estimated horsepower
5th Gear Member
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 4,840
From: Bangladesh
RE: estimated horsepower
you'd be out however much used heads and the abrasives you used to port them cost. i have a spare head that i've messed around with off and on just for practice and i would recommend doing the same to anyone interested in porting with little to no experience. worst case scenario pretty much involves messing up the valve seats (where the valves rest when they're not open) or hitting a coolant passage in the heads. i don't know a whole lot about the ups and downs of 3.8 heads, but im sure there's info out on the web about what the big restriction on them is. my guess would be that above the valve seats there is a lot of material that could be smoothed out so the air has a lot less work to do to get into the combustion chamber. unfortunately, to port that efficiently would involve taking out the valves and for that you'd need a valve spring remover. even if you don't want to mess with porting too much, you can get a set of gaskets and port match the heads and intake to the gasket and you'd have better flow. that would probably only yield similar results to what tim described though.
oh btw, the ideal tool to use is a die grinder that runs off an air compressor because they have a lot of torque. a die grinder compared to a dremel is like comparing a big block to a rotary engine.
oh btw, the ideal tool to use is a die grinder that runs off an air compressor because they have a lot of torque. a die grinder compared to a dremel is like comparing a big block to a rotary engine.
6th Gear Member
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 5,373
From: Wichita, Ks
RE: estimated horsepower
ORIGINAL: Jugador
you'd be out however much used heads and the abrasives you used to port them cost. i have a spare head that i've messed around with off and on just for practice and i would recommend doing the same to anyone interested in porting with little to no experience. worst case scenario pretty much involves messing up the valve seats (where the valves rest when they're not open) or hitting a coolant passage in the heads. i don't know a whole lot about the ups and downs of 3.8 heads, but im sure there's info out on the web about what the big restriction on them is. my guess would be that above the valve seats there is a lot of material that could be smoothed out so the air has a lot less work to do to get into the combustion chamber. unfortunately, to port that efficiently would involve taking out the valves and for that you'd need a valve spring remover. even if you don't want to mess with porting too much, you can get a set of gaskets and port match the heads and intake to the gasket and you'd have better flow. that would probably only yield similar results to what tim described though.
oh btw, the ideal tool to use is a die grinder that runs off an air compressor because they have a lot of torque. a die grinder compared to a dremel is like comparing a big block to a rotary engine.
you'd be out however much used heads and the abrasives you used to port them cost. i have a spare head that i've messed around with off and on just for practice and i would recommend doing the same to anyone interested in porting with little to no experience. worst case scenario pretty much involves messing up the valve seats (where the valves rest when they're not open) or hitting a coolant passage in the heads. i don't know a whole lot about the ups and downs of 3.8 heads, but im sure there's info out on the web about what the big restriction on them is. my guess would be that above the valve seats there is a lot of material that could be smoothed out so the air has a lot less work to do to get into the combustion chamber. unfortunately, to port that efficiently would involve taking out the valves and for that you'd need a valve spring remover. even if you don't want to mess with porting too much, you can get a set of gaskets and port match the heads and intake to the gasket and you'd have better flow. that would probably only yield similar results to what tim described though.
oh btw, the ideal tool to use is a die grinder that runs off an air compressor because they have a lot of torque. a die grinder compared to a dremel is like comparing a big block to a rotary engine.
5th Gear Member
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 4,840
From: Bangladesh
RE: estimated horsepower
ORIGINAL: amrcnidyot
im sure i could probably get a die grinder...my girlfriends dad owns a milk haulin buisness and they have got to have on at the shop somewhere. so if i stayed away from the valves i could still gain a little bit? u know where i could get a pair of gaskets? and i know it will be a lot of work but how hard do you think it would be to remove the heads and intake? im sure i can do all of it, its just finding the time.
im sure i could probably get a die grinder...my girlfriends dad owns a milk haulin buisness and they have got to have on at the shop somewhere. so if i stayed away from the valves i could still gain a little bit? u know where i could get a pair of gaskets? and i know it will be a lot of work but how hard do you think it would be to remove the heads and intake? im sure i can do all of it, its just finding the time.
1st Gear Member
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 58
From:
RE: estimated horsepower
typically, 50rwhp - 65rwhp.
LOL, that put me around 205rwhp - 215rwhp for an auto V6 if I do a lil cam, intake, head and a decent tune w/ my current mods.
Stage 3 Supersixmotorsports.com Heads, a aggressive cam, long tube headers r generally the more popular choices for hot street and track profiles.
LOL, that put me around 205rwhp - 215rwhp for an auto V6 if I do a lil cam, intake, head and a decent tune w/ my current mods.
Stage 3 Supersixmotorsports.com Heads, a aggressive cam, long tube headers r generally the more popular choices for hot street and track profiles.
6th Gear Member
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 5,373
From: Wichita, Ks
RE: estimated horsepower
ORIGINAL: Jugador
i don't know if it's quite worth the effort of just port matching unless the car isn't your daily driver. even if you were doing some serious removal of metal, i wouldn't use your current heads and intake because porting is really time consuming even when you're equipped with the right tools and bits. you can get gaskets at your local parts store.
ORIGINAL: amrcnidyot
im sure i could probably get a die grinder...my girlfriends dad owns a milk haulin buisness and they have got to have on at the shop somewhere. so if i stayed away from the valves i could still gain a little bit? u know where i could get a pair of gaskets? and i know it will be a lot of work but how hard do you think it would be to remove the heads and intake? im sure i can do all of it, its just finding the time.
im sure i could probably get a die grinder...my girlfriends dad owns a milk haulin buisness and they have got to have on at the shop somewhere. so if i stayed away from the valves i could still gain a little bit? u know where i could get a pair of gaskets? and i know it will be a lot of work but how hard do you think it would be to remove the heads and intake? im sure i can do all of it, its just finding the time.
5th Gear Member
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 4,840
From: Bangladesh
RE: estimated horsepower
if you can get them cheap then yeah, i think go for it if you've got a good amount of tools to get it done. i'd just look around the web and try to find whoever's got the best flowing ported stock heads and try to emulate what they did. the gaskets would be stock replacements or similar
6th Gear Member
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 5,373
From: Wichita, Ks
RE: estimated horsepower
ORIGINAL: Jugador
if you can get them cheap then yeah, i think go for it if you've got a good amount of tools to get it done. i'd just look around the web and try to find whoever's got the best flowing ported stock heads and try to emulate what they did. the gaskets would be stock replacements or similar
if you can get them cheap then yeah, i think go for it if you've got a good amount of tools to get it done. i'd just look around the web and try to find whoever's got the best flowing ported stock heads and try to emulate what they did. the gaskets would be stock replacements or similar