How to Port & Flow Test Cylinder Heads (S-A Design)

If you are curious about doing your own performance head porting, this is where you start. Great information!

Have a bunch of Davids books, and have ported SB chevy heads using his methods with good results.

If you have ever thought about porting your own heads or done a few, this book will be extremely helpful and interesting. As usual, David explains and shows actual technique to an extent you would have to search years to find otherwise, in my opinion. I ported my first set of heads in college and they probably were OK, but this book would have helped them reach their full potential! I think many people can also just benefit from understanding what makes for good flow when they are looking at various possibilities for their projects. I also liked all the information about building your own flow bench, and wished I had the time and space to do that in the near future.

this is a good book despite the self indulgence of the authorhis text and drawing content is very good and enlightening to a person with a bent towards the subject matter he definatly imparts a good deal of quality infohowever he is enamoured with graphs, they explain everthing!! if you have a degreein quantum physics. some are self explanatory but the bulk of them there is no explanation that make sense of them to me the left school in the eight graderI am by no means smart or stupid just a small note in how to interpret each graph would have made this a superb book and I am still glad I paid for it and had it sent to Australiawould be head porter from down under

Some say too technical. Not so for me. I like knowing why when learning a new skill. Keeps me from undervaluing the practical applications of the skill. Well worth the read. If you get it I would start with chapter 7 and read the 5 golden rules then start at the beginning. Now you’ll be ready to take notes.

Begins with some theory, shows how to build a flow bench using shop vacs, and goes through much more than I expected to find. This book is filled with facts, examples and ways to obtain the best flow possible from a cylinder head. the big difference from one engine to another is how the head(s) are setup, and this shows ways to maximize what you have as you deal with the overhead valve cylinder head.

Vizard is legendary for being able to put complex technical topics down clearly on paper in an understandable way and this book is no exception. Many technical writers merely state things based on their training and experience. And those statements may be 100 percent accurate. Vizard takes the extra steps to show you the proof that comes from his objective testing. If you are a geek like me, you will devour every word of this book like it was your first meal after a three day fast. I wished for a little "more" on the topic but know there is a level past which this can't be taught without hands-on experience. Consider this book a primer for someone in preparation for gaining some specific experience. There is no "one size fit's all" when it comes to porting so it really can't be taught generically. I'm sure Vizard could have taught how to port a particular head and given us one of his secret recipes for that head but that recipe wouldn't translate to another head. The bottom line here is that if you expect this book, or any other, to show you how to port any head for fun, profit and mondo horsepower with no more than a die grinder, you will be disappointed. While you can successfully make minor improvements that are beneficial, you can't get into the "Big Leagues" without a flow bench, a small array of precision tools and a few extra heads to experiment on.

This has increased my understanding of the internal combustion process greatly. I recommend it especially if you are thinking a a camshaft upgrade.