Best Cylinder Head Porting Shop/Vendor- Your Experiences w/Results

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68Dart500

68Dart500

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I've been trying to do some research on who does the best porting work (I'm talking about shops or vendors or individuals that offer it as a service). Thought it might be nice to have a compilation of people's experiences with various porting companies and vendors.

Please chime in with as much of the following info as you can.
Shop/Vendor that did the work:
Type of Cylinder Head they ported:
Original Head CFM:
Post Porting Head CFM:
Pre-Porting Best Timeslip:
Post-Porting Best Timeslip:
Pre-Porting HP:
Post-Porting HP:
Were any other mods done at the same time as porting which affected the resulting HP or time slips?
Overall experience with said Shop/Vendor:


Feel free to post pictures, graphs, anything that you think could help others when making decisions on who to use for porting.
 
You should list your location. My buddy gets great numbers. Hes not cheep but he is good.

Gromm Racing
San jose
Ca.
 
Cope said:
You should list your location. My buddy gets great numbers. Hes not cheep but he is good.

Gromm Racing
San jose
Ca.
Click to expand...

I was hoping this could be a resource for many people not just me so someone that wants to find a good porter can look at the various results and decide for themselves. I'm in WI but I don't mind shipping parts cross country to get good work done.
 
Best of luck.
Flow benches and dynos can be manipulated and no two read the same.

Even if you sent the same head to every porter in the US you would not get clean data. They would all have to be using the exact same machine, perform the test in the exact same way and in the same conditions.

But lets see what happens.
 
Cope said:
Best of luck.
Flow benches and dynos can be manipulated and no two read the same.

Even if you sent the same head to every porter in the US you would not get clean data. They would all have to be using the exact same machine, perform the test in the exact same way and in the same conditions.

But lets see what happens.
Click to expand...

That's why I'm asking for pre porting ET's, dyno before after etc.. The real proof is in their before and after results at the track
 
R&J Performance. Cedar Falls, Iowa. Radar has done experimental work for Chrysler Corp. He used to do John Force's heads.
 
68Dart500 said:
I've been trying to do some research on who does the best porting work (I'm talking about shops or vendors or individuals that offer it as a service). Thought it might be nice to have a compilation of people's experiences with various porting companies and vendors.

Please chime in with as much of the following info as you can.
Shop/Vendor that did the work:
Type of Cylinder Head they ported:
Original Head CFM:
Post Porting Head CFM:
Pre-Porting Best Timeslip:
Post-Porting Best Timeslip:
Pre-Porting HP:
Post-Porting HP:
Were any other mods done at the same time as porting which affected the resulting HP or time slips?
Overall experience with said Shop/Vendor:


Feel free to post pictures, graphs, anything that you think could help others when making decisions on who to use for porting.
Click to expand...


Rather than all of that, try and find someone who doesn't live and die by flow numbers. In the grand scheme of things, flow numbers are pretty low on the list of performance indicators.

All flow benches SHOULD and COULD read the same if they used the same correction software, and the weather conditions are entered correctly.
 
Dwayne Porter, Porter Racing Heads. Vermont
X head
Stock flow unknown
Stock hp unknown
After porting flow 278-284 really depends on which port.
I picked up 3-4 tenths changing from unported eddy rpm heads and an air gap to the ported x heads and a stock 68-69 340 intake with the divided cut down. Recommend him highly!
 
furrystump said:
Dwayne Porter, Porter Racing Heads
X head
Stock flow unknown
Stock hp unknown
After porting flow 278-284 really depends on which port.
I picked up 3-4 tenths changing from unported eddy rpm heads and an air gap to the ported x heads and a stock 68-69 340 intake with the divided cut down. Recommend him highly!
Click to expand...



Goes by PRH here. Can't go wrong with him. Let him do the heads and let him pick the cam for the best results.
 
The best porting results would be a shop that does CNC porting. Balance of the motor is critical. Yes including Air/Fuel charge. There is a cutter that cuts all angles at one time with a undercut into the bowl area causing a golf ball effect. I saw my son using that tool on New aftermarket heads that have been ported by the manufacture when correcting seats.

