I recently ported and polished my manifold but when I took it off I realized that there really wasn't much metal to take off. From asking around and reading on here I gathered that I'm supposed to use the gasket as a guide so I don't take too much off but the ports were already really close to the size and shape of the gasket. Also when I did the polishing I noticed the the tubes (runners?) were exactly smooth but they weren't really that bad. Is porting and polishing the kind of thing where a little goes a long way. It seems like I have more mid end power but that could just be my imagination. Should I port it out bigger?

Dean.

http://members.home.net/xtatdsm



umm are you NA, if yes then don't even bother, just buy an aftermarket headers and you will be happy.

if you are boosting, then leave the thing alone and try to run more boost safley (build up the bottom end)

Adel

...or tq gain. What I noticed was that the tq we have comes on sooner and HP doesn't drop off like in a the stock engine at 6000rpms but maintains until redline. It is very worth while if you have port matched everything along with a bored TB. In terms of the gasket I was opening it up along with the ports and I was removing the metal. Also the little thing that makes a difference is the smoothing of the inside of the entire manifold.

Skrilla
'97 Base Talon NA
"Technology: The Only Replacement for Displacement"
"Peace and Turbo Grease"

What tools or types of grinders should I use to port the manifold? What is the best way to smooth out the inside?

From what I have been told, use a die grinder. Focus on the bend inside the manifold. If you want to, email wheatking on the ASOG board. He told me that he put his car on a dyno and the ported manifold produced better numbers than the header he had. He used a die grinder and did it himself, so he can probably tell you bettere than I can.