How much is the average price for a machine shop to port n polish a single cam head.. no block just the head i live in orlando if anyone knows of any over here let me no

 

usually they go flat rate by the hour ...and that will vary greatly depending on the amount of work being done ...ive seen mild port jobs aka gasket matching go for as cheap as 150...but the more radical port jobs can go clear up to 1000 depending on whose doing it

 

ight thanks how much do you think for a kind of janky running single cam head thats kind of chewed up lol

 

You must be giving out "back door" pricing... $150 for a gasket match is ludicrous, no matter what neck of the woods you are in.

 

You will get more bang for the buck by port and polishing the block if you have a janky head.

 

Most Honda heads flow freaking awesome factory. Unless your boosting and are in the 300+hp range. So don't waste any time with the port and polish. A good 3 angle valve job will however give mild gains on a stock motor. And obviously its good for monster engine too.


It works be letting the valve be more aerodynamic and let more air flow into the engine.

The OLD SCHOOL port and polish is something that was great for chevy and ford v8 engines... it worked great because the stock stuff was cast like shi* for mass production.

 

i was also thinking of doing a port/polish but my friend said its a waste of money to do it on a sohc...if anything i would go to gude performance and get the bullfrog package...when i called and estimated mine.. i would have sent out my head,intake manifold and also my throttle body... the estimated price came out to about 1800...it should b well worth the money

 

More if you are talking B-series VTEC heads... A thing to note though - Little to no porting (to an extent) is required on a FORCED INDUCTION setup. You are not worried how much the engine can flow on its own like a naturally aspirated engine. You are quite litterly forcing the engine to flow more than its capable of.

Very quick and basic lesson - when you compress something, more of it can fit inside the same given space...

 

yeah i sometimes forget not everyone knows a machinist

 

Regardless, you must more than know them - it wouldn't even be close to worth my time and materials for $150... Especially if it's done right and the throttle body, intake manifold, and intake/exhaust ports - potentially the exhaust manifold too. Oh well good for you, I do all my own work and I would probably slap somebody if they came up to me talking that price.

 

yeah the last one i had done the guy volunteered the 150 price...so i didnt argue ...he does really good work though...my shop sends him work all the time so i guess it was more of a favor than anything

 

I know things are different all across the country (world), but $150 for a basic PnP on a 4 cyl aluminum head would actually be about right here in the Midwest. Most machine shops around here will do a complete PnP on a pair of cast iron V8 heads for $350 to $400. That includes just basic clean-up, de-buring, and mild PnP, along with a 3 angle valve job.

I just rebuilt the head on my son's Rex, along with some very minor PnP, and it took me less than 4 hours....the actual "machine" work was maybe an hour. I paid a shop $100 for milling and a 3 angle job, and that included mag'ing the head, and a nice soak.

Seriously, if you are even the slightest bit mechanicaly inclined, and have a steady hand, do it yourself. All you need is a decent dremel, or a small rotary air tool, and some basic stones and polishing wheels. Aluminum heads are pretty clean from the factory (compared to an iron head), so there is very little work to be done.

Just remember, you can always remove more material....putting back...not so much. Work slow and steady. What you are looking to do is just smooth anything that looks like a sharp edge, and shine up the combustion chambers. (Not mirror shiny though....you want kind of a "satin" finish, but smooth.

Set your gaskets in place, and scribe a line around the opening. Remove material (slowly) until your ports match the profile of the gasket....then smooth it all out.

Like I said, price is going to vary depending on where you are. Our cost of living is pretty cheap here, so everything else seems to follow suit. But even at $50 an hour, a "mild" headjob should "flag" at no more than 3 hours. Most of the work (milling, valves, ect) is automated, and most shops will use lower skilled guys to do mild jobs.

I may actually see if I can find another head cheap enough, and ill try my hand at a guide. I really didnt think to document the last one, or I would have. For me, anyway, its actually quite a "fun" job to do, as I am a little bit OCD with some things, and you can really get fanck when it comes to cleaning up heads. If you have the time, its pretty fun to do some "cosmetic" improvements while you are at it. Debur all the casting marks on the outside of the head, polish up some of the raised areas, while leaving the lower ones rough...gives a nice contrast look to it.

One last tip...if you dont have an actuall parts washer....wash the HELL out of the head when you are done, before any assembly....then wash it again. Blow every hole out 3 times with compressed air. You dont want any shavings making your work all for nothing.

 

I can see this price working for minor port work. On a typical d series head that gets the full package i spend around 3 hours per port. That is reshaping the short turn, blending the bowl, reshaping the guides, a gasket match, reshaping the port devider, valve re shrouding and finally polished combustion chambers. Most guys just polish off the casting flash and call it a day. Not all porting and polishing is the same. Im sure some guy that has never done a honda head before let alone spent money on a flow bench and engine dyno is more then happy to take your money for a gasket match he cut with a sawzall

 

$100 for all of that is a steal.

Milling heads usually runs around $50-60 around here, valve seat/valve facing/cutting runs about the same and magna flux/cleaning a head would be another $30-40.

A decent shop around Atlanta would charge $150-175 for milling, valve work, mag, cleaning around here.

 

if you can get a port and polish that cheap that is worth a damn then its an amazing steal. I am willing to bet it is a port and polish that is "good" cause the guy "knows what he is doing" and there is no flowbench in the shop...

 

D15b that i am doing for a customer

 

This topic belongs in the Value sticky. Locked.