Do fuel heads get ported?
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none
Nitro Member
Fuel heads are billet, they start as a solid chunk of aluminum, and then you machine away everything that isn't part of a cylinder head. Fuel heads come ported, if you wanted to grind on them after getting them I guess you could, but they are all the same (assuming same generation) so if you hurt one, you have a spare that matches it to go back on.
Pro Stock heads come raw, fresh out of the casting, they don't even have head bolt holes drilled. If you have never seen a raw casting, let's just say that if you didn't know it was a cylinder head, you would have a hard time recognizing it. They then get CNCed and most of the teams still do some "hand porting" when trying new things. If you find out that raising the floor .050 is a good thing, you can program that into the CNC for the next set.
Alan
Pro Stock heads come raw, fresh out of the casting, they don't even have head bolt holes drilled. If you have never seen a raw casting, let's just say that if you didn't know it was a cylinder head, you would have a hard time recognizing it. They then get CNCed and most of the teams still do some "hand porting" when trying new things. If you find out that raising the floor .050 is a good thing, you can program that into the CNC for the next set.
Alan
Top Fuel heads, for the most part, are ran as received from the manufacturer. They are CNC milled to exact specifications. On top of that, the amount of boost produced by the blower, along with the amount of fuel injected throught the nozzles, is more than suffecient to make the engine produce the power they do. If you look down the intake port you will be able to see most of the head of the valve and will notice the almost straight path into the cylinder. There is very little restriction to decrease air/fuel mixture flow.
DrRocket
Nitro Member
I've got one of his camshafts and a double roller timing chain installed in the 455 that resides between the framerails of the car in my avatar!
God willing and the creek don't rise, I'll fire that mother up for the first time about a month from now!! Can't wait!!
Edit: Following proper break in procedures of course!!
clwill
Nitro Member
Hence Greg and Jason's silly curtains in their pits.
Todd
Nitro Member
Most often that is the case, however with today’s Solid Modeling it is possible to develop a Port from scratch on the Computer. Have it Rapid Prototyped and flow the Model. There are Port Influencing Software’s available too along with Flow Analysis Software’s. The sky is the limit if you have the budget and the HP to run the Software.
Our Ports are developed in Solidworks along with the Manifold and the Gaskets. Between the Lasers, 5 Axis CNC, Water Jet and a skilled Welder almost anything is possible. Except paying customers keep the equipment tied up running production non-automotive related products...well at least here at Herold Precision Metals.
Speaking of which, I call WJ Enterprises and Kurt answers. We talk for a minute and I ask if WJ is there. Kurt says " yep I can see his feet". I said "What do you mean you can see his feet?". Kurt says "He is porting a Head". I have to say that was one of the best ones I have heard...
Speaking of Pro Stock heads and porting anybody remember a guy named Mike Yelvington of Yelvi's Heads? Used to work at Reher-Morrison back in the early 80's then went out on his own and did heads for a number of pro stock teams.
We had a guy, Trent Townsend that worked for us for a few years that did alot of R&D (hand porting) for our 410 sprint car engines which if we liked it then we would digitize it for a cnc program. Trent was a Lee Shepherd protege' as Lee liked Trent quite a bit and took him under his wing and taught him pretty much everything he knows. Trent says to this day that if Lee were still alive he would still be ruling pro stock, he has that much respect for him. Anyways we've known Trent since his Reher-Morrison days as well and is a hell of a porter. Larry Morgan scooped him up from us about 2004 and has been grinding aluminum for him ever since. Long story short hand porting pro stock heads is very much alive.
Some of you oldtime fuel racers remember a guy named Steve Sanchez? He was the master of fuel head porting back in the 80's. Can't remember the name of his company but he's in Michigan.
We had a guy, Trent Townsend that worked for us for a few years that did alot of R&D (hand porting) for our 410 sprint car engines which if we liked it then we would digitize it for a cnc program. Trent was a Lee Shepherd protege' as Lee liked Trent quite a bit and took him under his wing and taught him pretty much everything he knows. Trent says to this day that if Lee were still alive he would still be ruling pro stock, he has that much respect for him. Anyways we've known Trent since his Reher-Morrison days as well and is a hell of a porter. Larry Morgan scooped him up from us about 2004 and has been grinding aluminum for him ever since. Long story short hand porting pro stock heads is very much alive.
Some of you oldtime fuel racers remember a guy named Steve Sanchez? He was the master of fuel head porting back in the 80's. Can't remember the name of his company but he's in Michigan.
scotty
Nitro Member
I believe his company was named Total Flow Performance or something similar. And from what I understand, Steve is still the man depending on your needs. I'm not sure how active he is anymore, but I've also seen his normally aspirated stuff do quite well when tuned by a current talent in the fuel ranks.
"Dr. Dirt"
Nitro Member
Scott's right on! Steve is alive and well at:
Total Flow Products - Cylinder Head Maintenance and Repair - Home
