This is the first article in a series that I will be doing for the HAMB. I do not claim to know everything about porting and polishing. I simply wanted to post these so that people without any experience at porting could have a good selection of information. In part one I will be outlining the tools used in porting and polishing your cylinder heads or intake manifold. I will explain what they are used for and why I prefer to use these tools as opposed to others that are available on the market. By no means do I think those of you with experience in this field to change your methods or the tools you are accustomed to using. Since most of you don't know me here is a little background on me. I am 25, I currently own 12 cars all of wich are, or are waiting to become, projects(naturally)including 7 mercury cougars 67-70, 49 ford pu, 51 ford pu, 49 packard, 2 76 ford F-250 4X4. I bought my first car when I was 14. I started working in the automotive field when I was 15 pumping gas and doing general maintenance and repair. From there to a quick lube for 15 months and then to a local machine shop for a year. I left the local shop to attend the Mondello Technical School. Upon graduating from the 2 weeks of classes I was offered a job at the technical school. I worked there for 1 1/2 years building cylinder heads for everything from single cylinder Briggs & Strattons to 10-litre Arias hemis. I built the pair of cylinder heads on Arias's own streamliner (buildup covered in January 2001 Popular Hot Rodding, and summer 2001 edition of Engine Masters magazine. I have assisted in a flow bench test posted on www.fordmuscle.com I am currently self-employed. Pictured here is a few of the tools used in porting. (Pictured on top) Most any tube light will work. I use an 18" light from sears. The two black hooks pictured on the light are not included with the light. I got mine from Snap-on and they help a ton by being able to hook the light directly to the cylinder head or intake pointing right down the port. Many different sizes can be found and most any one will work. I prefer the 18" as it dosen't require you to keep moving the light as you move from port to port. (pictured middle) The Makita GEO-600 electric grinder is my weapon of choice for porting. The grinder is very light and manuverable. When you stand at a porting bench for 8 hours you can apreciate the weight of the tools you are using. I hae tried using many other electric grinders and a good majority of them do not have enough support on the nose to keep the bits under control at 25,000 rpm, they whip and bend the shank on the carbides. I have never had any problems with the makita grinders damaging any of my carbides. The grindersare fully and easily rebuildable (I can do a quick post on how to rebuild one of these grinders if anyone would like) parts for these grinders are readily available. (Pictured bottom) The rheostat controller pictured is a home built unit. There are some units available for purchase from retailers. To make the unit pictured I simply went to my local hardware store and picked up the parts needed and built my own. ( I can post on how to build one of these if anyone would like as well).
I would love for you to share some knowledge on this subject. I am running SBC's in my cars and would like to do some work on the heads. My next engine has a set of 492??? (don't remember exactly right now, they do have some sort of double hump casting mark) I know everyone says that it is cheaper to buy a set of aftermarket that will flow better but I would like to try it myself. They did for years before the aftermarket heads were available, right? I know everyone says its a crapshoot without a flow bench but what are some "tried and true" things I can do without one (if there is anything, without actually hurting flow)?? Thanks
Pictured is a tool block, dykem layout fluid, pneumatic die grinder, stone sharpener, stone shaper, valve seat scribe and layout dowels. For the tool block you simply need a length of 2X4 block. Drill a number of 9/32" holes to accept your 1/4" tool bits. I got a little creative on mine and cut a 45 on the edge and drilled a few holes at a 45-degree angle in the board. This allows me to place some of my larger diameter items up front for easy access. The pneumatic die grinder is used for the final polishing step only(flapper paper). I prefer it for this step because it affords a bit better speed control, as well as exhaust air. The one I use is from Florida Pneumatic, I like it because it has a front exhaust, this blows air right on the part you are grinding keeping it clean of most of the debris so you can see better. Dykem layout fluid is available from most supply houses. It is available in red, blue and I think white. I prefer blue, as it is a little easier to see the lines your scribe in it, as opposed to red. You cn also combine the blue and red to make purple that is even better for scribing lines. The stone sharpener is on the far right. Used mainly for sharpening the stones on your bench grinder available from many sources(this one is from sears). I use this item to do the majority of the stone shaping. I shape the stones I use to look like the carbide shapes in order to get in to many parts of the cylinder head otherwise impossible. The square stone next to it is used to go over the stone after you shape it with the sharpener. This smoothes out the stone a bit and gives you a better surface finish. The layout dowels are simply a small piece of metal that fits into the bolthole on the cylinder head and lines up most available port patterns as well as most gaskets. These can be made by anyone with a lathe or purchased through a porting supply hose. The valve seat scribe is a Mondello design that uses a Kwik-way or Sioux valce seat grinder pilot and is adjustable to the size of the valve. You then scribe the seat leaving a perfect line to grind to.
