The time has come for my new heads to be ported and polished. I've never done anything like this before so I have a few questions. Also I have a 2.9 but there's no section for it.

1-How much material can be removed?

2-Apparently there's a chunk of metal right in the middle of the ports that can be removed?

3-What tools do I need to Port? And polish?

also on TRS I read about upper intake plenum spacers. Anyone have insight on this?

 

Check out THIS website. They have some good info as well as pictures to help you get the concept of porting and how to go about it. As far as how much material you can remove it really depends on where your talking. Each intake and exhaust port is unique and has it own contours so there is no straight answer. As for tools you need is a really good light to illuminate the port your working on as well as some double cut grinder bits that are extended about 6" to reach into the ports. You'll obviously need a 1/4" grinder of some sort to use with the bits in order to clear out the material.

 

someone told me I could use a dremal tool

or does it need to be a grinder

 

You'll destroy a Dremel.

Buy some extended carbide burrs like these:



You need a grinder, even small compressors will support a grinder (They say not too however), use it in small spurts and lubricate the burr with WD-40 constantly to keep it cool. Go slow and set A LOT of time aside for this, roughly an hour for each chamber.

As for porting itself, start first my just looking for and correcting casting flash, then move onto the unshrouding the valves, then finally look at the ports. Air likes to go in a straight line, if a corner or bend is required in a port, try to smooth out the transition as much as possible.

If you want to open up the intake or exhaust ports, you will need to put the head back on the block, apply some machinist's bluing, seat the manifolds and tighten them down. Then remove them again and notice where the bluing remains and where it transfers. This will tell you if the ports line up and how much you need to open them up.

 

i wouldn't recommend too much porting, ive looked into it alot for my mustang, and you can actually hurt yourself if you do it wrong.
if you wanna do something, grab the set of gaskets for upper to lower, and lower to heads. use dykem blue on all the metal surfaces gaskets touch, mark out the shape of the gasket and just open it up to the gasket (gasket matching) you cant really go wrong with doing that.

idk bout ranger 3.0 heads (never looked in there) but my mustang has an egr knuckle kinda deal right in the exhaust port. alot of people grind those down.

lastly if you are going to port,look in the chambers where its nice and clean, air flows, dirty, air doesnt flow.

 

porting is something I wanted to do for a while, so I'm finally gonna get to take the time to get it, my auto shop teacher who worked for ford for 12 years is going to do it with me, and he did it to his 3.0 and his runs real strong.

hopefully he didn't loose his touch over the last 4 years.