aluminum heads ability to resist detonation due to its ability to dissipate heat better than cast. Compression is cheep hp and works through the whole RPM range. To me a mild street engine is one that uses pump gas and you can take the car on the freeway with out buzzing the engine to high. When you start having to run gas additives or race fuel its more geared toward street strip. I know that's why there are so many big inch engines on the street, pump gas and you can run a street friendly gear.The big block headed sbo looks to be the hot ticket for the small block guys on a budget. I like the factory look to the iron heads,and there may be a lot more sbo street cars in the future.The 11.50 time slip is impressive and straight away. This is not the first time I was wrong and won't be the last.

455man

I was saying with the increase in flow on the big block heads it would help the upper RPMs but on a slightly modified street engine it would hurt the lower RPM torque like around 2000RPMs. You would be giving up bottom end torque for upper RPM horsepower.
I read Copper's post about port velocity not making a difference which is interesting. I must have missed that post.

coppercutlass

For the recordim not making the claim the port velocity does not affect it blankly like that. I was just saying it was said by a builder that even for a mild street build the procomps are still a great option and the port velocity wil not hurt anyhthing to the point you will be unhappy. We had many debates on the procomps vs. The irons on an sbo. All the builders where saying the procomps where the ticket and had many advantages over irons. So if the procomps are good the the bbo heads must be good if the pro comps out flow common bbo heads

Bernhard

Do the pro comps out flow the stock C head out of the box ?

67 Cutlass Freak

According to the information compiled in this thread-
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...formation.html
the C casting heads flow better on the intake port, but the Procomps flow better on the exhaust side.

67 Cutlass Freak

Don went 11.22 tonight with a demon RT 830 CFM carb @ 115 MPH. We were fighting a hesitation off the line, but she is pulling hard. Shifting at 7000 and crossing the stripe at 7000. I really think this car will go 10.90 with some chassis tuning, but we really don't want to spin it up any higher. We see a gear change in the future. We thought the 5000 RPM stall converter was slipping too much, but now we realize that it wanted more fuel. I do think a 4500 stall converter might be ideal, but we're going to keep messing with this combo, and try to maximize it. Don is a hell of a driver. It was fun tonight to be able to consentrate on the car, and make improvements. We gained 3 tenths tonight, that's huge. 22 passes on my junk SB with BB heads and we haven't blown it up yet. It sure has been fun, and it's better than collecting dust under my bench. There's more in this combo, we just have to figure out what piece of the puzzle doesn't quite fit right. Over the winter we want to swap out the rods, and go with a solid flat tappet cam, as well as internal ballance, with SFI flexplate and balancer. We may also be looking for some headers for this G body. There's almost 1/4" of mismatch on the exhaust port roof right now. That's gotta be slowing us down. In the immediate future, we gotta get a hood on this thing. We're probably losing 2 MPH on the big end right there.

Smitty275

I take it those BBO heads are working OK on that SBO from what I can see. Your doing good.

Bernhard

Congrats good result from your big block headed small block.

It sure seems to like rpm, big gears and converter and 7000 rpm shift point.
When you go to after market rods do you think you will find more et/mph at a higher rpm.

80 Rocket

I think the cam will be holding us back at a higher RPM. I really am impressed the little ol' hydraulic flat tappet took us this far.

The big gears and converter are that of a race car. We are looking for ET and those 2 things......along with the cam, are the reason it has ran the ET it has thus far. Well, not to take away from the tuning we did thus far, because it is more than just those 3, but those are the biggest factors in being able to achieve the numbers we did thus far.

All in all, I think there is more to be unlocked from this combo. Dave and I have to work at it (we got some good help behind us, John at Rocket Racing and Dane from Mild to Wild Performance.....along with Milan).

I think we finally have a baseline to work with as this car has gone through many changes from pass to pass (22 in all). Now is where the rubber meets the road. 10.90s have to be a reality or this car is just somewhat impressive. I'd like to be slightly above somewhat impressive.

Bernhard

Are you planing on going roller cam with the after market rods?

