alright, i went to home depot and i got the silicone carbide bits that the guy said i would need to use for porting out the plenum... well, when i got home, i fired that baby up, and nothing was happening... nada... no nothin.... i kept on trying more and more, but to no avail... i need some help on what kind of bit to use for a dremmel, for porting the plenum... thanks guys..

 

I think you'll find that porting the plenum is going to be too much for the dremmel tool, they were never intended for heavy metal working like that.

 

I ported my plenum with a Dremel tool clone (Black and Decker RTX) and it worked great! At the time, I didn't have access to anything but the RTX, so that's what I did it with. I used 80 grit flapwheels, and a 120 grit for finishing up. Took a little bit, but when all was said and done, it looked really good. Trouble with this approach is, I probably went through 3 or 4 flapwheels (can't remember anymore, it was a couple years ago), and as I remember they were kinda pricey (@ $4 - 5 each). I tried the stone grinder bits first, but all they did was fill up with aluminum and become useless after 30 seconds of work. I didn't know what else to use, so I tried the flapwheels and they worked. HTH

Evan

 

I did mine with a dremel (Craftsman rotary tool ) and after going through a bunch of different bits, like stones and cutters without much success, I used a stack of about 5 or 6 of the little sand paper cutters ( the flat pieces about the size of a dime ) and they worked great . It eats them down after a few minutes but they cut right through the aluminum and my dremel came with some accesories that included about 40 of these . They are inexpensive to buy also. You will still need a cone shaped stone to smooth it out a little when you get it ground down where you want it.

 

When I ported my plenum i used several tools. The two that I found most effective were:

I used a air die grinder and a two flute carbide 1/2" core box safety router bit. Yah I know it is a wood working tool however being it is of the safety design it will only allow the bit to take off a limited amount of material at a time. With light passes and a very firm and steady grip of the tool I could remove the egr blocks in about 2 minutes. It very rarely chattered. You can only do this on ALUMINUM!! It worked great and saved a ton of time when I did all of my plenum, runner and manifold work.

Second I made my own dremel disks for the round pad. It was a breeze and It was simple, I had a piece of 3/4 black pipe that I sharpened the inner and outer edge to create a sharp edge and I had self stick 60 or 80 grit sanding paper. I punched the small disks out of the sanding paper and I could get about 15 per larger self stick disk. Talk about cheap! Also, I never have to run to the store to get more and I can use any grit that is available in self stick paper.

 

ah this is great fellas... 1990GTA, i like what u did.... i have tons of thoes reinforced cutt off disks... i might slap 5-6 of them on the bit and see what happens... the one disk i did use did actualy start cutting into the EGR walls, but the disk started to get all uneven and started to take on an apperance of a egg.... so i stopped for the night with that... aight fellas... keep the tips comin... i got a long month home from college, and cant wait to get thing lookin nice! thanks again

 

Use the metal "cutting" bits (not disks) from Dremel. They look like little tiny tin cans with twisted "fins" around it. They cut through aluminum like butter. I went through 2 of them to port my entire plenum and SLP runners. They get caked up with melted aluminum after a while. I got mine from Home Depot for like $5 each...A dremel will do a fine job of porting aluminum!

 

Like Scott, i simply used the metal cutting bit for a dremel. To keep it from clogging up with metal just dip it in oil every now and then. But it will remove the relatively small amounts of metal you need to port the plenum. I also used the sanding rolls to smooth everything over when i was done. If you need to siamese the runner holes, the reinforced cot off wheels work great for that.

 

ed and scott, thank you both very much for the tip... looks like ill be heading out to Home Depot on thursday.... alright fellas thanks again

 

I used a friends air powered die grinder with some decent carbide bits 3/4" by 5/16" heads my dad had left over from porting my heads and base. I think he said he paid around 35 or so a peice... I know that this is kinda hard to swallow on a budget but I'd just get some good bits and a cheap die grinder for 30 or 40 bucks at wally world or you local parts store. It took only about 5 minutes, if that, to knock out the egr blocks. (plus a lot more to finish them up). Of course the problem with this is that its almost too easy, and you have to keep the thing moving alot or you'll have really uneven spot. Besides once you've got a die grinder and a decent bit or two your set to port about anything. Overall it took a little less than hour to port the plenum w/ port matching the runner openings. I'd never ported anything before and I would say this was a very easy project.

 

Air powered die grinders are definitely the way to go for removing lots of material. But unless you have air, it is definitely cost prohibitive.
And another note, cheap die grinders are just that, cheap. I bought some generic brand piece for $40, and burnt it up practcing porting a base. the decentr creaftsman replacement that i did my current base with did 10x the work since i also siamesed with it, and it works fine.

 

I got a dremel for chirtsmas

 

pics online or whatever of bits that work good- such as those mentioned above ?? i have access to sears air powered tool

thanks

 

You know what all you have to get it some 80 grit and 120 grit barrel sandpaper for your dremel, WD-40 and a Carbide bit.

Just start out with the carbide bit and spray some WD-40 where your going to start cutting and it will just eat away at it. Be very carefull tough cause carbide bits take alot of metal away expeially with the WD-40 lubricating it. Then once most of the metall is gone go in with the 80 grit barrel sand paper and take it down and finish it up with the 120

After I used the 120 I got out my die grider and used a 100 flap wheel to finish it. The flap wheel gave it a smoother feel

hope that helps. I think dremels work great for plenums, but dont even think to use it on a head or intake!!

 

this is not true, I used a medium duty dremel tool and ported my plenum just fine. Don't get battery operated ones though, they run out of juice to fast (started with that returned it in a day). It's only aluminum you're cutting, not steel. you need to get a bit specific for metal cutting and a few sanding bits. be patient, it'll take some time to do. if you've got an air compressor, get an air dremel, it's better than any electric one.

 

Depends on the dremel. I used a rotozip one to do some porting last year and basically killed the thing. This year I picked up some carbide wheels from pep boys and made an adapter to stick them in my drill and that worked great. Just took a bolt, two nuts, and $5 worth of wheels. I also had some sandpaper wheels to smooth things out, but used a file instead. I prefer that for some reason.

 

I used a file for finishing work. it's easier to maneuver that the dremel at times

 

I agree. I also prefer it because it's just more fun and makes less of a mess. Feels more "hands on" than using an electric tool.

 

AHHH yes.. the can with the fins worked soo frickin goood!!! i did the bulk of the work in about an hour! this is so awsome.. tomorrow night im cleaning up and smothin out.... then on comes the polishing of the plenum... im so happy about this now... thanks Ed and Scott...

 

Is this a hard process and does anyone know how much it would cost to get the plenum and the runners ported and polished?

 

well.... if i was gunna be home, id do it for ya.. .im gettin good at it!!! hehehe umm u can go to TPIS to get it done for like 80 or something... its not that hard... if u have a dremmel and u wana do it.. i suguest doing what i am... get these metal cutting cans... it looks like a can with a lot of fins on them... they do the work with ease... then get some sanding rolls and smooth it out...

 

what does the porting do? Is there a noticable increase in power or anything also i have SLP runners can i get those ported too.