Ok so I got the head gasket replaced by a local performance shop, but it turns out it may be leaking again, so they'll have to give it another go. The first time they did it, they take out the head and send it to a machine shop just to see if it's in good shape, and repair it if necessary. I say, if it's already removed and sent to a shop, would it really cost me $600+ like it says on the power stages page to port and mill it, or is that price just so high because of the labor involved in removing the head and puting it back?

Also, if I do get it machined, to what specs to I get it ported/milled?

Is it really worth getting that done, boring the TB, and leaving the intake manifold the same??

Is it necessary to do the other stage uprades that go along with the head, like S-AFC and ignition timing control?

the intake manis inlet is 55mm i believe which is what afx would bore your 46mm to.. so they would both be 55mm


you might want to look into porting the intake manifold itself and the runners. some places charge under 100 bucks for it someone said.

I love dino and 2gnt. ####ers (my word) bliz stole it but i let him borrow it

Evan, you are talking about intake porting, he is talking about headwork. The headwork is expensive just because of the labor. Howell charges over $800 for their Stage 3 headwork.

What you want to do with your head depends on a few things, what tranny do you have and what are your plans with the car (Turbo, Nitrous, All Motor) Let us know what you are planning to do and we can let you know what kind of headwork you would want.

________________________________________________________________________________________
current status - No 3rd Gear synchro


http://hometown.aol.com/ohshootuhh/
www.Fast420A.com

Flame Red SRT-4 GT40,8.5:1 Built Shortblock, Brian Crower Stage 2 Cams, etc etc etc...

probably all motor just because i don't see myself running into $3k for a turbo any time soon

well all motor will cost you more than 3 grand just to be as fast as a stage 1 or 2. If you are going to stay all motor then you will have to be careful on how much headporting you have. Unless you have the correct cams and compression to suck in enough air to flow what the head can, you may suffer in performance. When you are turboed, you are forcing air though the head so having as much room in the head to move the air is better. Eclipse804 is still all motor but he has an A/T so he loses some power there but he also had his head ported and miller for a 1 point increase in compression. Well he isn't happy with the way the car runs because he has stock cams and is not taking full advantage of the porting and also needs a higher compression ratio to have good all motor power. If you are going to have the head taken off, go ahead and have a mild port done unless you plan on going all out with headwork and high compression pistons which would need a good full port and 3 angle valve job.


________________________________________________________________________________________
current status - No 3rd Gear synchro


http://hometown.aol.com/ohshootuhh/
www.Fast420A.com

Flame Red SRT-4 GT40,8.5:1 Built Shortblock, Brian Crower Stage 2 Cams, etc etc etc...

Ya beware of what you jump into before you do it. If you mill the head, you will have higher compression, and you can't turbo or nos as safely after that. Also, the power increases from compression are not very noticeable. 3% power increase for 1 point compression comes out to 3 to 5 hp if that. Your idle will also be rough with a ported head. Since HRC is able to run 11's turbo'd, I don't think our heads really need to be ported. Save yourself the money and just get another bolt on, or something. Just FYI, the fastest my auto ran ever was 17.159 @ 80.xx mph. That's with AEM cold air intake, AEM cam gears, Hotshot Headers, Magnaflow Exhaust,
and also: AFX UDP, ported and milled head, 5 angle valve job. Before I did the second batch of mods, I had previously ran around 17.25 @ 80 mph also. So I wouldn't say it made much difference, especially considering that the UDP pulley is supposed to give you 10 hp, but I don't think it really does either (as me and two other socalers noticed no time improvements after the pulley). Also, after all the work, I dyno'd my car and it made the exact same hp to the wheels as before, but it might have been because I was not able to tune the cam gears while on the dyno that time.

________________________________________

2004 WRX - WR Blue Pearl
1997 Eclipse GS - Royal Sapphire Pearl

That has got to be the worst I have ever heard. No improvement with those is amazing, of course I don't trust auto's(not drivers the trannies) so I don't know, even the 2gnt site says a bored out TB will give something like 2-4 mph in the 1/4, and they don't need to sell them. I think anything that lightens the crank won't show up as much on the dyno since the rpms arent increasing(unless I'm speaking out my ass) so under full acceleration at the strip in lower gears it should help since it takes more power to bring weight up to speed than keep it there..

Adel also ran even slower after porting his head and doing head work and putting in cams too. His was probably because he went with a wild port of the head. Mine is supposed to be a very mild port, but it may be too much for a normally aspirated engine. And I don't think a bored tb will give you 2-4 hp. Maybe 1 hp and better response though.

________________________________________

2004 WRX - WR Blue Pearl
1997 Eclipse GS - Royal Sapphire Pearl

We have small ports but they look like a striaght shot to the cylinders to me. My understanding is our head stock will flow enough for at least 400-450hp with forced induction. I think heavy porting if done wrong will take away from its ability to flow properly. I would not trust just anyone to just start getting into the head, especially if they do not have a previous proven track record with small modern 4-cylinders head design and a flow bench to back up their work. I only did a mild port job on the head to even it all out and that is it. Anyone really spend some time with the head? This is when I wish Eric R. would pop up for a second.

05 Mazda RX-8
06 Lotus Elise

Yeah I think Eric has forgotten about us... too busy wth his RX-7 probably.

You said yourself eclipse804 that Road Race said they ge you a little extra porting because they loked small. My ideal porting on a natiurally aspired engineis to port match the head to the gasket and leave the passage about the same size just polish it up. I avea spare head and am looking into polishing this up myself. But NA to be fast will be more expensive in the end. To really take advantag eof it you'd want a Stand Alone fuel managemet system which wil run you around $1500 by itself. So it is cheaper toadd turbo power. Now don't et me wrong I don't discourage anyone from goin after NA, that would make me huge hippocrite. I just want you to know what you are geting into. I know and am still going to try. I believe we can be quick NA, There are Neons running aroud in 13's NA, we are heavier and there are a few other factors, but we should be able to get deep into the 14's at least.

"The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it." - Albert Einstein



Michael J. Kulaga
e-mail: Michael_97RS@2gntDSM.zzn.com aol IM: MJKulga
http://highlander.dsmpower.com/

Injen CAI, 55mm TB, Hooker 4-1 Stepped Header, GS-T Muffler, AFX UDP, S-AFC, 8.5mm Magnecor Wires, Crane Fireball HI-6DI2, SS Clutch Line, NRG Susp. Motor Mount Ins., FU/RU/RL STBs, TSW Blade 17x7.5, Bridgestone Potenza RE730 215/45ZR-17. Front KVR Cross-Drilled Rotors & Carbon Fiber Pads

To Be Installed: Ported/Polished Intake Manifold 1/2, Rear disc brake conversion kit w/, Rear KVR Cross Drilled Rotors & Carbon Fiber Kevlar Pads, SS Brake Lines

Firefly:
Mal: You don't know me, son, so let me put this to you plainly: If I ever kill you, you'll be awake. You'll be facing me. And you'll be armed.