67 Cutlass Freak

Bernard I think we will be going with a solid flat tappet. Probably in the .600" lift range. Nothing too radical. We have to be careful about piston to valve clearance. I have to give a lot of credit to Mark (CutlassEFI), for setting us up with this custom grind cam. I got it from him a few years back. At that time I had this engine for sale and we were guessing about the end users application. We did not know car weight, compression ratio, transmission, torque converter, tire size, or even what upper end was to be used. Now that we know all this information, I can't help but wonder if we could do even better with slightly more cam.
Believe it or not, I still consider this a budget build. A roller cam set up would probably set us back close to a grand. Don and I are going to collaborate on an all out drag engine based on the DX block, but sporting a pair of max ported cast iron heads. That engine will get the roller cam and as much compression as we can muster up. This fall I plan to start on the heads so stay tuned. I don't feel like starting another porting thread. This one turned into a novel.

66olds

I have not read all the post but my thoughts are from what i have read from Smokey Yunick...You need a flowbench..improper porting can actually reduce horsepower..as a matter of fact aquaintance of mine ported his own 454 chev heads had acess to an engine dyno ... he actually make less power..there was enough meat in the ports that he sent them out and recovered the horsepower and a little bit..Smokey was right..

67 Cutlass Freak

I agree that you can do damage, and hurt the flow, if the porting is not in the right areas. These flow numbers were taken from a set of SB heads that I ported for J(Chicago), back on page 18. This was a very mild port job. I agree that a flow bench can be a very handy tool for the porter. The next set that I am going to do will be max ported. I have a junk head that we will be doing some flow testing on. Stay tuned. After racing season is over I'm going to hit it hard.

Smitty275

I'd be careful hitting those cylinder heads too hard. Them puppies are made on iron and you might hurt you hand.

80 Rocket

So, went back to the track tonight. This time we had a hood and a scoop on the car. The first pass out of the gate was a 11.39 @ 114.34mph. I forgot to utilize the two step footbraking so part of the problem was in the 60 ft. That was with a 830cfm BG carb.

Well, Milan came up with a Holley HP carb for us to try. We bolt it on and go 11.21 @ 116mph. Well hot damn, think we are on to something. The next three passes were 11.178, 11.187, and 11.149.

I think we are almost maxed out with tuning the engine. There is some chassis tuning to be played with yet, but the gains may only be negligible, or maybe we will get a tenth.

Either way time is ticking on the season. The quest for 10s may stop short at 11.teens, but still gonna keep trying.

I'm getting tired, me and Cutlass Freak were up til 3:30am getting the hood and scoop done. The things we do for race cars.......

Bernhard

Congrats hope you reach your goal of a 10 sec pass.
Did you have the cool fall air to run in?

67 Cutlass Freak

The air was very cool 48 degrees. I was really surprised the hood and scoop didn't give us any real gains. It doesn't weigh squat. The aerodynamics and ram air effect should have done something for us. This thing really likes fuel. The jetting in the Holley carb was up around 90. Talk about consistant. I told Don stop trying to get in the 10s and just go racing. Now he can just focus on the tree and the stripe.

Bernhard

That is a surprise that the hood did not yield a gain, Is the hood sealed to carb with a pan?
If it was hotter out it may have shown better drawing in cooler air?
If the hood is hot sealed you are still grabbing a lot of air.

67 Cutlass Freak

The hood and scoop are well sealed. It was about 10 degrees cooler than last time at the track. We might leave the hood and tray off for some back to back testing just for shitz 'N' giggles.

Bernhard

That would be cool only true way to know what it is worth,sealed I would have thought for sure that there was a tenth to be gained.

80 Rocket

I found out the 8" converter in my car was a piece of _____, you fill in the blank.

Fins were rolled over because a well known converter company that built it decided brazing the ends of the fins was unnecessary. This was not my converter, but came from a friend who had it behind his old altered that made over 600hp at the time.

In any case, I got a new friend who also happens to own Midwest Converters in Rockford, IL. He tells me he is building me a converter to get me in the 10s, and you better believe I will be a hell of a pitch-man if it does hit 10s. I'll keep you all posted.

