porting heads while bolted on?

[94v6GT]

anyone ever port the intake side of the heads with them still attached? im thinking about doing it during an intake swap? since the ports would be easily accesible during the swap.
-Pros? Cons? even possible?

 

[Zero_chance]

Id have to say it wouldnt be recommended due to the fact that youre bound to get metal chips in the engine that way. Me personally, if I had the intake off already, Id just go ahead and remove the heads. Youre 80% there anyways, might as well go all the way ya know? On my other car I started with the intake off to replace the leaking seals and the next thing I know it was down to the bare block... If youre going to do things, you might as well do them right the first time.

 

[5spd GT]

I would say a big NO

Your bound to get shavings all in the cylinder, thru an open valve.

You could port the intake, but are you forgetting the restrictive exhaust ports?

It could technically be done, but you would have to take very precaution. Plug all ports/holes/lifter valley, and insure not to get any shavings into the runners.

Not worth it at all in my opinion. It's a dangerous gamble for a minimum result.

Stick with the intake swap

 

[sleeperstang199]

agreed. you will most likely get metal in the cylinders no matter how careful you are. i also agree that if your doing the intake just get a head gasket kit and pull the heads. then you can really do a good job and port and polish both the intake and exhaust.

 

[final5-0]

Besides all the reasons above

Work in the bowl is where its at with the iron Ford heads

So that would be another ... NO

Now ... Lets get away from all that Negative ... NO ... Stuff

You are not thinking like the masses
and
You are also thinking outside of the box

Thats the kind of Positive thinking that will take you far :Word:

Grady

 

[Dino Dino Bambino]

anyone ever port the intake side of the heads with them still attached? im thinking about doing it during an intake swap? since the ports would be easily accesible during the swap.
-Pros? Cons? even possible?

I ported my own intake manifold and stock heads, and I can tell you there's no way you can port the heads while they're still attached to the block without debris getting into the cylinders. Remove the heads to do the job properly.
Porting the intake alone (mainly the no.1 and no.5 runners) won't do much; it's the heads that really need work especially on the exhaust side. The intake side merely needs pocket porting and bowl blending, and you can grind a little off the pushrod bosses (be careful not to remove too much). The exhaust side's where you'll see the greatest airflow gains. The same pocket porting and bowl blending applies on the exhaust side but in addition, you'll need to grind away the thermactor bosses.
You'll find these articles every useful:

http://www.diyporting.com/intake_manifold.html
http://www.diyporting.com/E7OV.html
http://www.diyporting.com/E7p2.html
http://www.diyporting.com/E7p3.html
http://www.diyporting.com/E7P4.html
http://www.diyporting.com/E7breakthro.html

Some people might say it's a waste of time porting the stock intake and heads but I disagree. You can gain an easy 20-25hp and as long as you don't go wild, you can also gain 20-25lbft of torque right across the rpm range (yes, even at low revs). No other head/intake combo can match the ported stock items for torque below 4000rpm so if that's where you like to have your cake, swing your Dremel into action so you can eat it.

 

[Sirone]

All i can say is that would be a half ass job.

 

[94v6GT]

thanks for all the input. i wanted to run that by everyone real quick. i was jus thinking a may be a quick/easy way to pick up some horses. but you guys are right, the possible performance gain doesnt out weigh the risk of potential damage.

 

[Dino Dino Bambino]

thanks for all the input. i wanted to run that by everyone real quick. i was jus thinking a may be a quick/easy way to pick up some horses. but you guys are right, the possible performance gain doesnt out weigh the risk of potential damage.

If you remove the heads and intake as I did and port them properly, the performance gain IS worth the effort. I was delighted with the results after 10 hours spent porting my intake (2 hours) and heads (8 hours). That came to roughly 2hp per hour.