I started ysterday afternoon and finished by the evening. I had everything apart in 1 hour. There was oil all over the IMRc gaskets???? I knew my car was going through some oil but wasn't sure if my rings were bad or not. I knew right away my valve seals were leaking. No biggie, they just make a freakin mess in the intake ports and that's exactly what they did. I was able to clean 6 cylinders at once and then I rotated the engine twice for the other two cylinders. The secondaries looked brand new but the primaries due to the open design of the IMRC plates wer all crapped up. I wish I took a picture of them before hand. I knew right away that's what hurt my dyno numbers. I first scraped all the primary walls and stems with a hard plastic piece I cut from a suitcase insert...lol After I scrapes everything I could I sprayed compressed air in there to blow everything out (covering the area with a towel ofcourse) Then I sprayed carb cleaner in ther and let it soak for a little bit. Def no valve leaks!!! I went to the auto parts store and bought a wheel brush that had plastic bristles and a plastic center and used that to scrub the inside out. The ports look so much cleaner now and I couldn't believe how much crap came out! It brought me back to the days were all that crap would have been a dream come true when you scraped your bowl out for some resin hits..cough..cough....lol
The upper intake was kinda dirty as well so I cleaned that up a bit. I also replaced the screens in my injectors while they were out. They looked brand new but whatever. All-in all the whole project took me about 5 hours from beginning to end including cleaning the ports which took about 2 hours all by themselves. It would have been a 2 hour ordeal for just a straight up swap. I made the IMRC delete's a few days ago. They took an additional 1hour when it was all said and done. I used 98 cobra IMRC's for their composite design and larger ports. I roughened up the inside holes and actually gouged them on the end so that the epoxy had no way in hell to make it's way out of there when things expand. I made little craters if you will so they act like arms holding the epoxy in. I didn't fill in the holes between the cylinders because it would have been more hassle than it would be worth besides the plastic is very thin and I don't think epoxy would even hold up in there!
The car picks up from about 2600 and runs super strong to top end. I do feel a slight difference in lower end performance compared to the aluminum one's being tied open which gave them a bit more restriction and also the ports themselves being clogged up with gum and deposits. That helped with low end. I cannot wait to see what numbers I get from the dyno now! Previously I ran 268rwhp and 278rwtq on a very reserved Dyno Dynamics Dynamometer. I have LT headers, No cats, straight thru catback. The LT headers for sur help with the tq #'s but I bet the no cats hurt my low end grunt for no restriction at all. Either way, these numbers at a conservative 10% comaprative to a Dyno jet would be 294rwhp and 304rwtq.



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This picture is actually after I scraped it all down and did one round of cleaner/scrubbing. The 2nd time they came out great. Again, I wish I took a before and after pic. (I know your not suppose to do that sorta thing with the heads on the care, but whatever)

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All done, just added the coolant and putting the burp cap back on.

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I have a 96 Cobra, I have ran my SCT tunner for a Dia. It came up with IMRC Stock closed. what do you think might be going on? I also have the problem that my car wants to die when I stop. But this doen't always happen. Can you give me any answers