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Cylinder head porting


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My son in law has a TR6 (CP) that he bought as a project a year or so ago.

When bought, the previous owner told us the engine had been rebuilt and had an unload head fitted.

We had no proof of any of this until we decided to strip the engine down for inspection.

It seems the engine has been apart before as the pistons are numbered in felt pen and have been cleaned up. The bores look good, but as the engine has been sitting since the mid to late nineties, it seems prudent to strip it right down and check/clean everything.

The cylinder head has indeed had unleaded inserts fitted and seems to have been given a light skim (probably just to re-face it)

As the engine has been sat for so long, the intake and exhaust ports have lightly corroded and will be cleaned up before re-fitting the head. My son in law is considering taking the head to have it slightly ported to improve the gas flow and make for better breathing, but my query is, are we sure this hasn't already been done? I have no idea what a standard inlet/exhaust port looks like on a TR6 head so these may be absolutely bog standard or they may already have been ported.........

If anyone could take a quick look at the pictures and let me know, we can decide where to go from here.

Thanks

 

Simon

 

http://s91.beta.photobucket.com/user/simonjrwinter/library/cylinder%20head

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Hi Simon

The ports don't look as if the've been done to me.

RonA

 

PS I don't know why my post is underlined, sometimes I get the line right through the middle of the letters instead, this forum is the only place it happens, any suggestions welcome!

Edited by RonA
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take the valves out and look under the seat area.original are bit uneven and lumpy,and the bottom of the ex stems looks untouched.

but the outer ports where the manifold fit look smooth,

you should have bought your in law some emery tape for xmas, it would have kept him busy for hours

richard

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Hi Simon

The ports don't look as if the've been done to me.

RonA

 

PS I don't know why my post is underlined, sometimes I get the line right through the middle of the letters instead, this forum is the only place it happens, any suggestions welcome!

**************************************************************************************

When you post there is a toolbar which enables you to do various things like underline, bold, strikethrough and add emoticons :ph34r: (NTC's favourite but I don't know what it means).

 

If your post starts with one of these effects, just click off the button that is causing it.

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Hi Simon

The ports don't look as if the've been done to me.

RonA

 

PS I don't know why my post is underlined, sometimes I get the line right through the middle of the letters instead, this forum is the only place it happens, any suggestions welcome!

Yes, move your cursor away from the toolbar....!!!

 

Sue

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I don't think that saying use Firefox is an acceptable answer to 'I can't see your pics'!

You want us to look at them?

Mke it so, Mr.Sulu!

 

You will find diagrams of OE Triumph combustion chambers and his own recemmendation for modding in Vizard's works, EG http://www.scribd.com/doc/12986341/Tuning-Standard-Triumphs-Vizard

 

That would tell you if the chambers have been modded.

 

'Flowing' the ports is a black art, only useful A/ if you have, or have it done by someone who has, a flow bench, and B/ in combination with all the other performance inducing mods. But as OE, the ports can be crudely finished, with edges between the various drillings and casting mould parts, that may be removed and smoothed to make it look better and maybe flow a little less badly. That's what being "slightly ported" means!

 

See Vizard for further advice, or "How to build, modify & power tune cylinder heads" by Burgess & Gollan, Pub.Veloce. You need an air-driven die grinder and burrs to do it properly.

 

John

Edited by john.r.davies
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Thanks John,

The intention is just to maybe make it flow a little better along with a decent extractor manifold, at the moment everything else is planned to be standard spec on the car.

I had really good results porting a set of 302 ford V8 heads a few years ago, took forever but seemed to improve power and drivability (although how much was down to me just thinking it was better is up for debate)

I would think any improvement it the way the charge accesses the combustion chamber can only be a good thing. "flowing less badly" is what we're aiming for! :)

 

Simon

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Simon, if you are going to adjust the ports yourself, pay attention to the mating of the inlet ports and injector bodies. I have yet to see a TR6 injector port that matches exactly with the inlets. You can check these out simply by coating the inlet port face on the head with some light oil. Fit the throttle bodies as you would normally and blow some talcum powder into each throttle body (butterflies fully open of course). Remove the throttle bodies and you will see where you need to work by the talcum powder stuck to the inlet port faces. if you do find discrepancies, you will also need to do the same with the gasket afterwards. Simple trick but it does work.

 

Some tips when 'porting':

 

Smooth out all lumps and bumps in the inlet ports but do NOT polish to a mirror finish.

There is a hump in the exhaust tract just as it changes direction..try to smooth this off. It is best to polish the exhaust port to as smooth a finish as possible.

 

Remember that the walls in some place are not particularly thick (waterways behind them), so be careful taking metal off.

 

Cheers

 

Tony

Edited by Tony Millward
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Simon,

The cost of getting a head done for you will easily outweigh that of buying the kit to DiY! A die grinder and burrs, with an aircompresor that must have a greater "cubic feet per minute" (CFM) than that used by the tool, say 8 for the tool and 14 for the compressor, will cost less than £400.

 

Then some study of the two books I recommended above will show you what to do, except that since in Vizard's day, burrs have become cheaper, easier and and far, far quicker to use than stones.

 

Good luck!

John

Edited by john.r.davies
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Ref porting heads yourself, only any good if you are bored and impecunious.

 

There are certain things on cars that experts you trust can do better and quicker than an enthusiastic owner. Cylinder work flow development is an area where because of the buggeration factor and work involved in breaking down and building up you only want to do it once.

 

Regarding Peter Burgess, he's devloped every cylinder head I've used either for road use or competition. I stumbled on him in the early eighties when searching for an expert on SUs and who had a flow bench. Numerous other "experts" were telling me what to do, and all off the top of their heads with no supporting figures to prove or otherwise their theories, Peter proved to me the quality of his work and his theories.

 

His prices are at least competitive and judging by the number of TR and other various marque specialists who buy his expertise and then sell it on, they rate him both on quality and on cost. If they could get the same work done cheaper they would use the other outlet.

 

Always use your money to buy expertise you either can't supply or it's not cost effective to do so. There are plenty of areas on a TR where you can reduce costs by supplying the labour or even the expertise if you have any which is applicable, I guess from your enquiry that doesn't include grinding out ports on a head ?.

 

When I built my various race cars I developed the engines in conjunction with Peter Burgess to suit his heads, paid back in spades.

 

Mick Richards

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