pull heads or wait?

[burnout289]

The carb rebuild got me going and now I need another project. Since my car isn't at my house and I have no way to get the engine out now (or transport it for that matter), I want to take bits off and bring them home to tinker.

I have been reading up on DIY porting and would like to pull the heads so I can freshen them up at home.

Should I just wait until I get the engine out so I don't have to reinstall the heads just so I can remove the whole thing? Not really sure yet how much of a hassle this is going to be, but I'd hate to do a bunch of cleaning up/painting on the heads just to scratch it all up lifting the engine out. Dunno if that's a valid concern or I'm just being paranoid.

Thoughts/advice?

 

[Gigantopithecus]

I'd get a junk head to practice on first. Get a feel for it before you jump into the heads you'll be using on the engine.

When I painted my engine, I left the heads on and taped anywhere I didn't want paint.

 

[Horseplay]

You are going to want to paint the engine when it is back together. This way the gasket seams, etc. get painted as well. Not too mention it not only looks better but it is a heck of a lot easier than try to mask off each part.

As far as home porting goes, what did you have in mind? Aside from port matching (exhaust mainly) you won't gain too much on stock heads.

 

[6t9mach1]

As far as home porting goes, what did you have in mind? Aside from port matching (exhaust mainly) you won't gain too much on stock heads.

Not sure why people say this, I guess since port matching the exhaust is the easiest thing to do and yields decent results. There are plenty of areas you can improve the stock heads it just depends on how far you want to go and how much you want to spend. I would definitely at least get a valve job done. Larger valves would be a benefit if these heads are going on anything other than a bone stock rebuild. Here is a good article on diy head porting. It should give you some ideas of where you can improve your heads http://www.popularhotrodding.com/enginemasters/articles/hardcore/0602em_cylinder_head_porting/viewall.html

 

[Horseplay]

Not sure why people say this, I guess since port matching the exhaust is the easiest thing to do and yields decent results. There are plenty of areas you can improve the stock heads it just depends on how far you want to go and how much you want to spend. I would definitely at least get a valve job done. Larger valves would be a benefit if these heads are going on anything other than a bone stock rebuild. Here is a good article on diy head porting. It should give you some ideas of where you can improve your heads http://www.popularhotrodding.com/enginemasters/articles/hardcore/0602em_cylinder_head_porting/viewall.html

The question was asked about home porting. I don't think too many people machine the heads for larger valves at home! Also, the OP is obviously new to engine work and advising him to break out a grinder and start reworking bowls and such is probably not a good idea. We don't even know what his goals are for the engine/car.

 

[6t9mach1]

The question was asked about home porting. I don't think too many people machine the heads for larger valves at home! Also, the OP is obviously new to engine work and advising him to break out a grinder and start reworking bowls and such is probably not a good idea. We don't even know what his goals are for the engine/car.

If you're refreshing a set of old heads then a valve job is a must IMO. I think that its probably a safe assumption that the OP doesn't have a SERDI machine in his garage. Probably doesn't have the ability to remove and install valve guides either. There is some work on cylinder heads that needs to be done by a machine shop. They have the tools and the knowledge that most of us do not have. The question wasn't even about home porting it was whether or not he should take the heads off now or later. To advise someone that you can't make good gains on a set of stock heads at home is not a true statement. All I did was simply give the OP information about home porting and told him it was his decision on how far he wants to go with it. You have to start somewhere. Not hard to pick up a $25 set of sbf iron heads and start practicing.

To the original question, if you've got the time to work on the heads now you aren't out much removing them to work on and then pulling the engine later. As others have mentioned you will want to paint the engine while its final assembled anyways. You can always use a lift plate that bolts to the carb flange to install the engine later on.

 

[burnout289]

Thanks for the article, every little bit of info helps.

And to be clear, this engine isn't going to stay in the car forever. I am no machinist, just mechanically inclined. And I love to take things apart. No, I've never done this before, but I learn by doing and I learn quickly if I care enough to do so.

If anything, I'd just be porting the exhaust ports for now and see if anything needs attention. If I botch the job, it will not be the end of the world, as I'll just start looking for a used roller 5.0.

To be honest, I'm not sure if it's worth saving this engine at all, I'm just bored and want something to do. Good call on painting while it's assembled, I'm used to painting things in pieces but this makes sense.