Porting and Polishing....
 

I am thinking of getting this done...the exhaust guy by my house gave me a number of this guy that is supposed to be reallllllllllyyyyyyy good... he said he would charge me $250...now the big thing is getting the head pulled....it would cost $1000 to take and put on with new gaskets.... I am kind of thinking if I should try it myself...Obin any comments? The exhaust guy said i could gain up to 25hp is that true?

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85.5 Porsche 944

Back to the top you go.....

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85.5 Porsche 944

hmmmmm,

coming from firsthand experience, it really is something YOU can do yourself. all the materials so far have cost me about $60 (i had to buy tools that i didn't have too).

the biggest pain in the ass is removing the valves, and installing them... UNLESS you buy the tool designed to do this.

i think that $250 is fair... but you have to realize that he's only going to use about $30 worth of supplies.

if you need any help, i can tell you what i've done so far. you are not going to get professional 20-years-experience results... but for 1/10 the price, you will get 90% of it. also, while the head is off, you will have the opportunity to clean it up a hell of a lot nicer than the guy would.

in any case, we'll be here to help you if you want to do it. i can tell you now, i'm GLAD i did it myself. everyone that has seen the results has said that if they saw the job i've done, they would not have paid the $$$ to get theirs done. no i'm not a professional, but the people that have seen the work so far have thought it was a professional job.

good luck!

obin

Well all he wants is the head...but is it hard to remove it? i really cant do it myself because i have no wrench skills what so ever except little stuff.

But I really want to take the head off myself because i will not pay $1000 to take it off and put it on..thats crazy...but I never did anything like this and you have to mess with the belts and everthing right?

Also is 25hp accurate?

Because i do not want to go through all the trouble for 10hp

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85.5 Porsche 944

IMHO...do it on the next rebuild(that is if you can wait)...

It wouldnt be rebuilt for a loooooonnnnnnnngggg time

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85.5 Porsche 944

If you have money to burn...go for it....and if ur gonna go for it...go all out...just to get it over with...

no, you are not going to gain 25hp from port & polishing alone. and no, it is definitely not worth $1250. if your head is already off go ahead and do it, but, to take your head off for the sole purpose of p&p is not worthwhile. also, if you are going to have it done make sure he has a flowbench.

exactly! JUST the P&P won't give you 25hp... but the P&P in conjunction with some other work (cam, matched header, etc) will give you 25hp.

don't take the head off for $1000. i would wait until the next rebuild. remember the only reason i took mine off is because i had a bad ring in the #3 cylinder.

is it hard to take a head off? NO. NOT AT ALL. it was about 300x easier than i thought it would be. just make sure you are careful and you take your time. when putting it back on, use new gaskets and you will be fine.

obin

Were the bolts hard to remove ? I keep hearing stories about how hard it is to remove the bolts, sometimes people break or strip the bolt heads. Do you need special tools ?

Mark
86" 944NA

not after a few squirts of "PB Blast". i don't think they were hard to take out. they were not EASY, but not impossible either, i didn't strip any of mine, and they came out fine.

obin

Raf,

Just buy a used head on ebay for $100. Get it ported and polished, and then put it on your car when you are done.

Head gasket set = $70
Only other thing required is a belt retension when you are done. Might as well change the belts while you are at it.

All the belts are changed and so it the water pump...everything was done 3000 miles ago...wouldnt it be pointless to buy another head when i have t take the old one off anyway?

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85.5 Porsche 944

taking it off is very easy. i can do it in an hour. Putting it back together takes quite a bit longer though. the exhaust manifold studs like to strip as do the 6 on the bottom connecting it to the cat. and of course the allen bolts on the intake manifold and cam cover LOVE to strip. they are only supposed to torque to 14 ft.lbs. but it depends on who worked on the car last. you definitely need to hammer the allen socket into it to wake the threads and get it in there good.