Porting Runners?

[Irish Pride]

I'm doing a new intake to go on my 89 and have never actually ported a set of runners for the SHO before. What do i use to get deep inside the long runners? I'm porting the short runners pretty good for max flow and they aren't a problem. I'm just planning on gasket matching the long runners. Dont want to really port them that much but i do want to smooth them out. Is there any way to get the entire runner?

 

[zblackbeast]

not really unless you acid port or extrude hone them. They're too long and snakey. I tried once with a dremel and a flexable extension and it turned out like garbage.

 

[Irish Pride]

My thoughts were to port them and then maybe get them EH'd down the road. I've looked into acid porting them and that might be more than i want to deal with.

So pretty much all i can do is gasket match them and then blend it back as far as i can get to? I've got a 6" sanding extension so i can get back there pretty good, just not around the curves.

 

[luigisho]

I'd think about gasket matching and blending back after EH just to know how much material is left after the honing. But I'm paranoid like that.

 

[Irish Pride]

I'd think about gasket matching and blending back after EH just to know how much material is left after the honing. But I'm paranoid like that.

The purpose of the Extrude Honing is to get the uniform flow into the surface of the runner. To port and blend afterwards would defeat the purpose of the EH.

 

[gmail]

EH or acid port the longs and shorts hog them out like crazy since you will only gain mainly on top anyways. Dont forget gasket matching

 

[zach44102]

You cant port them yourself. But i would not bother with them anyway. Just clean up the casting marks which are uaually pretty nasty and call it a day. I would focus on the secondaries.

 

[SHOtime2511]

Acid porting is the way to go on those.
Just be careful doing it.

 

[platoribs]

You could use a flex (ball) hone and go quite a ways into the long runner (from either side).

I also used a little hand-held belt sander to chamfer the plenum holes while gasket matching to the BBButterflies.

 

[SHOPLUS]

Yes I love ball sanders and grinders. That plus a flex extension is my plan to do mine

 

[vortex2450]

I have also thought of using a flew hone but have yet to hear of anyone to try the method.

Acid porting would work but from my understanding, it is messy an tedious.


-Josh

 

[Irish Pride]

I actually looked into flex honing before i posted this but from what i see the long runners are not perfectly round inside and if i tried the flex hone it would be working into the sides of the runners and not even touching the upper and lower edges or vise versa depending on the angle it was going.

What i think my best option is, is to get as far as possible with my 6" extension and then get them Extrude Honed at a later date if needed. The sanding drums that fit on the extension are a little flexible so i think i'll be able to get into the curves a good bit.

 

[vortex2450]

This was my thought as well, but at the least hopefully the flex hone would smooth out the casting marks in those bends. I like the sanding drum idea but I feel like the drum will just bounce around in there once the extension reached it's limit.

Someone needs to make a How To sticky on this with some different methods, or along those lines.



-Josh

 

[Irish Pride]

I have been outside looking at my runners and i am leaning towards the acid porting now. I was holding them at different angles and i see that if you support them at just the right angle you should be able to get the acid in the deepest part of the long runners and not have to worry about too much of a mess. When i first looked into the acid porting i had it in my mind that you needed to do the entire runner but all i need is the inner bend and then i can hand port the rest. That to me seems like the best option now.

 

[vortex2450]

I have been outside looking at my runners and i am leaning towards the acid porting now. I was holding them at different angles and i see that if you support them at just the right angle you should be able to get the acid in the deepest part of the long runners and not have to worry about too much of a mess. When i first looked into the acid porting i had it in my mind that you needed to do the entire runner but all i need is the inner bend and then i can hand port the rest. That to me seems like the best option now.

So you are going to use only a small amount of lye and just let it do the deepest apex of the long runners and then hand port the rest? That sounds pretty straight forward actually. Especailly since if you hold the runners at the right angle there is no need to a plate to keep the acid contained.

Don't forget some quality gloves!

 

[Irish Pride]

Especailly since if you hold the runners at the right angle there is no need to a plate to keep the acid contained.

Don't forget some quality gloves!

This is what i am looking at. You can support the runner at an angle where you will be able to get the acid into every bit of the unreachable curve and then blend the ends by hand. I think this will be the best option for a consistant port.

 

[platoribs]

Sign me up Chad, how much for a set? :sun:

 

[waffles]

Should I gasket match between the long runners and the tanks? I'm also porting my heads as well and I was wondering if that would affect anything in a negative way? I have nothing but time, so that isn't really a factor, If it will help even in the slightest bit I'll do em. Also I noticed some people will run a mirror finish from the tanks to the fuel injector port and then rough it up a bit, is this a good practice for an aggressive daily driver? Thanks for any advice!