A good pair of cylinder head stands is essential. I prefer these because they allow your turn the cylinder head over to a comfortable working angle. Other styles are available that use studs that simply insert into a bolthole. These are a lot harder to use for porting. If you are taller like me use a few pieces of wood underneath the stands to raise the work up to a comfortable work height, whatever is needed for you to be comfortable 4X4, 2X4 whatever. A good square is needed to help in laying out a cylinder head. Don't use one with to much slop, as it will show up in the way your ports line up and the overall quality. A good scribe for layout purposes. A pair of dial calipers also comes in handy for laying out your ports. If you have a heaper pair you can use them for some of the scribing as well(I will show this in the next part) Don't use your expensive mitutoyo calipers though.
The flapper sticks are used in the vry last polishing step(pneumatic grinder). Cartridge roll mandrels are for cartridge rolls of various sizes. Cross buff mandrel is for polishing the exhaust runners in some heads to almost a mirror finish(not neccesary on all heads) disk pads are used in polishing combustion chambers in order to achieve a flat surface. Pictured left is flapper sticks, next 1/4" cartridge roll mandrels. cross buff mandrel, 3/16' cartridge roll mandrel and lower are disk pads.
The 1/4" cartridge roll mandrels are pictured. They come in many different sizes 2", 4", 6", 8", and 10". also pictured are a few cartridge rolls that display the different shapes. For 1/4" mandrels there are 1/4" 3/8" 1/2" 5/8" stright rolls, 3/8" 1/2" 5/8" half taper rolls and 1/2" and 5/8" full taper rolls I use for porting. The rolls I use are 40, 50, 60, 80, 100 grit. For 3/16" mandrels there are 5/8" and 3/4" rolls in stright, half taper and full taper. Also available in the same grits.
Pictured are disk pads and a few different grit disks. Disks are available in 3/4", 1", 1 1/2", 2" and 3". For porting I use the 1 1/2" and smaller pads. The disks I use are 24, 36, 40, 60, 80 and 100 grit.
Pictured are flapper mandrels and flapper paper. Flapper mandrels are simply a piece of 1/4" drill rod cut to whatever length neccessary and have a small cut in the middle of the rod lengthwise about 1/2" long. You wrap the paper around the ro and progress outward as you wrap it(I will go in to more detail next time) The flapper paper I use is 60, 80, 100, 120, 150, 180 grit.
Pictured is the cross buff mandrel and a selection of cross buffs as well as a flapper disk. The cross buff mandrel and cross buffs are used for the exhaust of cylinder heads built for high-end competition. They leave an almost mirror finish in the port. To smooth for intake runners, mainly used on aluminum cylinder heads. The flapper disk is only used to remove large amounts of material in the combustion chamber. I rarely use this item.
Pictured is the stone sharpener again as well as the stone shaper and a selection of stones. Most of the stones pictured are available through most supply stores. The two on the left are the same stone one with a longer shaft. They are 1" X 1/2" with 4" (W187) and 6" (W190) shafts. The next one is 1" X 3/4" on a 4" shaft (W206). Next a 1/2" X 1/2" on a 3" shaft. Above it is a 1" X 1" on a 1" shaft. The orange colored one goes by design A38. The first three are used for runners and the others are for chambers and guides. The Stone step is used on cast iron cylinder heads only, not on aluminum, right after the carbide grinding.
You don't need this many carbides by any means but this just gives you an idea of the amount of carbides available. All of these carbides are different. Either by size, shape, tooth count, cut design, or shaft length. For the best value for your money purchase good quality carbides. They will stay sharp longer and cut better all together. All of my carbides are made of a high quality american made C2 carbide.
The cross cut pattern used for for cast iron will load up quite a buit more when used on aluminum. If you want an all purpose carbide that will grind both equally well get one as pictured on the left without the cross cut, in a little higher tooth count. The single cut design works best on aluminum but will also work very well with cast iron.
Do you have any burrs for grinding aluminum? I used to have one that got lost, it is more like a drill bit, with a bunch of sharp grooves around it. I lost my old one, and when I went looking for a new one, the guy had no idea what I was talking about. I want to know what to ask for. If you use the burrs intended for steel or iron on aluminum, it gums up and sticks to the burr in seconds.
Picture shows various shapes of carbides. Left to right: round nose tree, flame, egg, round nose cylinder, barrel, reverse ice cream cone. Most of these carbides are available from many retailers. make sure to purchase goos quality as you get what you pay for. The round nose tree is used mainly in the runner grinding as well as the bowl and guide. This is the most used carbide. It has a very large contact patch and produces a much flatter surface. The flame is used for around push tube turns and other slight corners. It has a smaller contact patch so you must be careful using this carbide as you can grind to much very easily. The egg is also used for slight turns. I also like to use it to shape valve guides and behind the guide. It also has a small cantact patch. The round nose cylinder is rarely used I have only a couple. Due to their sharp edge on the backside it can create a lot of damage if you are not very careful. The barrel and reverse ice cream cone are only available from Mondello technical school. These shapes were designed by Mondello and sold exclusively to him. The barrel is great for walls that are long and flat. They have a very large contact patch and spread out the cutting creating a very nice flat surface. The reverse ice cream cone is used for the short turn radius. Due to it's shape it allows you to get into very tight portsand get out the ridges that most other carbides leave behind. I will go into the parts of the cylinder head in the next part of this article.
