Alright... it's winter. Car's parked pretty much.. I only take it out when the roads are clear... and when I'm running really late for work... so it's time to PORT THE HEAD!!
I have two extra heads.. a junk one so I can see how much material I can safely take off... and a good head... aside from the stock one on my car..
I figured I would order myself the Standard Abrasives deluxe porting kit (part no 260001)... then get down to business with the die grinder.. I have the HO manifold off the car for various reasons... so I can port the head to match the HO intake... which would be mint. Then I can do up the exhaust side too, since the Bill's header is also off the car.. port match everything..
I'm not looking to make major gains out of this... just do the head porting myself so I know who to blame in case it's not working well
and save some $$$... plus a valve job (which I'll have to take the head somwhere for that.. since I don't know how to do that)... put some new valves and guides in... new springs and retainers I suppose... then new gaskets and the not-so 'secret' cams in the spring when I finish the head..
So... yeah... anyone done their OWN head work before? This is new territory for me.. some hints would be mint
...j <br>
<br><br><a href="http://www.lenkorules.com/"><img src="http://members.shaw.ca/johnz24/images/LRDCsig2.jpg"></a>
Squirt water in the ports as you polish, it helps
I've found using steel thread polishing "discs" work great for polishing. These are the "discs" with little steel bristles.
I was thinking about picking up a spare head to p&p and build up for my 2000 2.4 The 95-99 heads are much easier to find (cheaper) than the 2000+ heads. Are there any issues with swapping a 95-99 head on my engine?
I've seen those sites before... the top one I printed off, the other two are fairly useless as they talk more about specific applications.. and then blah blah blah into useless land..
I thought that the 96-02 2.4L heads were all the same?? Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
...j <br>
<br><br><a href="http://www.lenkorules.com/"><img src="http://members.shaw.ca/johnz24/images/LRDCsig2.jpg"></a>
John Lenko wrote:I thought that the 96-02 2.4L heads were all the same?? Someone correct me if I'm wrong.j
The casting numbers for 96-99 and 00-02 heads are different. I always thought they were the same too and was suprised when I saw different numbers. I can only guess that it has something to do with 96-99 having an EGR valve.
John Lenko wrote:I've seen those sites before... the top one I printed off, the other two are fairly useless as they talk more about specific applications.. and then blah blah blah into useless land..
I thought that the 96-02 2.4L heads were all the same?? Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
...j
The water jackets are different.
<br>
4cyltuner.com - Information Source For 4 Cylinder Tuners
Buy stuff from CarCustoms Ebay! Won't be disappointed!
John Lenko wrote:I've seen those sites before... the top one I printed off, the other two are fairly useless as they talk more about specific applications.. and then blah blah blah into useless land..
I thought that the 96-02 2.4L heads were all the same?? Someone correct me if I'm wrong.
...j
You're wrong. There are differences in the chambers.
As far as doing the port work, its pretty hard to describe in words. I am by no means a pro but i have learned a lot from Todd Miller as well as many hours from my own hands on work on my head. I'd say a safe bet is to evenly remove 1/16" or less per side of each port trying to keep the path of air travel as straight as possible as well as doing a port match to both intake and exhaust manifolds. There is also a good amount of flow to be gained from smoothing and removing material in the chamber that shrowd the valves but be careful not to go out too far out to hit the edge of the chamber where the head gasket will be. <br>
- 93 mph in the 1/8 mile
Member of J-Body Of Michigan.
Are the differences noticeable? How do I tell? I have what I've been told is a 97 head and a 99 head... then my stock 99 head (which is still on the car).
Is the head the same 96-98 and 99-02? Like the rest of things? Or is it really 96-99 and 00-02?
...j <br>
<br><br><a href="http://www.lenkorules.com/"><img src="http://members.shaw.ca/johnz24/images/LRDCsig2.jpg"></a>
Same here John,
I have a spare cylhead I was told was off a 97 I think.
I hope the differences are minimal enough not to make a diff.
-M <br>
Remember....syringes go in the RED waste basket.
