Anyone do their own port and polishing? Cause I wanted to get a head and have a go at it. Have a good buddy that's a machinest and rebuilds all his engines. Hopeful I could take one to him and we could give it a shot.
I have a complete head, cam and all that you would just have to strip down and dip just looking for couple hundred + shipping. PM me for pics.
Jim, as we speak, my MINI is at Steve's! Having a TPR-1 Ported Head, Camshaft, and Cam gear installed.:ihih:
Oh yes I know! Steves is the hangout on Saturdays :lol: Was looking at your head last weekend...man Mike has a smooth hand
STOP That, you guys!! LOL Gonna try your own?? well that is always a good learning skill. I use WD40 on the carbide cutters to stop the aluminum build up when cutting. A LOT of WD40. Remember there is NO 'put it back on tool" so remove as little as you can at a time!! Too much and your done!! cool?? POWER is in the throats and bowls, and the Valve JOB!! In the throats remove as much of that 'hump' right befor the guide ( you'll see it) then smooth up to the seat. Get a 5 angle valve job done at a good performance machine shop ( 3 seat- 2 valve) Run a sandpaper thru the runners and ports ( 100 grit on the intake - 150/180 thru the exhaust) to remove a lot of the slag and casting flaws. Basicly you are done.. unless you are about to tackle the port openings?? Have fun!! Just me................................ Thumper If done half way good.. you WILL see better mileage and 5-8% more power, just from a home port!!
Thumper, thank you sir. I greatly appreicate the response. Yes I am going to try it on my own. Well not exactly alone. Like I said, I have a buddy that's a machinest and has done quite a few porting himself on his own cars. So he's going to give me pointers. I'm good when it comes to working with my hands, I've been an electrician for 19 years. That's not saying I know how to rebuild a motor, just saying I'm good with tools. I do understand there is no put back tool. Kind of like there is no wire stretcher if you cut the wire too short. No I am not doing the port openings...And if a little mileage and 5-8% more power is all I get, what's the differance in a home port and one you do? Thanks, Joe
I ported and polished the heads on my motorcycle. I wanted to match the intake ports to the carburetor, and found that the intake port on the heads were way bigger than the carburetor throats and was square rather than round, like the carb. I used JB Weld to build up the ports in the heads and then used a die grinder to smooth and match the intake ports. Two years later, I had a look at those heads. The JB Weld epoxy is still intact and looks real good. So, there is a way to "put it back on". But it is better if you don't have to. Dave
What were you expecting? Just remember, you can just as easily make a head perform worse as easily, if not a lot easier than make it better when you go at it with a grinder. For me, the tried and tested, with results to back it up, is the way to go. 2cents
You'll want to do it slowly and be sure that each cylinder's ports flow the same amount of air. You can make a simple flow bench by building a wooden box with a fan and a vinyl tubing manometer. Dave
Yes, you can buy the RMW head he is cleverly refering to, or a Thumper head for that matter...IF... you have 2k plus to spend. I say more power to ya having a go at it yourself, save some money keep the wife happy get your hands dirty and use wisely your friend who has porting experience.
lol ok i couldnt resist...yea you can spend 2 grand on a quality machined piece...tested time and time and time again...a part that has been on podium finishing cars and street monsters alike...or...you can try to do it the cheap way...do it yourself...jack the head up...blow the motor...then have to explain to your wife why you have to spend now 5 grand on top of what you spent trying to do the head porting yourself...therefore wiping out what you saved and putting yourself so far in the red its not funny...but yea...your call...why would you not buy a head from a company who already took the time to ensure the head is port matched and flow tested?
My, aren't you a ray of sunshine! You port your own head, because it's a fun learning experience and you save a bunch of money. You are unlikely to damage your engine, at worse it won't run as well as before and you put a stock head back on the car. The original poster has an experienced man to guide him through the process. I'm sure it will turn out great! Dave
I wish I could remember who sent me a link to this site years ago. Anyone with knowledge re Gen1 MINI cylinder head work care to point out what's good, bad or ugly here? MINI Cooper cylinder head Porting the MINI Cooper cylinder head
Those links had a lot of great info in them, but what I didn't see was whether or not they went ahead and increased the exhaust valve size.... A couple of things to take away, a smooth polished port is not necessary, and in some cases will make the engine run worse, especially at slower speeds. However it does help to remove obstructions to smooth the flow to the valve. Second, it may help to open up the exhaust ports, but not if the valves stay the same size, as you can't flow anything more thru them. Lastly, this info was for a normally aspirated engine, forced induction might make this info incorrect, or incomplete - hence the cautions about using a head built by someone else who has already been thru the learning curve. good stuff.
I have been curious about this subject myself. What about just taking it to a local machine shop that does port-polishing that may or may not have MINI experience? Is it a pretty universal skill, or does it vary greatly depending on each engine design? I get that some of the $2000 heads may perform better(proven) but if I can save several hundred dollars and have basically the same performance it would be worth it for me.