Picture is an assortment of carbides showing the sizes. From left to right 1/4", 7/16", 1/2", 5/8", 3/4" (3/8" not pictured) The carbide size must be correct for the area you are grinding. basically you want the largest carbide that will work for what you are grinding. The 1/4" carbide is only used for behind guides in small cylinder heads,imports Briggs & Stratton etc. The 3/8"-5/8" carbides are what is used for the majority of your porting. I usae mainly a 1/2" carbide for the radiuses in my intake runners (stock castings) Ultimately the flow bench decides what I will use in the end, but for everyone on here without access to a flow bench a 1/2" carbide for the intake radiuses are a safe bet. many exhaust runners like the 5/8" radiuses but a 1/2" will work there as well. The larger 3/4" carbide is used for very large runner cylinder heads only(like 2.375" intake valve heads). The fewer teeth on a carbide the more aggressive it is. The larger the carbide the more teeth you want for the same aggression. Example: an 18 tooth double cut 7/16" carbide will have about the same aggression cutting characteristics as a 1/2" carbide with 20-22 teeth. The following is bases on a 1/2" carbide. For beginning head porters you will want carbides with 22-24 teeth for cast iron and 20-22 for aluminum. Intermediate porters with a little more experience would benifit from a faster cutting carbide with 18-20 teeth for cast iron and 16-18 teeth for aluminum. Once you have more experience contriolling the carbide and how much it cuts and you wat something with even faster cutting you can styep up to cast iron carbides with 16 teeth and aluminum with as few as 8 teeth.
Well this is all I have for this part of the article. In the future articles I wil cover the parts of the cylinder head, and how to grind each section of them to get the best results. How to match your intak manifold to the heads you just ported. I will also cover how to do a few other modifications to some cylinder heads to help make all runners equal. These modifications are easily done if the tools are at hand. I always recommend that you practice on another junk cylinder head first to get the hang of how to do things. It may take ma a while to get the next few parts of the article up on here as I am very busy, but they will come. I would appreciate any feedback on how you feel the articles are going and any suggestions on what else to cover. I am not a writer or editor so please forgive any mistakes. I would alos like to thank AV8 for recommending that i do something like this for the HAMB. Shawn
Hey Dan you can most definately use you stock catings. yes aftermarket heads do flow better out of the box but knowledge is power. I will get into the actual porting on a future part to this article as soon as I can get it done. Deyomatic I think you are talking about a High helix cutter. There are many companies selling these for cutting aluminum. I don;t use them because I haven't found the need. A standard cutter with 8 teeth can remove metal faster than you may think and it can get away from you. I haven't used them simply because I have so many other aluminum cutters that do the job very fast. Shawn
Do your 8 teeth wrap around the burr like a drill bit? If so, I think this is the one I'm looking for. And if that is what I had, you aren't shitting, it scared me how fast it worked. Shavings were FLYING. That's why I'm looking to replace my lost one.
Hey Deyomatic here is a pic of an 8 tooth aluminum cttuer that I use. The high helix cutters are a bit different. The teeth wrap around the burr more. in other words the teeth are flatter and make almost a full circle around the burr. I find the cutter pictured to do an awesome job. You can get these from a few different companies. Circo file, Mondello tech school, CHA(cylinder head abrasives) all have good quality cutters. Shawn
Great beginning, Shawn! I'm learning already; I've dreamed of a burr like the reverse ice-cream cone from Mondello but haven't found anything that comes close. Now I know where to get one! I look forward to future installments, and thanks for your effort. You've already covered more essential tool selection information than is usually found in a magazine article.
that's cool! thanks for posting this info. i have wondered how this is done for some time now, at least now i'll know where to start for tools i need. again, thanks and keep them tech. articles coming! John
Thanks for posting this! I already have a little porting experience, but you can never know too much! I was a little curious to see if this was gonna be some backyard hack telling people how to ruin their parts, but it sounds like you know yer shit. If you're good enough to work for Mondello I'll listen to damn near anything you tell me!
With Shawn's permission I have downloaded his posts and compiled them into an easy-to-read pdf file. It's about 346K, but anyone who would like a copy can contact me at [email protected] and I will send it to you. As Shawn completes his tech series I will provide those files as well
The Jalopy Journal