He sponsors an index series I run out at the drag strip, so the cost of a new converter will be minimal. Otherwise, my season would be done because the pocketbook refuses to emerge.

TripDeuces

Tell us who the 'well known' company is please.
Don't feel bad. I had a nice cheap 'Saturday Night Special' converter in my old ride. Car stopped driving one day when the splines on the stator hub decided to break into several pieces. I guess you get what you pay for.

BlackGold

Don't be too quick to trash the builder. If they built and sold it for 400 HP use and he put it behind 600 HP, whose fault is it?

80 Rocket

Other way around my friend. Built for 600+, trashed behind a 400+ small block. I was there when we cut open the converter at Midwest. He couldn't believe this converter even left that shop. I'm not going to say who's shop it is. A lot of my friends run this places converters and they have had good luck with the stuff, so I ain't about to bash anyone.

74sprint

Dave I really enjoyed this thread, to bad I’m just now getting a chance to add some porting knowledge. It would be nice to see how coppercutlass’s heads work out for flow and track time. I have to admit that I haven’t done much on SBOs, most of my work has been on BBOs and other brands. As for this thread, the one thing that really bothered me was captjim’s attitude.

Things like:
“It isn't about the capability, it is about cost-effectiveness. I don't think anyone will argue that you can't make these engines run good with iron heads.”

Well Jim I suggest you sell all of your Olds stuff and go Chevy if you haven’t done so yet, that way you’ll get your “cost-effectiveness”. I know of some Chevy forums you can go to. The way I see it, whenever someone does something for themselves it costs nothing, they are saving money and the amount they are saving cannot be included in the final cost. You also seem to have no idea what it is like to take personal pride in one’s own work. Most of the people on this forum are Olds purest that take pride in saying “It’s all Olds.” As for “I don't think anyone will argue that you can't make these engines run good with iron heads”, I’ll argue this point with you any time any day. For example: What was the first car to win the Daytona 500 and who was driving. I’ll bet he didn’t have aluminum heads. If you look at history during the time when Oldsmobile was in racing I think you’ll find that Olds was right in the mix of the top cars, with and without aluminum heads. For an engine that was designed to give some grunt to a car that was designed for the professional person, I think they run real well. No it’s not a Chevy, Chrysler 426 hemi, or a Ford 427 SOHC but, in bracket racing I can beat them with consistency and I have fun getting air under the tires. Anyone can do home porting to improve their engine and save some money in the mean time. I’ll consider going to aluminum heads when a out of the box head can out flow my port job. When it comes to head flow do you understand Bernoulli's principle? Lastly it seems to me that when you have nothing constructive to say you chose to be argumentative, why?

Dave (67 Cutlass Freak) It was a really nice thread on home porting you showed the basics really well. I wish you would have pointed out and explained more on why you did certain things. I also think you should have stuck more to what a home porter can do at home, I don’t know of anyone with a valve grinder at home, still I guess it’s nice to know how they did it back in the day (old school.) Hey I learnt valve grinding on the same machine you are using LOL. I myself can lap valves at home but, for a proper valve job I have to take it to the shop. I have taught several people how to port heads (basics & intermediate), one young gent is making a career out of it, not sure if he still is. I showed them on the flow bench how opening up the bowel, straightening out the short side radius, and the short turn radius into the valve is where you get your maximum increase in airflow. The porting tools I use are pretty much the same as you, my favourite is a 4” shank with a carbide double cut flame point end. I use air-tools in the summer and electric in the winter. Well the time slips prove you don’t need a flow bench to get worth while results, kudos to you.

