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Hi All,
Just got off the phone with the friendly
technician at Extrude Hone in Paramount, CA. I called to ask how much it
would be to have my eBay acquired :) cylinder head extrude honed. He
said, "yah....that'll run you $536....but that won't do much without doing
the intake (manifold). I "could" do it and take your money, then
you'll come back and I'll get more of you money...but I have an
idea...."
He then proceeded to tell me if I had to do "one"
thing to improve air flow to the head, the intake runners would be my best
bet. "Okay", I sezzz. He keeps on...."see, if you
improve the flow of the intake (manifold), it's going to flow to the head
anyway. Say, do you know the four aspects of engine
combustion?" "Yah..." I sezzz :) I do remember a wee
bit from Auto Class in high school :) Anywayzzz, he goes on and asks me
what it is I'm trying to do, so I sezzz, I don't want a top end screamer because
this ain't New Mexico where I can speed at will on long stretches of
road....this is rainy, road-rage prone Los Angeles and I don't plan to hit 120
mph on the 405 or 10 Highway unless I'm on the morning, afternoon, or evening
news and a helicopter is spotting me {:/
Anywayzzz, I want a low end to midrange performance
head...something driveable that I can live with on the street or track.
I'm sending the cams out to get reground to the Kent cam 258 degree specs (gotta
check CA laws to see if it'll put me over on the smog sniffer test), replacing
the cam sprocket, chain, lifters, & followers; valve retainers, guides,
& springs; popping off everything and cleaning the hell out of the head at
the Auto Hobby shop on base this weekend. Sure....I'm sure I'd be better
off just buying a hopped up cylinder head from Autotech *shiver*, but it
wouldn't be half the fun of actually doing it myself :) :) :) :)
Anyhooo, I don't know about the Extrude Hone jobber...we'll
see what my purse strings say :)....but for now, I guess I'm just going to
concentrate of getting it cleaned up and up to better-than-new specs. When
I mate it to the 2.0 16V crankshaft I picked up ($75) and a new set of
connecting rods, I think it'll be okay. This will also cut down on my
vehicle's downtime during upgrade, since I'll just swap in the upgraded head,
keep my old one locked away "just in case", and press on.
Now...there was a point to the Extrude Hone guy...and the
subject of my post. He recommended a site that has a computer program
where you punch in your cam lift/duration, valve specs, etc., and it tells you
what you need to achieve whatever powerband you're looking for:
"Our most popular program. "Its like having a dynamometer right
in your computer." Change cam, head, turbo/supercharger, manifold, header
specs, etc. and see effect on torque, HP, spark curve, vacuum, and more. Gives
torque/HP or valve lift graphs.:
I've downloaded the demo and I'll give it a look-see.
It's pre-loaded with American engine parts (Chevy, Ford, Mopar), but it gives
you the option to put in your own specs (full version only, I think). The
Extrude Hone guy says it runs $150 for the full version, so checking out the
demo would probably be worthwhile before you decide to spring for the real
thing.
As for me....I'm going to go sit by the door and wait for the
UPS person to show up with my new toy. Sorry to the guy who first posted
about the head on eBay...didn't want to out bid you, but like you said, it was a
sweet deal. Thanks for the tip tho'.....
Steph
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