Seriously. Why would you modify a car with just a good tune-up, when there are so many issues within what the factory gave us that could be improved to begin with for little or no cost?

I've ported and polished 2 superchargers, and assisted somewhat remotely on a third (not to mention a few rebuilds). All 3 performed great, and the two that were fully tested IMMEDIATELY dropped a standard pulley size.

My throttle body porting has had RAVE reviews. Not just by me. And the shortstar and Northstar TB'* are next.

Now the LIM'*. That'* a story that is still unfolding, but the combination of the TB, SC, and LIM porting I've done has put me in pulley territory never before achieved on a Gen3 Series 1 L67 setup. WAY beyond the typical pulley diameter.

This topic is intended to get people thinking and asking questions about porting and polishing. YOU can do it. You can save a TON of money and gain performance that will surprise you for the cost of a used part at the wrecker.

After all, why would you cam or use rocker arms when your intake manifold ports don't even match your heads to begin with?

Some Questions i have then
Mod winter for me coming up...
My TB....obviously i want it to flow better and meet the new demands..what can i do about it?
And once my LIM is off, i will be taking some VERY accurate measurements...i want to clean that up as much as possible...the cooling aspect of it alone is VERY benifical

An article about 3 years ago in Hot Rod magazine was on a guy with a 71 or 72 Buick Regal GS. He was running 11'* in a "stock category" with terrible tires. The gist of the story was, damn near every part related to power (not things such as bolts, etc) were solely modified OE parts. Massaging everything from the air cleaner to the heads, valvetrain etc, all on a stock cam.

EDIT: should finish my thought..

I'm all for modifying stock parts. I've always thought there had to be some way to open up the parts on this car relatively easy. I'm glad to see these advancements being made. Just wish i wasn't trapped in an apt where working on things isn't the easiest.

However my mom just started doing the books for a machine shop... so i may have a hookup..

Trapped in your parents basement or an apartment, approach it the way I do.

My car does not come apart for any of these projects until it'* go time.

Here'* what you need:
A dremel and a good assortment of sanding and polishing pieces for it.
An electrical outlet
A spare part, usually found in junkyards, ebay, fellow club members or other places for low cost.

Research the item you are looking to modify. If you are interested in TB porting, search until you have read it all. Practice on an old part or your spare, afterall....if everything goes horribly you only lost the amount you put into the part and haven't taken your car out of service.

Put up pics as the project is moving along to get opinions from those that have done things.
Get together with a friend where you can work on the car and do things together. Working on a car with a buddy is always a better time than working alone.

You aren't a gearhead you say? You don't know how to do that? Most of the people on this club and others never had a mechanical education. We hung around, asked questions to gain a confidence level and gave things a try.

Ask questions
Learn more

The gearheads here are always learning more.
I recently learned about subframes coming apart

For the TB'* I've ported and either used, or shipped out, I use the machine shop at work. But that work can easily be handed over to any machine shop in your area with my detailed instructions and pics posted here. The polishing took place when I lived in my Apt. I just put a drop cloth down and go to town (I have a garage now, so next time will be better, but this is to prove it'* possible).

SC porting is much the same. I've done two, both in a friend'* garage. The key here is you must have access to a press to replace your bearings later. Porting kinda makes a mess of bearings.

LIM porting can be done anywhere with a dropcloth. Even in church. Get a core, and go to town. Just make sure you get accurate measurements from the same series of heads your LIM will mate to.

There'* power here folks. And in an unported state, many of these parts don't allow the full potential of rockers, cams, or smaller SC pulleys.

On the SC bearings. With Bills instruction, that too could easily be done by a machine shop.

Couldn't you avoid having an issue with the bearings by placing tape over them prior to the porting?

Why wouldn't you replace them if you had it opened up for porting?

(point, counter-point)

If you were poor and wanted to save money, and if the current bearings were still in good shape.

becuase my SC has 10,000 miles on it.