Cylinder Head Work

[henderson]

hi all,just wondering if anyone on here has had there cylinder head ported and polished? i did a quick search and could only find benr1's excellent right up but he has nitrous so not sure how relevant it is to me,

as some of you may know i have catcams fitted,fully decatted,matched inlets,maxogen and 64mm TB so i thought some head work would compliment these mods well,

basically i'm trying to way up weather its worth the money,my cams got fitted and mapped somewhere local,i then went to RS tuning as i thought there was more to be had out of them and low and behold there was,paul did say though as he never fitted the cams he couldn't be 100% sure they were timed properly which has always played on my mind,so i thought if there was any value in having the head done i could get the cams set right at the same time (if they are out that is),piece of mind,


so if anyone could give me any tips on gains to be had,and rough prices i'd be very greatful,cheers

scott

 

[MikeLYR27]

Isnt it quite a lot of money and you dont get much? Ben doesnt run his nos much i believe and said the midrange was improved and he also has catcams 402's.

 

[sideways danny]

Bens head was off for other work (head gasket was blowing due to the nitrous) standard inlet port is pretty good, although it's improvable slightly, but the exhaust ports are nasty in my opinion. Sadly the 197 manifold restricts what can be done to improve the exhaust ports or I'd have replicated ph1 172 ports which is well proven to be better, and I've had very good results a number of times with this work on 172/182s. There's still a fair improvement to be made, but IMO unless there's a reason to remove the head, leave it alone. It would be relatively easy to check for correct cam timing, probably an hours work and a pair of seal.

 

[henderson]

Isnt it quite a lot of money and you dont get much? Ben doesnt run his nos much i believe and said the midrange was improved and he also has catcams 402's.

yeah heard it was a bit of a mid range mod,wish i'd had it done at RS Tuning along with the cams,you live and learn mate

 

[henderson]

Bens head was off for other work (head gasket was blowing due to the nitrous) standard inlet port is pretty good, although it's improvable slightly, but the exhaust ports are nasty in my opinion. Sadly the 197 manifold restricts what can be done to improve the exhaust ports or I'd have replicated ph1 172 ports which is well proven to be better, and I've had very good results a number of times with this work on 172/182s. There's still a fair improvement to be made, but IMO unless there's a reason to remove the head, leave it alone. It would be relatively easy to check for correct cam timing, probably an hours work and a pair of seal.

ah ok,thanks for your reply danny,yeah we tried to check the timing when i was at RS Tuning,popped the cam caps and offered up the cam timing tool when in the right position and strangely pauls timing tool that he's used before on catcams wouldn't fit in either key slot on the end of the cams,very odd,good job the caps are cheap!

 

[Raptor6767]

Had it done on my last engine.

Throttle response was MUCH better than it is now.

 

[henderson]

Had it done on my last engine.

Throttle response was MUCH better than it is now.

any power gains on the rollers raptor?

 

[ben_r1]

Hi Henderson mate.

As Danny said he had my head off last year for a head gasket change and did some stage one porting for me. It made some decent improvements mid range although i havent had that dyno tested. This is without the additional performance of nitrous.

If you do remove the head i'd recommend fitting ARP stud kit in place of the head bolts, they are much stronger items and can be used time and time again

Danny we must catch up sometime, been too long!

 

[Raptor6767]

any power gains on the rollers raptor?

Don't know, unfortunately that engine blew 2 days after the last remap.

However, I would strongly recommend it if/when rebuilding engine or installing cams.

 

[henderson]

Hi Henderson mate.

As Danny said he had my head off last year for a head gasket change and did some stage one porting for me. It made some decent improvements mid range although i havent had that dyno tested. This is without the additional performance of nitrous.

If you do remove the head i'd recommend fitting ARP stud kit in place of the head bolts, they are much stronger items and can be used time and time again

Danny we must catch up sometime, been too long!

hello mate,yeah after reading your right up i would defo go for the stronger bolts if i go that way,the daft thing is for small gains my head is telling me no but my hands can't help but right cheques,i'm going to get a price from RS Tuning next week,hopefully that will help me make my mind up,thanks for your help

 

[litchy]

Don't know of any aside from Ben's. I think for the money 400+ not sure if worth it. Daily deliberating about power gains. I think ITB's next. Just waiting for them to be developed so the loom will accept the standard clocks. Also I know there are issues with Trumpet length. I had ARP bolts fitted at RS when Paul fitted the schricks. I would love to be somewhere close to 225bhp NA. The problem is every 1 bhp is sooo costly with NA.

 

[ben_r1]

I can think of better places to throw £400 at on the 197 ( brakes/suspension upgrades ).

Of all mods the LSD is the one i'd go for again!

 

[litchy]

I can think of better places to throw £400 at on the 197 ( brakes/suspension upgrades ).

Of all mods the LSD is the one i'd go for again!

Ben your so right. My focus is on mid range collies, a good brake and pad set up. I have a gearbox ready for a Diff. I was sooo close to having these when you nearly parted yours out....I've been hanging in off just in case you start twitching again mate lol.

 

[henderson]

Don't know of any aside from Ben's. I think for the money 400+ not sure if worth it. Daily deliberating about power gains. I think ITB's next. Just waiting for them to be developed so the loom will accept the standard clocks. Also I know there are issues with Trumpet length. I had ARP bolts fitted at RS when Paul fitted the schricks. I would love to be somewhere close to 225bhp NA. The problem is every 1 bhp is sooo costly with NA.

your certainly right about being costly,just wish i could afford to have all these mods done in one go,the difference would be awesome and i bet you'd save a bob or too,is it ktec your waiting for to develope the itbs bud?

 

[ben_r1]

Ben your so right. My focus is on mid range collies, a good brake and pad set up. I have a gearbox ready for a Diff. I was sooo close to having these when you nearly parted yours out....I've been hanging in off just in case you start twitching again mate lol.

Lol im running my new high comp pistons in and then its upto TDF for its final setup map so hopefully we're looking around 235bhp mark i wont twitch with that.

TDF are prototyping a solution for the trumpet length issue, but im not allowed to tell

 

[litchy]

your certainly right about being costly,just wish i could afford to have all these mods done in one go,the difference would be awesome and i bet you'd save a bob or too,is it ktec your waiting for to develope the itbs bud?

Lol im running my new high comp pistons in and then its upto TDF for its final setup map so hopefully we're looking around 235bhp mark i wont twitch with that.

TDF are prototyping a solution for the trumpet length issue, but im not allowed to tell

Either or. Once its competitively priced. The figures quoted at mo are too much for me to justify spending 5k for 15 bhp. Looks like this will be the last of the NA Renaultsports so theres something in me that thinks want to keep mine this way.

 

[sideways danny]

I'm trying to dev the correct length ITB setup, but I need a car and some time

 

[ben_r1]

Either or. Once its competitively priced. The figures quoted at mo are too much for me to justify spending 5k for 15 bhp. Looks like this will be the last of the NA Renaultsports so theres something in me that thinks want to keep mine this way.

ITBs arent about power gains my friend, its all in the noise!

 

[litchy]

ITBs arent about power gains my friend, its all in the noise!

Can't deny that!!!! Thats the way I'm going once I don't have to sell a kidney to pay for them....lol

 

[ben_r1]

Pictures i found boys and girls: