There isn't a modern hemi engine specific forum so I'll post this here. Has anyone done some hand porting on the early 5.7 hemi head? If so, do you have before and after performance results? I'm working toward a swap on my car with a fairly low mileage 06 5.7. I started cleaning up a couple of the ports and it seems relatively easy to make some improvements over the as cast head.
Early 5.7 Hemi head porting
- Thread starter racerjoe
- Start date
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DionR
Well-Known Member
Haven't finished reading it but found this thread:
Home porting 5.7 hemi heads for Dummies?
Someone in there asked if the guy had considered swapping Eagle heads instead. You can run them with a thicker gasket or even swap pistons.
One other thing to think about is opening the port up to match the Eagle intake or a 6.4 intake. Not sure it can be done, and there are adapters to do the same thing. Just pointing it out just in case.
In a lot of ways, makes sense to run what you have. Clean them up, maybe open them up to use the Eagle intake and then run them.
Home porting 5.7 hemi heads for Dummies?
Someone in there asked if the guy had considered swapping Eagle heads instead. You can run them with a thicker gasket or even swap pistons.
One other thing to think about is opening the port up to match the Eagle intake or a 6.4 intake. Not sure it can be done, and there are adapters to do the same thing. Just pointing it out just in case.
In a lot of ways, makes sense to run what you have. Clean them up, maybe open them up to use the Eagle intake and then run them.
The heads on my 6.1/426 are ported early castings. 2.10 intakes, 1.55 exhausts. Engine made 730 on the pump.
I've considered going the eagle head route, but decided against it with this motor since the end goal is a supercharger. I though the compression increase coupled with boost wouldn't be a good idea for pump gas. The ultimate long term goal will be a larger displacement G3. At this point, I want to get the 5.7 in the car and running and I'll worry about the bigger motor in the future since it will be a drop in after the car is officialy set up for a G3.
DionR
Well-Known Member
Makes complete sense. I am putting an Eagle 5.7 in mine with the idea that if that isn't enough a 6.4 is a simple swap from there. The idea being that this doesn't have to be the final build.
Wish I could find the article linked in the thread I linked to above. Seems it is gone and I'm coming up blank. I think they give some verbal clues, but the article sure would have been nice. Best guess is it was in an Engine Masters magazine.
I had seen that thread already. I tried finding the article too, but I guess Popular Hotrodding is gone now.
If you haven't seen the early head port, the intake port has a vertical "bump" in it where the pushrod passes. There's plenty of meat there and I smoothed it out very easily, which made the transition into the pocket much nicer also. The casting around the valve guide is also very chunky. I narrowed that up a bit. Lasty, the pockets were surprisingly small under the valve seats. It was super easy to smooth that out and make it the same size as the seat.
I've only just started on an exhaust port and they have some strange casting in the pocket. They too seem super easy to improve.
I'll never have a A vs. B test but figured I'd do this before the motor goes in. I had to remove the valve springs anyway for the cam upgrade, so why not spend a little time making things better.
392heminut
Well-Known Member
Fair enough. I know the OP isn't doing a stroker. Just trying to show potential of the early castings.That's comparing apples to hammers!
Everyone gets so caught up in the Eagle, 6.1, or the 6.4 stuff. And it is really good stuff. With a little home brewed, good old fashioned elbow grease, you can make the early stuff work well.
LMAO! Greatest comment ever!That's comparing apples to hammers!
This is where I'm at right now. I still need to do some polishing, this is carbide bit to knock the big stuff off, then sand paper wheel to smooth things out. This only took about 10-15 minutes per port. The biggest things I did was remove the pushrod bulge completely, removed the bumps on the sides of the guide ramp and thinned down the guide casting. I also improved the transition into the pocket on the right and left sides. Lastly, I cleaned up the pocket to get rid of the weird transitions from where the machined the casting for the seat.
392heminut
Well-Known Member
That's some nice looking work! I would say that you have a pretty good grasp on airflow and can see what the obstructions are. Looking forward to seeing the finished ports!
I have an early 5.7 in my Cuda and it has a 6.1 cam in it. otherwise it's pretty much stock internally. I'm 68 and at my age and with a knee that is a prime candidate for joint replacement, I'm certainly not looking to totally replace my engine with a newer version. I can definitely see pulling the top end apart and working the heads over though and your thread is telling me to get off my *** and do it! At my age I'm not looking for the most HP I can get, just looking for enough to make the car fun.
I have an early 5.7 in my Cuda and it has a 6.1 cam in it. otherwise it's pretty much stock internally. I'm 68 and at my age and with a knee that is a prime candidate for joint replacement, I'm certainly not looking to totally replace my engine with a newer version. I can definitely see pulling the top end apart and working the heads over though and your thread is telling me to get off my *** and do it! At my age I'm not looking for the most HP I can get, just looking for enough to make the car fun.
DionR
Well-Known Member
Are you opening the intake port up to match the later port size? I'm assuming you can (not really certain though) and not saying it is necessary. Just curious.
I thought about it, but since I'm running the factory 06 plastic intake, there isn't much I can do in terms of making it larger. It's hard to tell by the pictures, but the intake port isn't a rectangle, it actually tapers on one side. I was going to open that up to make it the same size, but looked at the intake and it is the same shape. There isn't much room before it gets into the o-ring seals on the intake, so I'll leave it the same size. It may be marginally larger just from cleaning the casting texture off, but I doubt that makes any significant difference. The exhaust on the other hand, I will likely open up the tops and sides by gasket matching. I still need to order some header gaskets though.
DionR
Well-Known Member
Makes sense. I guess the only real reason would be to run some other intake and if you plan to keep the stock one why worry about it.
Pretty sure there is some interference between the non-Eagle block and the Eagle intake anyway so only thing it would open up is if you wanted to run a 6.1 intake.
Since this isn't the end all build, better to keep it simple.
Exactly! I'm trying to limit purchases for this that won't transfer over to the bigger displacement G3. The intake being one of them. I'd love to have a 6.1 intake, and I do look for them, but all the ones I come across people want $900-1000. That's a big no for me.
DionR
Well-Known Member
I fell in love with the look of the G3 partly because of the 6.1 intake. But the 6.4 is what trips my trigger now, and what I bought for my swap. Needed an intake anyway, so why not get what I wanted.
As I understand it, the 6.1 and Eagle 5.7 intake are about equal with the 5.7 intake having the advantage of running cooler since it is plastic but with the caveat that it can't take higher boost levels. So other than having to heat the bottom of the intake and molding it to the block, I think it is the better path than the 6.1 intake anyway. And I see them for sale for significantly less than the 6.1 intake.
Running the one you have is still the best option, either way.
Here is what my completed intake port looks like. To get to this finish, I used a carbide bit to take out the big stuff and knock down the rough casting, followed up with an 80 grit cartridge roll, then 120 grit to get the carbide bit marks out. Finally, I found some scotchbrite type "balls" in 4 grits. I used all 4 in order to get the smooth finish. I'm happy with it. I have all the intake ports and pockets done on one head and the exhaust ports are hogged out, but not sanded yet. It really doesn't take long to get this done. Thankfully the head design leads itself to lots of room in the ports to work.
392heminut
Well-Known Member
That looks great!
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