Unless you know what you are doing, let a professional do it. Most ameteurs will shave too much out of the ports and end up with a worse performing engine than before.

 

I've done the work myself before. I don't get carried away, and I researched the work for weeks before even touching a head for the first time. I actually don't do any more than remove the carbon from the intake side unless I'm match porting. The intake side of the head is the area to be careful with, the design of the ports are very specific and if too much alteration takes place, the air flow can be interrupted. Another thing to be careful with on the intake side is to not remove the course texture. It's required to function correctly.

The exhaust side is a different story. By first removing the carbon build up (usually by hot bath) I follow by using a mild stone to remove any noticable imperfections, follow by a slight amount of removal, and finish by bringing the inners as close to mirror finish as possible. It's not really as difficult as people make it out to be. The reason it's so expensive is because it's VERY TIME CONSUMING! It usually takes me about 10 hours to finish a single head, and this is because I like to do a good job.

Another area to be careful with is the combustion chamber and the valve seats. Remove carbon, but nothing else. Valve seats can be very tricky as well.

 

As long as you are confortable with it, knock yourself out. I wasn't questioning your ability but I would rather have a professional do it, personally, because they know exactly how much to take out and they have equipment they use to test everything afterwards to make sure it flows better than before.

 

You're going to be limited on the Tq. you can make. A turbo single cam 1.6 can make 170-180 ft lbs of tq to your 120. Just for comparison.

-PHiZ

 

shit... I'd be happy if this bitch made 120 lbs of tq... I think they are like 111 or something like that.. What do y'all recommend to bring up that torque number w/ out turbo??