GARY C wrote:Yes, we live in a disposable world now. Basically everything is cheaper to buy new than it is to rebuild the old, this goes for alternators, break calipers, wheel cylinders, cylinder heads and tv's...
If I already had a good usable set of stock heads and only had to port them my self I could see it, but I also have a $1500.00 SF110, a $450.00 Fordom grinder along with a Makita hand held and several years of screwing up heads... If your looking to learn how to do it yourself for future projects then using DV's writings is the way to go but it will cost you to learn but it's money well spent.
I would personally recommend focusing money on tools and "how to" education and save parts modification for later.
^^^This... to an extent. I have a lot of tools that could produce much better results than I am able to do if they were in more experienced hands. With that said, I also feel confident that I'm more skilled than I was the first time I ever attempted a porting job trying to port an aluminum iron head with an air powered "dremel" type tool from Harbor Freight using a tiny double cut burr meant for steel.
I've gotten a lot of education in my lifetime, and pretty much all of it has come at some sort of cost, be it money, time, trashing otherwise good parts, etc. If you're trying to learn this stuff, you need to be willing to accept the fact that you're not going to be perfect the first time you do it, and you'll probably end up ruining at least a few pieces of whatever you're working on. If you don't care to learn it, if you don't enjoy the countless hours sitting in the shop doing it, if you just want to reap the benefits, then save your money and don't buy the tools... pay someone else to do it.
Personally, I like doing things myself, even if I'm not the best at it. There's a sense of accomplishment that I enjoy. I'm well aware that I could ruin a part any day, and I really hope I don't, but if it happens I'm willing to accept that and move on, adjust fire, and figure out my next solution. I can't imagine that Smokey Yunick, David Vizard, John Lingenfelter, etc. was born knowing how to port heads/intakes. Everyone has to start somewhere.
Edit: Damn, I came into this thread late.
Never half ass two things... Whole ass one thing!