• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

Head porting question?

Your best bet for porting aluminum is sanding wheels. Get them in various grits to step down your finish.

Serious material removal is better with air tools and an aluminum cutting bit. Make sure to use liberal amounts of lubricant so you only have to clean the bit every 10 minutes instead of 3 minutes.
 
thanks I forgot the heads are aluminum, hopefuly my high speed air drill will make quick work of this.
DemonSVT said:
Your best bet for porting aluminum is sanding wheels. Get them in various grits to step down your finish.

Serious material removal is better with air tools and an aluminum cutting bit. Make sure to use liberal amounts of lubricant so you only have to clean the bit every 10 minutes instead of 3 minutes.
Click to expand...
 
i used carbide burrs on my heads. it doesnt matter if theyre for steel or not just on aluminum use wd-40 to lubricate the burr and dont go full speed because they cut really fast, take your time and start from the rear and work to the port, i made the mistake of port matching it and then smoothing it out, this makes the port have corners in it. and they are really hard to smooth out into a long runner.
 
You can get much of these things at Sears, Home Depot or Lowes. Eastwood Company has the cutting bits for a pretty good deal if you can't find them local.

1. Non-ferrus cutting bit(s)
2. Sanding drums in course grits
3. Flap wheels in medium to fine grits
4. Crossbuffs

When cutting with the cutting bits, cut to 90-95% of your total new port shape. Once you have the shape you want, all the imperfections semi-cleaned up and any other misc. crap (valve seat to head mating area smooted out, under valve area, etc) a
You left some room for minor errors and to be able to use the sanding drums to get the final desired shape and smoothness without going too big. With the flap wheels and crossbuffs, all you're doing is removing the courser grit scratches.

With a project like this, it can make things go a lot faster and better to have a set game plan. Once you've accomplished the desired results with each bit, move on to the next. Just don't rush yourself, or you may have to step back to the previous bit to redo something.
 
I've ported a number of heads and I try to get that super smooth finish only in the combustion chambers. Minor imperfections in the ports don't effect flow but if you have the time go for it.
I have used both an air die grinder and electric. For aluminum I found that the electric works best if you built a variable speed control. I have a Sears Craftsmen 1/4 die grinder (20,000 rpms) pluged in to a box with a standard household dimmer switch wired in. I just turn the dial to get whatever speed I need.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top