Ray

coppercutlass

I'm gearing up to run my car soon in a few weeks. The heads on my 355 combo are un ported #6 heads with 2.07 in. And I think 1.63 ex. Then in the winter I will swap the heads out and run it in the spring on a day with similar conditions. The ported heads are #6 as well. All I'm changing is the heads I'm running the rpm intake matched to the ported heads.

captjim

Wow, nice post, but you should re-read what I said.
"I don't think anyone will argue that you can't make these engines run good with iron heads.”
You obviously did not understand this, it clearly states that you CAN run fast with iron heads. It just requires more work. And when I suggest aftermarket aluminum heads, they are Oldsmobile heads. Shouldn't we take advantage of advances in technology? Are aftermarket parts bad? Yes, work done by ones self is $ saved, but very few guys on these boards have the tools or experience to do it correctly. Smitty and Mark (both professional builders) stated that the Pro-Comp heads rendered iron heads obsolete.

Also, you have made 10 posts here and are already insulting other members, read post # 102 in this thread,
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...amshaft-3.html
"I also think the real twit is the OP"
"The OP is so lazy"
"to me they are all subjective and provide for no real baseline to help this twit out."

Your comments are insulting and condescending.

coppercutlass

Jim you must have a lot of down time lately. You need to go fishing or something. Boredom is clearly starting to affect you. Yet again you prove you are instigating some form of argument. I guess I would be bored too if I didn't have an olds in my garage or an olds engine to work on.

74sprint

Ah lets see Jim, yes I just started using this forum, yes I have been driving and racing Olds BBs since 1985 (so that's what 29 years.) I come here with a lot of knowledge about combustion engines in my back pocket. Does that give me the right to say that "that" OP is a twit? You bet it does. Further more I've been working on Oldsmobile’s since 1974, when my neighbour who was a mechanic showed me how to do maintenance on his 71 Delta 88, bless his sole. I used this knowledge to work on my mother’s car before I even had a driver’s license. Oh before I chose my career I took a year of autommotive science in college which, really answered a lot of questions but, didn't get me anywhere.

As far as this thread and going aluminum over iron, I think it is you whom is mistaken on what Dave's thread was all about. It has nothing to do with cost-effectiveness but, to show people that if they are conservative they need not fear doing some basic head porting. I use to charge less for porting if someone brought me their heads and the heads had a descent basic job done on them. If it was about cost-effectiveness I think Dave's first post would be to forget Olds engines and go Chevy. I agree with you 3 (you, Smitty and Mark) that if it was all about running a number with an Olds, then go straight to aluminum. It’s just like when I do a stock rebuild on a Chevy with worn out heads, I go straight to World Products SR heads. No sense in rebuilding the old heads when new are cheaper. But some people still want to use their old heads “just because”. But please Jim quit being so negative all the time. And yes Jim you did add some constructive posts in that thread, I guess you’re not negative all the time. Oh I’ve been reading the posts here for a couple of years now, same with ROP but, I don’t think I have posted anything there yet.

Ray

Fastest and Quickest Olds Engine in the Province of Manitoba

74sprint

Cool, well keep us informed. This is the kind of testing I like doing and see whats what on the changes. I think this is the reason I don't win to often, I'm always testing, at least with my car.

Good luck

Ray

captjim

" Does that give me the right to say that "that" OP is a twit? You bet it does"


It sounds like you have a lot of knowledge and experience, but IMO that does NOT give you the right to call other members names. I give a lot of advice, when I disagree with something I say what it is and why. Any anyone is certainly free to disagree with me, just tell me why. All I pointed out in this thread was that forget about porting, the cost of valves, guides, and a new valve job is pretty close to the aluminum heads. If you want to build something "just because", that is fine, but it is not always the best or most practical approach. Just pointing that out to others reading this. Why not build a 260 "just because"? Because it makes no sense, other than a class situation.

67 Cutlass Freak

First of all I welcome any and all comments to this thread. I don't own it. We are all contributing.

74sprint said: "Dave I really enjoyed this thread, to bad I’m just now getting a chance to add some porting knowledge. It would be nice to see how coppercutlass’s heads work out for flow and track time."


Thank you for the compliment. It has been a lot of work just compiling all this information. I type real slow.
I wish Copper did put the ported heads on this engine now, but he really wants to get a base line and see what kind of difference the porting will make.

"As for this thread, the one thing that really bothered me was captjim’s attitude. Things like:
(“It isn't about the capability, it is about cost-effectiveness. I don't think anyone will argue that you can't make these engines run good with iron heads.”)"