A good set of heads can be destroyed by a porter who is experimenting. CNC porting is identical from port to port. Inconsistent porting will cause a unbalance as stated . This does really effect performance. They make porting patterns but they are only as good as the person using them.

CNC porting is expensive but accurate and you usually only ever need to buy one set of heads due to accuracy . One of the reasons I wanted Indy CNC heads to start with when replacing my Batten heads that had good port work history.
Not all custom port work has the same results. Never let the shop porting your heads put them together before you see the port work they completed.

I would want to watch my heads go together. I was observing a 340 T/A motor going out at a shop that frequents this site. He pulled the rocker covers and we were looking at the W2 style off set rockers. I noticed a Keeper missing.

We were at this mans shop because my Batten heads on a motor just assembled by him dropped a valve.

DSCN0189.JPG


!CID__pic100107_3.jpg


!CID__pic100107_4.jpg
 
Oldmanmopar said:
The best porting results would be a shop that does CNC porting. Balance of the motor is critical. Yes including Air/Fuel charge. There is a cutter that cuts all angles at one time with a undercut into the bowl area causing a golf ball effect. I saw my son using that tool on New aftermarket heads that have been ported by the manufacture when correcting seats.

A good set of heads can be destroyed by a porter who is experimenting. CNC porting is identical from port to port. Inconsistent porting will cause a unbalance as stated . This does really effect performance. They make porting patterns but they are only as good as the person using them.

CNC porting is expensive but accurate and you usually only ever need to buy one set of heads due to accuracy . One of the reasons I wanted Indy CNC heads to start with when replacing my Batten heads that had good port work history.
Not all custom port work has the same results. Never let the shop porting your heads put them together before you see the port work they completed.

I would want to watch my heads go together. I was observing a 340 T/A motor going out at a shop that frequents this site. He pulled the rocker covers and we were looking at the W2 style off set rockers. I noticed a Keeper missing.

We were at this mans shop because my Batten heads on a motor just assembled by him dropped a valve.

View attachment 1715370670

View attachment 1715370672

View attachment 1715370673
Click to expand...

Ouch that Batten head took a beating.

I've seen that golf ball dimple style porting. Interesting stuff for sure. Have you been happy with your cnc ported Indy heads?
 
68Dart500 said:
That's why I'm asking for pre porting ET's, dyno before after etc.. The real proof is in their before and after results at the track
Click to expand...
You sound like youre about to promote somone/a business in particular and like you're pissing up a rope. The list of criteria wouldnt that data be convienient. Ill bet this is a setup for someones starring role in the suck my own fuel hose show... i mean its just a hunch after attempting to look at your profile and locaton and see you've blocked. LOL No worries at all.
 
Oldmanmopar said:
A good set of heads can be destroyed by a porter who is experimenting.
Click to expand...
Seen this many times. luckily its only a a reshape to fix it, most of the time. people think a lot of things about the short side and whats a good shape. its a compromise really. Know what you're building, its important.
 
I dont do porting, just putting that out there.
I dont have any conection to the shop i recommend besides him being a friend.

On that note, yes CNC porting is good. My buddy wants to buy a 5 axis CNC but on the high dollar jobs hand porting will win. (In my opinion)
The CNC is only as good as the program and that program aint written to allow for core shift and other variables.
The CNC will hog out the port but the magic happens with a skilled person running a tool.

Just my opinion.
 
Cope said:
I dont do porting, just putting that out there.
I dont have any conection to the shop i recommend besides him being a friend.

On that note, yes CNC porting is good. My buddy wants to buy a 5 axis CNC but on the high dollar jobs hand porting will win. (In my opinion)
The CNC is only as good as the program and that program aint written to allow for core shift and other variables.
The CNC will hog out the port but the magic happens with a skilled person running a tool.

Just my opinion.
Click to expand...


Exactly. CNC means

Computer
Numeric
Control


Doesn't have **** to do with quality. All it can do is repeat the same thing over and over and over forever, even if it's wrong.

And I've seen just as many junk CNC'd ports as I've seen hand port stuff.
 
A cnc port is only as good as the master. Someone has to do the port by hand before it can be digitized and ran in a cnc machine. Junk in, junk out.
 
yellow rose said:
Exactly. CNC means

Computer
Numeric
Control


Doesn't have **** to do with quality. All it can do is repeat the same thing over and over and over forever, even if it's wrong.

