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porting l36 LIM

Grimsin

New member
so after reading this thread:
http://www.pontiacbonnevilleclub.com/forum/performance-brainstorming/topic3795.html
looks their is alot of potential in porting a LIM to match the heads, in since i have pretty much every other mods that can be done to my car this seems like a cheap way to gain a few more ponies.
already got a l26 LIM in the mail for cheap, but got questions.
looking at the pictures in the provided link looks like i mostly port on the right side? or should i port both sides to reach the 0.9'' mark
this will be my first time ever porting so i want to do it right and take my time,any tips & any links to show me what bits i need to properly port will be greatly appreciated.
 


it cant hurt, those bits are not cheap. i just bought a set a while back to port my heads. HF has the sanding cones kits to polish it up nice.
 
Thats not a bad price, only thing that sucks is the american dollar is so much higher then ours pretty much a 20% is $ on anything i buy in the states.
 


IF you are talking about porting the intake runners, just be careful to ONLY port to match the intake runners on the heads. IF you port the LIM more then the runners on the heads, then it will actually cause a restriction.
 
Thats not a bad price, only thing that sucks is the american dollar is so much higher then ours pretty much a 20% is $ on anything i buy in the states.


only other place i found them was summit. and they wanted way more $. and HF is local for me. i got 3 stores with in 10 miles of me.
 
IF you are talking about porting the intake runners, just be careful to ONLY port to match the intake runners on the heads. IF you port the LIM more then the runners on the heads, then it will actually cause a restriction.
ya I dont want to gasket match i only want to port it enough to be flush with the heads.
in the link i provided he says heads are 0.9''x1.9'' im gonna go with that. just wondering do i mostly port on the right side? or should i port both sides to reach the 0.9'' mark

only other place i found them was summit. and they wanted way more $. and HF is local for me. i got 3 stores with in 10 miles of me.
Ill price around here see if its worth ordering and shipping from the states.
 
I just took a small combination square and scribed perpendicular lines to the widest point on each runner. Top and bottom are just cleaned up, don't make them longer. I ported mine like 5 weeks before I did my top swap. I definitely felt an improvement but it was probably between porting and cleaning my throttle body, it was very funky.
 
judging by the wide area on the bottom, his taking most from that right side.

lim_question.jpg



DSC02237.jpg
 


No! Right in the middle you can tell where the widest point is. Scribe lines straight up/down from the widest point. Don't touch the injector boss area. You will just square up the upper corner. Side opposite the injector is where you take most out. You will make that nice and straight and clean up the corners. Give the corners a nice radius, don't just cut them a sharp 90°.
 
Those won't fit a dremel, you need 1/8" shanks for that. You can do most of it with just basic dremel sand rolls. Your biggest gain is just cleaning up that rough port exit. If you want to open the runners you can find 4" shanks on eBay. I bought one olive tipped carbide shank that got me through both heads, along with some sand rolls from HF. Just make sure you get the ones for aluminum.
 
hmm ok, Ill ask my father inlaw if he has the right stuff, he was tool and die for 30 years and has all kinds of tools lol

Those won't fit a dremel, you need 1/8" shanks for that. You can do most of it with just basic dremel sand rolls. Your biggest gain is just cleaning up that rough port exit. If you want to open the runners you can find 4" shanks on eBay. I bought one olive tipped carbide shank that got me through both heads, along with some sand rolls from HF. Just make sure you get the ones for aluminum.
ya im mostly after port matching the exits with the heads.
 


this is just ground down with the bits i posted, not polished yet. this is pretty much just cleaning the castings and smoothing the ports up, same thing your doing to the lim really.

006_zps6gl1nht2.jpg
 
oh, you can used a corded drill too. air die grinder electric one works better due to higher rpm's, but the drill will get you by.

i used a drill for all the polishing. the air grinder ate the sanding cones up to fast.
 
ya thats what i plan but i not going to gasket match though, just want to try to match it with the heads.
 
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