Port Matching Heads and Intake Manifold

hmmmm, wouldnt that put paint into your heads too? I dont think thats a good Idea. A good port match can be done just like you said....tracing the gasket on, and smoothing it out.

I'm not a big fan of "gasket matching". That part of the intake tract is not the restriction. Matching the intake to the port is different. You are only talking a couple of hp so to me it is not worth the hassle. You loose that much when the weather changes and you don't rejet. Jetting changes from one gas fill up to the next (Inconsistent gas).

wickedmach1 said:

What is the secret to a good port match between an intake and cylinder heads? I have done this using gaskets but have been told doing it that way is not always exact. I have heard to bolt together the parts and use a vacuum cleaner to suck air thru the exhaust ports and spray paint into the intake. This is suppose to leave an outline of the material that needs to be removed. Does this sound right or was I dreaming? Anyone have any other good procedures other than using the gaskets?

Click to expand...

I'd say that would work. You might want to enlarge the outline a little, as the air/paint isn't going to flow through the metal, so won't go to the most dead places, the very edge of the mis-matching. You could do the paint method again after doing it once, to get a better idea of what's going on.

As long as you strip the paint out after you're done, I don't see a problem. The metal filings from the working of the ports is going to do more damage than paint.

EDIT: You could also blow the paint through the other way, to get dead zones on the manifold.

I had to gasket match mine just to get it to fit. The ports were more than a quarter inch off and wouldn't line up. I put the heads on with the gasket,taped my intake gasket to the heads with scotch tape. Then put super glue on the face on the intake and set it in place and torqued it down. Let the glue drie and it will overcome the strength of the tape and when you lift, you have your gasket exactly were it will be. I also painted to face of the inatke firtst. That way you can scribe the intake and take of the gasket.