Porting heads

[DarkMesa8]

I have an offer to have my Edelbrock heads ported, stage 1. I'm just worried about the stories of heads being ported and people being dissapointed. Is there really that much to gain by a port job in Edelbrock performers?

He is a professional and is well renowned in my city, so I'm not afraid of the quality of work. I just don't want to have it done and wish I had put the money towards AFR 165s.

 

[giddyup306]

What's the model of the heads? I have a set of #6025's (I forget the new p/n) and got around 30 cfm on the intake side. Went from app 250 to 275-280 cfm.

 

[DarkMesa8]

They're the 6037's, not the new ones.

 

[N8Miller]

you will enjoy the added HP of ported heads. I really dont think that your gonna go wrong with this option. I know you have been debating on what to spend your money on, but i think that this is a wise one accompanied by that custom cam.

 

[DarkMesa8]

Is that an FTI cam in your sig? Did you add it independently, if so, what kind of gains did just the cam give?

 

[N8Miller]

in my sig? nah, its a comp cams xe274 cam.

 

[Michael Yount]

Find out if the porter has/uses a flow bench. That's really the only way to know what they did before and after the porting. If he doesn't use a flow bench, I'd look elsewhere for your porting help.

 

[DarkMesa8]

Changed my mind. I'm going with AFR165's, and he's gonna port and match the Edelbrock intake to the AFR's.

 

[Gearbanger 101]

I though you already had the Edelbrocks? What are the rest of your mods like. Maybe there's no real justification at this point to port them.

 

[DarkMesa8]

I do, I'm going to sell the Edelbrocks, and use the porting money towards AFR's. The machinist actually told me all he could do is get me to specs of AFR's before he started to sacrafice too much low end torque. HE recommended AFR's to me, and you know that says something when the machinist would rather you spend your money on something better.

Here's the car:

1995 Mustang GT Convertible 5 Speed

Engine: 302ci
Edelbrock Aluminum Performer 5.0 cylinder heads
Crane 2031 cam (.513in/.529ex)
FMS Cobra intake (ported/polished/powdercoated)
1.7 Cobra Roller Rockers
Mac Underdrive pulleys
Mac cold air intake
75 mm Pro-M MAF meter
BBK 65mm throttle body
Summit Racing harmonic balancer
180 degree thermostat
Fluidyne aluminum radiator
Wazee power steering and idler pulleys
Wazee EGR delete kit
FMS high-flow oil pump
FMS windage tray
ARP Bolt Kit

Computer: T4M0
Autologic Custom Burned Chip

Ignition:
MSD 6T Ignition Box
MSD Soft Touch Rev Limiter
MSD 8.5mm Super Conductor Wires
MSD Blaster Coil

Power Adder:
NOS 5115 80/150 Dry Shot
(Soon to be a Supercharger)

Fuel System:
FMS 30lb Injectors
BBK 255lph Fuel Pump
Kirban Adjustable FPR
Autometer Underhood Fuel Pressure Gauge

Exhaust:
Mac 1 5/8" jet-hot coated longtube headers
Mac 2.5" Prochamber Offroad Pipe
Mac Flowpath Mufflers (Dumped)

Transmission/Drivetrain:
Borg Warner T5 Stock Spec
King Cobra Clutch
FMS 3.55 gears
FMS aluminum driveshaft
Welded driveshaft loop

Suspension/handling upgrades:
Welded full length subframe connectors
J&M Caster/Camber plates
Eibach Pro springs
Monroe Sensa-Trac shocks/struts
FMS strut tower brace

 

[Gearbanger 101]

I dunno...I think that unless you can get pretty much what you payed for the Edelbrocks, you're probably better off staying with them. The AFR's are the superior head, but we're only talking by a few horsepower with your current set up.

It's all up to you, but better flow numbers don't always mean better performance. you won't realize the full potential of the heads until you've had the Cobra intake ported as well.

 

[DarkMesa8]

How true...

Do you think I should just replace the intake with an Edelbrock intake, and have that port matched to the Edelbrock heads? Would I be missing out on much power by just doing that, instead of both AFR's and a port matched intake? (A custom cam is going in, regardless).

I could put the money towards a Wide Band O2 sensor to use in conjunction with my Tweecer RT (I know it says autologic, Tweecer is on my desk next to me here).

 

[Gearbanger 101]

The Edelbrock Performer heads and intake are a pretty good match for the parts that you've got. I don't see you losing out on a whole lot of power compared to the AFR's. Maybe 10-12rwhp at the very most, but then again, you'll also be paying more for the AFR heads and having to spring a few dollars extra to have the Cobra ported to do so. So it’s costing you either way. From my experience the Edelbrock stuff is a pretty clean set up right out of the box. Some port matching between the intake runners on the heads and lower intake manifold may be beneficial, but by no means an extensive amount of porting. You could probably do it yourself and cut the cost even further.

 

[DarkMesa8]

Trading the Edelbrocks for the AFR's would cost about $500.

Porting the intake either way would cost $300. No real cost of the intake change... maybe 100 (Its powder coated really nice, so I'm sure somebody will grab it quick and pay).

Keeping the Edelbrocks would save a lot of money. $500hp for 12rwhp doesn't sound worth it at all.

 

[Gearbanger 101]

Keeping the Edelbrocks would save a lot of money. $500hp for 12rwhp doesn't sound worth it at all.

I didn't think so either.