I value Jim's opinion. I think that he is the voice of reason. He probably has saved at least one poor soul from trying to port his own heads and making them worse. Jim has a lot of real world experience. The only negative thing I would have to say is, I wish Jim would have shared more of his knowledge, experience, and maybe some photos to help contribute positively to this thread. I want everyone to share what has, and what has not worked out for them. Case in point - This thread on ROP talks about a set of cast iron heads that are junk now. Apparently they were cracked while welding up the center exhaust divider. This was done by a reputable builder, and I really want to know what went wrong so this never happens to me-
http://realoldspower.prophpbb.com/topic6147.html


"I wish you would have pointed out and explained more on why you did certain things. I also think you should have stuck more to what a home porter can do at home, I don’t know of anyone with a valve grinder at home, still I guess it’s nice to know how they did it back in the day (old school.)"


I'm sorry I did not get more technical about why I did this or that. I will try to explain some more details on my next set that will be my max effort to date. In my defense, I was trying to explain things how I was taught, but somehow never really learned why. A lot of my techniques were passed on to me from Joe Mondello. He spent a lot of time with me. Two things stay in the back of my head while I'm porting: imagine a fuel air molecule that is in an obstacle course race, if you remove the obstacles they will get to the finish line sooner. Then BOOM! The other thing is kind of silly but imagine you're a miniature fire man trying to put out a fire in the combustion chamber. That hose doesn't like to squirt around the corner so as the cylinder port architect we need to straighten the port out. I don't recommend that the home porter goes out and picks up a valve grinding machine. I do think they should pick up a seat grinder and some basic stones. This will help them see how far out they can grind in the bowl area. Jim pointed out that I can not do as good a job as a Serti, and I agree. That's why I think the home porter should pay to have a good valve job done. In fact I bet a lot of machine shops would clean, check for cracks, then rough in the bowl with a bowl hog if you asked them real nice. Then after your done porting, take your heads back for the finish valve job and resurface.


"Well the time slips prove you don’t need a flow bench to get worth while results, kudos to you."


Thankyou, but I still think the flow bench is probably one of the most important tools a porter has to verify his work. Not everyone can afford to have their heads flow tested. The methods I've outlined here should really show an improvement even for the novice. I didn't go too crazy on these heads. Except for the one test port where I raised the roof 1/2". Before I do go crazy on my max port effort, I'm going to do four different porting versions on my test head, and have it flowed.


captjim wrote: "Wow, nice post, but you should re-read what I said.
"I don't think anyone will argue that you can't make these engines run good with iron heads.”
You obviously did not understand this, it clearly states that you CAN run fast with iron heads. It just requires more work. And when I suggest aftermarket aluminum heads, they are Oldsmobile heads. Shouldn't we take advantage of advances in technology? Are aftermarket parts bad? Yes, work done by ones self is $ saved, but very few guys on these boards have the tools or experience to do it correctly. Smitty and Mark (both professional builders) stated that the Pro-Comp heads rendered iron heads obsolete."


I went back through this thread and could not find where Smitty said cast iron heads are obsolete. I know He did say every year he gets a few calls from people to port cast iron heads. I also know he said that he prefers the Procomps over the Edelbrocks, and he has mapped out both. Bottom line it does take about four times as long to port cast iron versus Aluminum.


"It sounds like you have a lot of knowledge and experience, but IMO that does NOT give you the right to call other members names."


Jim makes a good point here. This is not ROP. Generally the atmosphere here is a bit more laid back and respectful. Folks on this sight are not as geared up for racing, as much as cruising, over here. It seems like there's always newbies asking redundant or silly questions. A lot of guys don't know how to use the search function. We just need to be patient and answer their questions the best we can. I'm sure we have all been there before, for some of us, it was a long time ago.


"All I pointed out in this thread was that forget about porting, the cost of valves, guides, and a new valve job is pretty close to the aluminum heads. If you want to build something "just because", that is fine, but it is not always the best or most practical approach."

