[68hotbird]

I have started doing my own porting as the guy I've been using is not porting right now. Hopefully he will get back going someday. That being said hand porting will work as well as cnc if done by someone who knows what they are doing but it is a time consuming process. I have a set of Dave Wilcox ported iron heads that have outflowed many cnc ported versions of the same head on the same flow bench. Hand porting will get you there just find someone willing to take the time. Unless you are looking to increase the performance on a restoration or a stock looking combo aluminum heads are better option anyway. I have 3 sets of ported iron heads I will actually probably only use one set on my own car but I don't mind grinding on the iron ones as a hobby would not want to try and make a living doing them. Good luck to Dave and I understand his logic in this process and we thank him for all of his support to our hobby.

[77 TRASHCAN]

Dave,
Thanks for responding. For some reason, none of us are getting any younger...
I'm finally getting to work on my Pontiac stuff (debt reduction, Thank You, Lord!)
It takes Soooo much time to perform all the tasks needed to shove a finished iron head out the door.

Folks that don't do much of this kind of work, need to completely, properly rebuild a set of iron heads (WITHOUT porting them...). There would be NO thoughts as to why you are stepping back from the iron heads!!! I freshened up a Chevy 350 for a friend here, 4 years ago, in my SPARE time. It took about 5 months. After about 2 months I was getting questions about why it was taking sooo long...and this was with me having all the parts on hand...I'm not working on anyone else's stuff, anymore.

[Dave Bisschop]

I'm not looking to start a fight either so I thought it was best to clarify things.

Concerning the heads we build and sell to the general public, ALL of the cast iron and aluminum head CNC porting programs I've created have 100% been digitized off of hand ported samples 100% created by my two hands completely. Anyone saying anything different is a LIAR period!

We do have wholesale customers that have hired us to digitize their sample ports and create tool paths that are then used to cut their heads exclusively. I will not use these programs to cut someone else's heads for any amount of money. We do this type of work for any engine make and it's a great way to keep the CNC machine making money while I work on finishing heads or engines.

I've hand ported cast iron heads to flow more than what our CNC programs flow but the problem I've run into is because of core shift you are asking for trouble pushing the envelope. I've had to back off on how much material was being removed in areas as I don't care to sell ticking time bombs.

If anyone has questions concerning anything we do at SD Performance don't hesitate to drop me an e-mail at [email protected]