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Abbott Racing heads

Blacknitews6

Blacknitews6

New member
I'm interested in Abbott S1 heads since i only want a mild port job.
Has anyone use them. I appreciate any help. Thanks.
 


i hear ya. But i have no experience porting heads. If i go to far
them i'll heads to find replacement heads. But i always wanted to try ported.
I helped on my 241 LS1 back in 2002. that was pretty cool. I know if you touch the right spot you can
pick up great gains without removing that much material. Thanks for your advice.
 
i never did it before either but it all turned out well. even if you just polished them its an improvement.

i took out a couple mm all around.

005_zpsxz9vnhjx.jpg



our crappy stock exhaust castings.

003_zps4dct2ft2.jpg


and ported, not even polished yet.

006_zps6gl1nht2.jpg


003_zpsom8kk6xa.jpg
 
easiest place to start on a hand port is to grab a used set of lower intake manifold gaskets and just gasket match all the inlets on the heads. I don't have the time or interest to try porting my own, but if I did, I would get a nice set of tools and make sure I had no doubt in my mind exactly what I was going to do before I did it, and the theory behind what was being done.
 


Man you guys do great work!! Since i did some work on my LS1 heads it might be worth giving it a try.
I'm interested in doing some work in the valve guide area and just blend everything so there's a smooth
transition in the bowl and throat, then remove casting flash. Thanks guys for the pics. I appreciate it.
 
SgtMarshal said:
easiest place to start on a hand port is to grab a used set of lower intake manifold gaskets and just gasket match all the inlets on the heads. I don't have the time or interest to try porting my own, but if I did, I would get a nice set of tools and make sure I had no doubt in my mind exactly what I was going to do before I did it, and the theory behind what was being done.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean. I don't have the skill to try to port my heads. And if you add my time trying to port the heads without
screwing them up, plus buying the tools to do the job it will cost close to Abbott's S1 heads. Plus they do more than cleaning up the
casting flash. They do a valve job, they install 130# spring and retainers, they mill the heads, replace seals.
So doing my own heads would never compare to the work they do. And for their $800 it would cost me more than that in parts and tools.
And they are pro's. I could never do what they do with all the work they do.
 
Blacknitews6 said:
Man you guys do great work!! Since i did some work on my LS1 heads it might be worth giving it a try.
I'm interested in doing some work in the valve guide area and just blend everything so there's a smooth
transition in the bowl and throat, then remove casting flash. Thanks guys for the pics. I appreciate it.
Click to expand...

These are a lot more forgiving than aluminum LS heads, too. Gotta keep that in mind as well. Usually makes life easier with iron.
 
I don't know anyone that had run Abbott heads. But for $800, you can bet that it isn't much of a port job. But porting and polishing your own heads is expensive and time consuming. And it makes a huge mess.

You need a pretty big air compressor, preferably one that runs on 220v. Then a die grinder...in my experience, the cheap ones work like crap compared to the ones that cost closer to $100. Then all the sanding drums, polished, etc.

Last set of heads I did, I stuck I think around ten or fifteen hours into each head. Next time, I just spent money on vendor heads. If you watch the classifieds, you can usually find good deals on zzp s3 or s4 heads.
 
i was up to the 18-20 hrs per head, but i did it over time. a few hours each day, its nothing you want to sit down and do for 8 hours straight.

and for sure your not gonna do any huge damage from a run away bit or nothing. worst thing you could do is nail the valve seat where the valves seat up. thats a sketchy area in the bowl. after you do a few bowls, your like ok, here we go again lol

001_zpsdlvzryom.jpg
 


Harbor freight die grinder, I used autobodynow ebay burrs and trickflow sandpaper. $100ish in tools and alittle bit of my time.

20160726_225553 by Corey S, on Flickr
20160801_165651 by Corey S, on Flickr

Its all easy to do
20170223_113842 by Corey S, on Flickr
20170223_121750 by Corey S, on Flickr

**** I even polished my valves
20160821_180704 by Corey S, on Flickr
20160902_152021 by Corey S, on Flickr
20160902_162014 by Corey S, on Flickr20160902_161944 by Corey S, on Flickr




So save some money, enjoy some experience and gain power because your not gonna gain 50hp vs diy porting vs any vendor.
 
That second photo looks like a pro did that not some average guy in his garage with a dremel.
The other pics look more like what you would see a novice do.
 
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GTPpower....Who's heads do you recommend? Cause Turbo Tim just told me to just change the springs/retainers since i'm
not going to the track too often. I just want a quick street car. That shows how honest ZZP is. Cause Tim
could have BS me into getting CNC heads. I know i don't need to remove the heads to change springs, but
if i was going to Abbott does a lot for the money and back up their work. Most shops might charge $750 or more for reconditioned
heads. Plus i only want a mild port job since it's not a race car and i'm only running a ZZP ST2 cam.
Sure i can leave the heads on the car/ no porting and just replace springs and throw in the ST2 and be done with it. Which i might do since mild ported
heads won't add all that much. But i thought i might look into a mild port job as well.
 
a novice lol. only after pic is the exhaust with flash which shows every mark known to man. I assure you they look better than the pics posted.

exhaust porting has more gains than intake.
 


Zzp heads are about the only ones I can recommend anymore. But on a turbo car, it's pretty much a waste of money. There are much cheaper and easier ways to gain power. I would just install a set of 130# springs and it'll make more power than you know what to do with.
 
GTPpower said:
Zzp heads are about the only ones I can recommend anymore. But on a turbo car, it's pretty much a waste of money. There are much cheaper and easier ways to gain power. I would just install a set of 130# springs and it'll make more power than you know what to do with.
Click to expand...

Haha...i believe it. Cause i'm not looking to squeeze every HP since i only want a strong street car. I figure with the parts
i'm gonna run the car might hit mid 12's, which would be great.

Here's the list of parts i plan to run:
ZZP Z7 PT6262 kit w/intercooler at 14 psi.
ZZP ST2 Cam w/130# spring and retainers
Either a aluminum intake or ZZP's L36 conversion intake
Ported TB
3 inch downpipe
3 inch catback
Vigilante 2800 stall
Retuned PCM

I'm sure there will be other little things as the big continues. And i appreciate any input you guys
might have. I'm new to this FWD stuff..lol. And i thank all you guys that posted in this thread.
 
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Yeah, I wouldn't even mess with the heads if you want to run 12's. That 6262 has the ability to get you into the tens.

You should get a double roller timing set. And a set of slicks for the track if you don't have them already.
 
GTPpower said:
Yeah, I wouldn't even mess with the heads if you want to run 12's. That 6262 has the ability to get you into the tens.

You should get a double roller timing set. And a set of slicks for the track if you don't have them already.
Click to expand...

Thanks i appreciate your help. If i want to shoot for low 12's or 11.9 with drag radials what other mods would you recommend? I know my tranny won't like it too much, but i plan later on to have TEP mod my trans. I would like to touch 11.90's truely.
I just noticed on your mods that you are on a stock trans. That's great cause other than test and tune at Atco Raceway my car won't see a lot of track time, just for tuning purposes mostly. Man i appreciated your advice. You already saved me money by not having my heads ported. I can use that $800 to buy a Vig.2800. Or other things like the timing set. Thanks man for all your help.
 
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