Now Jim I agree with this statement. The key factor is the guides. If seat replacement was needed, than that is also a deal breaker. Let me throw this out there one more time. Apples to apples, no porting. Let's say a guy has a good set of core BB heads, with good guides, and seats. In stock form the intake side will outflow the Procomps out of the box. Now buy the 2.07" intake/ 1.68" exhaust stainless steel valves for $120, seals $25, & a good valve job for $275. You just spent $420 on a nice set of heads that will out perform the Procomps, in stock form for about 1/3 of the money. Bernard Mondello sells good quality Procomp heads complete for $1200. I know Smitty offers these in various stages as well. For better components Bernard sells them for $1700. I just think a lot of folks might be really disappointed after spending pretty big money on these heads, with no real performance gains (in stock form).

Sorry this was so long. I really am thankful for this forum, and for everyone that has contributed to this thread. I would really like it if more guys, and girls, would post their technical information about porting, or head work in general. We can talk about porting aluminum. I want to see more photos, hear track proven results, specifics from guys with a flow bench, that can outline specific gains. I know this is asking a lot, but I wish everyone, that was posting, consider themselves an instructor for the world to see their results. Sometimes I feel like the bickering in this thread has made it suffer. Maybe some guys enjoy the drama. I just was hoping for a little more.

This is our thread. Let's make it great. Stick to the facts. Good bad or ugly. Please let's all try to be more respectful of others. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but some times you should keep it to yourself if it will not contribute to this thread in a positive manner.
THANK YOU, Dave

captjim

I always paid professional to do the port work on my heads, mostly mild street stuff, figured it was money well spent.

captjim

Fair enough, but what are the chances of finding heads with good guides? Seats, a better chance, but still not great. The last decent ones (pre 73) were made over 40 years ago. Even so, you still have to weld the dividers, fill the crossovers, the chamber is better, and they are lighter. Also, don't the Pro-Comps come with springs and new retainers? Another few $

BTW, Smitty stated that in another thread, not this one.

74sprint

IMHO he is/was a twit, he even abandoned the thread he started but, he did leave a train wreck behind.

As for this thread, you kept telling us over and over that porting iron was a waste of time. Jim we got it (your POV) the first time you wrote it. Dave was not even coming close to showing people how to do a race prep port job. What he did show were the basics that would even apply to porting aluminum heads. The amount of work he did porting I could do in a week while watching TV. I find it is human nature to see what is over the next hill or to climb a mountain because it's there. If I wanted to get to the top of a mountain I would take a helicopter and not climb it. As for home porting I see nothing wrong with someone spending $50-$100 for grinding tools and supplies to save $800 and getting 25-50 Hp. I would encourage anyone who has their heads off to try conservative home porting. Over the next year or so I want to put a 8-71 supercharger on one of my motors, along with MegaSquirt and most likely Wenzler/Rocket Racing heads or Wise Performance heads. But I still want to see what I can get out of a set of iron heads, even if I only use them a few times before going aluminum. My heads have been flowed for a baseline, the brass liners installed, and the bowls have been plunge cut. Porting has been started but, not completed, they will be finished this winter. I can understand your POV of just going straight to aluminum but, I would port them suckers too.

Ray

captjim

I agree, especially the "conservative" part. I also agree that even the most expensive heads out-of-the-box can use a little blending and work. The "meat" comes off on aluminum a LOT faster than is does with iron!

74sprint

Speedmaster, which was Pro-Comp has bare aluminum heads for $350.00 USD each. If aluminum is the way you want to go.

http://store.speedmaster79.com/p-324...nder-head.aspx

Ray

hilbily

Personally I would leave the porting to the professionals with the knowledge and flow bench. I would do the port matching but that's about it. There's a reason the cylinder heads and intake manifold are the most expensive part of a race motor.

67 Cutlass Freak

Hilbily - if you read through this thread, then you would know that port matching will not do much for you. The biggest performance gains are in the bowl area and with a good valve job.

captjim wrote: "I always paid professional to do the port work on my heads, mostly mild street stuff, figured it was money well spent."

I can respect that. Porting work is definately not for everyone.