The heads are interchangeable, you dont notice @!#$ worth a difference stock for stock. <br>
<IMG SRC="http://www.j-body.org/registry/kernol/sig.jpg">
egr stuff dont matter. I had my 96 egr stuff working on my 2k motor. <br>
RSM claimes you can use the newer heads on the older blocks, but you cant use the older heads on the newer blocks........ I'd just make sure all the water and oil passages match up....... and if it needs alittle modifacation, port them out.... (kinda like doing a '086' head swap)
Good luck, and make sure to take progress pics
<br>
SPD RCR Z -
'02 Z24 420whp
SLO GOAT -
'04 GTO 305whp
W41 BOI -
'78 Buick Opel Isuzu W41 Swap
OK........The heads are interchangable. The difference is in the water jackets, and the gasket surface on the exhaust side. I really didn't see a difference in the chambers, but if Todd says there is a differance then I will believe him. I was under the impression that the CR change on the 99-02's were from the pistons, not the chambers in the cylinder head
Here is a picture of a stock 97 head vs my ported 99-02 cylinder head.
<br>
Jason
99 Z24
#25 to register on the Org !!
www.newdawncustoms.com
Johnny Mack Turbo Systems
Engineered Performance
^^^good comparison pic.
Porting the head is easy, just very, very, very time consuming. Make sure you are careful with the grinder, it is easy to nick up the head gasket surface with the grinder. Also the Standard Abrasive 2600001 is a good kit, but the polishing wheels are a little too large for the exhaust ports. I got the SA small engine kit and those wheels worked beautifully.
Good luck with it.
<br>
-da chinchilla
<img src="http://registry.gmenthusiast.com/images/jiggamon/avatar15569_2.gif">
actually you can see the chamber difference in those pics , look inbetween the exhaust valves(smaller valves) and you can see a raised area inbetween them , the upper head doesnt have the raised area
john i thought you were going s/c power ????
keep in mind you dont want the ports to big or you will sacrafice a little lower end tq , GM has had great hp and tq # with the smaller ports on the vortec truck heads , which alot of V8 people want cause under 6000 rpm they make more hp and tq than 70% of the heads out there
gasket matching is uaually a good idea , but try not to take alot of meterial out of the floor of the exhaust port , it will hurt the flow
Jason McElvy wrote:OK........The heads are interchangable. The difference is in the water jackets, and the gasket surface on the exhaust side. I really didn't see a difference in the chambers, but if Todd says there is a differance then I will believe him. I was under the impression that the CR change on the 99-02's were from the pistons, not the chambers in the cylinder head
Here is a picture of a stock 97 head vs my ported 99-02 cylinder head.
How do you not see the difference in the chambers on those 2 heads??????
Just wonder if you know what head is for what years from the 2 in that pic? i am using the head design on the top but i have no clue what year motor it came from, lol. <br>
- 93 mph in the 1/8 mile
Member of J-Body Of Michigan.
Skilz that looks exactly like my '98 head. Sorry about the
huge pic.
<br>
<img src="http://www.saskjbody.org/iB_sjc/uploads/post-9-07602-matt_pt.2_2.jpg"/>
Painting the Z - one inch at a time!
ive got a brand new GM head sitting next to my desk here at work , and its susposed to a 96-98 head
and it looks identiacl to the head in the top of the pic
i havent riped apart my 97 motor yet , or check the casting #s between them , and my 00 and 01 motors
For consistancy, use non-ferrous carbide burrs. Downside= removes material really fast. Easy to screw up. Upside= doesn't change shape while using....hence consistant.
I prefer using 6" long ones and holding the rotating shaft with cardboard or greased gloves to get the most control possible.
Cross buffs included in the SA kit are the greatest invention for final finishing. Buy more than the 2 the include in the kit. Use a spray oil, i.e. WD40, liberally when using them. They will last 100times longer and cut much smoother.
<br>
sig not found
Eric and Skilz are right on the bumps on the exhaust side. I had to find an original pic of my cylinder head before porting to see the bumps that I thought were there that were not there at all.
Since Skilz was nice enough to post pics of his 96-98 cylinder head, here are pics of my 99-02 ( head is from an 00 Cav BTW ). Now you can compare the 2 to see the rest of the casting differences
<br>
Jason
99 Z24
#25 to register on the Org !!
www.newdawncustoms.com
Johnny Mack Turbo Systems
Engineered Performance
Hope you guys don't mind me butting in here, but I've got to thank all that have used our kits and products on your own porting projects. You are the hard core, real users that we created our website for and I hope the info on there has helped to guide you.
After reading this thread, I think we'll look into doing a new porting guide for just these heads. Would you have any interest in something like that?
Thanks again for your tremendous support!
Bill Sweeney (yeah, I'm the guy in the pics in the DIY section)
National Sales Manager
<br> 