I'm thinking of just getting my GT40 iron heads ported. There is no place here that CNC port heads, only by hand. I have got to prices on this: 1. is around $450 for a comeplete set up & vlave job. Maybe a mild porting also. 2. is around $600 with the same thing put the guy said that he also gasket match the intake to the heads. Will this increase the performance of the engine? Or should I shipped them off to a company that CNC there heads. There prices is $850 for powerheads with bigger valves & complete set up. Panhandle Performance said $600 for stage II porting with stock valves & complete set up. Panhandle Performance also said they send you a flowbench sheet back with the heads. They can also recommend a cam that will got with the performance of the heads too.
I gasket matched my own heads, we'll see how it works (former machinist) The guy by me said he would gasket match, and do a valve job for under 300, but I will never learn things if I don't try it first
The price from Panhandle looks pretty good. If that is decent porting, valve job, setup, and flowing the heads then I'd recommend them. I charge about that much but they're a lot closer to you than I am. They do very good work.
for 600 you are 2/3 the way to new aluminum heads... why waste your money in iron... thats what i was told... so i did a home port job.. and i havent noticed any gains... save the 600 and get the aluminum heads...
My motor is so old that there was only Dart heads available mostly when it was built. I had my heads ported. They flow very well and were done by a very very knowledgable shop. In this day and age if I replace the engine, I will buy aluminum heads. Dan
I did the porting thing on my old Mustang. Had an old set of D5TE 351w castings laying around, figured I'd try 'em out. Granted, I didn't have to pay much for the machining...I did it myself. But, cutting for larger valves and installing hard exh seats would normally cost around $250 around here, plus $180 for the valves. Don't mess with regular straight-stemmed valves, they make undercut stems for up to a 40% increase in flow. Then I ported the crap out of them. I cut the entire guide boss out of the exhaust ports, then widened the port exits to where the exit was actually larger than the throat (think a reverse funnel...so that exhaust gas can expand as it travels through the port). On the intake side, I left most of the guide boss, but streamlined it. Then I reamed the pushrod holes out to accept some brass pipe nipples that I bought at the hardware store. I ground the pushrod bumps away until I hit brass, then stopped. Just make sure the brass pieces are JB welded in good! You don't want 'em coming out LOL. They flowbenched in the 210 intake/170 exhaust range. Can't remember the exact specs (sold the car long ago), but it wasn't bad...and we stopped at .600 lift, which is where it leveled off. Car ran excellent. 8.22 in the 1/8 at 90 mph in a MILD 5.0 mustang. $250 for the machine work. $180 for valves. Another $400-$800 for porting. That's close to $900...and you still have factory iron heads. They'll work pretty good, but nowhere near as good as an aftermarket iron head, like TFS or Roush or something like that. At one time I had a set of C90E heads 'hogged out' (payed for it too!) by a local machinest. Later on, I won a couple races, saved some pennies, and shelled out $1000 for a set of early Edelbrock RPM heads and bolted on a solid .8 improvement in ET and about 10 MPH...in the 1000'. Trust me, the difference is HUGE! If you can save up your $$$ for aftermarket, do it. There is NO comparison!
Thanks for the info. Sorry I couldn't reply sooner, Granddad passed. Alot of places here told me the same thing about the alum. heads. I will go ahead with my plan & use the iron heads until I get the money for a $1350 set.
