How long should i get? I found some on summit, and it is about 50 dollars for either a set of 4 with 2" shanks or a set of 3 w/ 6". I will be porting a set of sportsman II's if that matters. Also is there a cheaper place I could get them? I have heard some people talk about needing the 3 shapes and then some people have said you need them in both long and short form. Will I need both because that is a lot of money on carbide cutters alone. I can really only afford one or the other right now so if I need both which should I order first and start with? If both are needed I may just wait till I have the money for all of them so I dont need to pay handleing twice though.

Ben

 

I use mostly the bullet-noe, flame tip, and small spherical cutters. I rarely use the cone (pointed) tip around valve guide bosses, and the inverse cone on short side radius from the valve bolw side. All of mine are about 1" with a 1" shank. The key is having a die grinder with a long nose and small enough collet to get deep into the port runners.

 

Where would you suggest getting them from? Do these look like they would do the job. http://store.summitracing.com/partde...t=SUM%2D900240 The one thing that gets me is that it says that they are 2" but the pic has different lengths. Do you think that the pic is wrong? Also, here is the other one I found on there. It is the longer ones but I think I may be able to get away with the shorter. http://store.summitracing.com/partde...t=SUM%2D900640

I attatched a pic of what my die grinder looks like. This pic is not mine but the same thing. It has a fairly small nose so I might be ok.

Ben

PS This is unrelated but thought I'd share. I just ran against a stock LS1 Z28 and ran even-slightly behind(he took off first) with him from a ~40 mph roll a couple times and beat him a couple.

 

I found the short cutters to be the most usefull. However, I did find one 6" cutter that was indespensible for reaching down the intake runners from the manifold end.

 

So would that kit from summit work or should I find something else. Any suggestions on where to buy from?

Ben

 

The kit from summit will work fine. I actually have about 25 different bits in a variety of sizes, but for a sbc head that kit with a good grinder will do 95% of anything needed, and with the sportsman heads you really don't need to do much, so you should be all set.

 

Sorry, but just to make sure are you saying that the shorter length ones will do what I will need? Should I also get something like the standard abrasives kit to clean up a little after using the cutters and polish the exhaust?

Ben

 

I have what's left of an old SA kit, plus a few bulk boxes of certain of their tootsie rolls and flap wheels and buffers that are my favorites, some carbide burrs, and some stones. I find myself using about all of them at one time or another on most heads.

The long ones get real hard to control sometimes. But they're great for getting down into certain parts of the intake ports. Even with a skinny die grinder, the angle you can get in there at is very limited. Sometimes the long shaft will let you get into spots that you can't get otherwise.

The SA kits are great for a beginner. You'll probably find that it has stuff you won't use on your particular heads and some other things that you'll run out of. It's alot better for cleanup after the heavier work that can be done with burrs and rocks. But, if you haven't done many heads before, it's better to use something that goes slow; you can trash a set of heads in a hurry with an aggressive burr, especially with an air grinder.

 

I got mine from carbideburs.com, they were like $13 each for the double cut 6" long ones. I ended cutting one of them down to about 3" so I would have more control in the bowl area (and exhaust), but the long ones are great for the runners. I have 3 that I like, oval, flame shaped and conical. I use the oval one the most. You should be able to get by with just the oval and conical shaped one on the sportmans since they don't require too much work.

 

I just want to get rid of any casting lines and such and trim down the friggen huge valve guide boss for the most part. I figure I may order some short ones, but as far as long ones, is there a certain one that I will be needing or do you end up using more than one long one to clean up?

Ben

 

That grinder looks familiar.

 

Well, just a word of caution. I don't know what the RPM of your grinder is but mine is around 20,000. If you use them 6" cutters you had better slow down your grinder RPM or the viberation can get out of hand. I have a reostat for mine and can dial down the rpm. Works great!!

Auggie

 

I already wired up a dimmer switch for it.

Ben