And I've seen just as many junk CNC'd ports as I've seen hand port stuff.
Click to expand...


I doubt if anyone has seen more than you. There is one thing you are forgetting?
Without the henway installed properly no numeric control is possible. With that said always keep your mind on how you are installing it.
 
justinp61 said:
A cnc port is only as good as the master. Someone has to do the port by hand before it can be digitized and ran in a cnc machine. Junk in, junk out.
Click to expand...
That is what 2 guys above just said.
AND CNC DOES NOT ACCOUNT FOR CORE SHIFT.
Thats why you will see hand finishing on a cnc port to get it within the margin.
 
furrystump said:
Dwayne Porter, Porter Racing Heads. Vermont
X head
Stock flow unknown
Stock hp unknown
After porting flow 278-284 really depends on which port.
I picked up 3-4 tenths changing from unported eddy rpm heads and an air gap to the ported x heads and a stock 68-69 340 intake with the divided cut down. Recommend him highly!
Click to expand...
Those x head is unique ,being the floor humps are different, i dig'em.
I did mine a couple months back and because i really didnt want to get too hairy , not that hot a build. Also... being there is a decent amount of core shift' aka necessitating .080+ of material removal on one side of a port... i stopped working them at 271/[email protected] int/exh and they do [email protected]
28"
 
MOPAROFFICIAL said:
You sound like youre about to promote somone/a business in particular and like you're pissing up a rope. The list of criteria wouldnt that data be convienient. Ill bet this is a setup for someones starring role in the suck my own fuel hose show... i mean its just a hunch after attempting to look at your profile and locaton and see you've blocked. LOL No worries at all.
Click to expand...

You sound like you don't know ****. But that seems to be a pretty common theme with what I've seen of your posts. I am looking for someone to do porting on my heads this winter. Rather than just pick someone I was hoping to hear peoples experiences and results so I can pick the best person. I don't feel the need to let every random tom dick and harry on the internet see where I live so yeah I don't have a location picked.

Excuse me for trying to get a thread started with actual facts and helpful stats so people who want to have their heads ported can make informed decisions. If it was compiled in this thread people could easily search for it and make a decision based on what they see. Rather than having info scattered all across the forum which can be hard to find.

For the record, I don't port heads nor do I know anyone that ports heads. That's why I asked for information. I'd prefer not to throw my money away this winter on someone who doesn't know what they are doing.

Have a nice day Mr know it all :rofl:
 
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Oldmanmopar said:
I doubt if anyone has seen more than you. There is one thing you are forgetting?
Without the henway installed properly no numeric control is possible. With that said always keep your mind on how you are installing it.
Click to expand...


I just posted a fact to clear up the bullshit you post.

Try posting a fact sometime.
 
68Dart500 said:
You sound like you don't know ****. But that seems to be a pretty common theme with what I've seen of your posts. I am looking for someone to do porting on my heads this winter. Rather than just pick someone I was hoping to hear peoples experiences and results so I can pick the best person. I don't feel the need to let every random tom dick and harry on the internet see where I live so yeah I don't have a location picked.

Have a nice day Mr know it all :rofl:
Click to expand...


Send them to oldmanmopar. He knows everything. And has a henway fetish.
 
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Modern cylinder head does excellent work.
Regards smallblocks, i know he does Eddies, W5’s, and W8/9 stuff.
Any others you would have to call them.
PRH( Porter racing heads) is another that does quality work that gets great results consistently.
Those two i am familiar enough with to recommend to anybody
 
oldmanmopar makes it sound like the cnc fairy comes down and sets up the machine to do a perfect port job every time. Lol. Wake up man. Some of the cnc’d Heads I’ve had on my flowbench suck big time. One of my Chevy friends brought a set of cnc’d AFR 220 heads over for me to flow check and he was so pissed he wanted to throw them through the guys shop window. He asked me if I could fix them and I said ya I could. I have never seen a cnc’d head yet that couldn’t be improved and I’m not talking by a few cfm either. Like someone said above. Junk in, junk out
 
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