I have a 87 V6 5Spd. Will probobly be doing an engine swap in the future ( V8 most likely). So I want to keep my investment in the 2.8 to a Min. Headers are to expensive to justify a short term Mod. I have done plenty of porting in my time, but I am not a welder (although I do have people to do this for me). I love the milage I'm getting which is why I'm in no hurry to put in the small block. Does anyone still sell or provide a service of porting these manifolds. I want to minimize down time. Thanks

This is easily a DIY job if you have an electric drill and a dremel.

You need a couple of 3" X 1/4 drive metal working burrs you can get at a metal supply shop. They run about $10-$15 depending on the quality. One cross hatch, and one straight flute. You'll want some 120 dremel drums and a flap wheel.

If you have a buddy who can weld, it does not take much to re-enforce the outside flange area.

The Y on the crossover is also a DIY. You cut a V shape across the Y, then hog it out, and get a buddy to weld it up.

Pretty simple, and not expensive.

As for buying a set, you sometimes see them in the Mall.

Good luck

Arn

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It will take you longer taking the manifolds out, tapping and drilling out the broken bolts and installing new studs than it will take to port, weld and reinstall them.

I was able to do the impossible and get them off easily on my spare engine I am tearing down because I soaked them in PB blaster for a month straight. (went to the garage and squirted every bolt every morning for 30 days.) Most guys will get one broken (if it is not broken already) and that is a major job getting the broken bolt out.

If you do get them all out, do NOT re-use the bolts. get the Studs and nuts from Rodney and you will be very happy. I recommend getting them welded though, that way you can grind like crazy and not worry make sure the welder bolts them down to a plate before he welds or they will warp.

Finally, the least downtime is buying a set of logs in the mall and having them done and ready for when you are ready to do it. 1 afternoon and you will be ready to go. Better yet get a crossover pipe as well and have that ported too for largest gains.

Thanks, I was hoping I could find someone who does this service. I do jobs like this myself on my project cars all the time, this car is currently my driver. If I go through the heartache of removing these manifolds, possibly having to repair a broken bolt or so. I want to just throw the prepped parts back on. In the achives some guy who is now denyed access to the forum, sold ported manifolds but required a core. Is there anyone who still does this??

If you can track down Darrell Morse, he does an excellent job. I had him do the throttle body and plenum, as well, and the price was very reasonble.
I also sent the completed manifolds to JetCoat, so that I could keep the engine bay temp. lower.
I hope it all works for you.
bb

BUY THEM.I am in the process of doing this and many other projects,The port job on the manifolds is very time consumming.many of the manifolds for sale are not properly done ..a ported exhaust and Y pipe are the single best modification to a fiero V 6,especially if you paint with ceramic paint (you have to heat the paint job) to keep the engine compartment cool..It takes about 2 to 3 hours per hole to properly do this .. clean out the bolt holes REALLY GOOD to prevent future trouble use a small brush and Q tips ect remove as much rust as possible..try the bolts first so you can "tell" if any bolt may break.. this is a job to do early saturday morning..before you start the job.. you make sure the Y pipe will come off easily.cutting a frozen bolt/nut from the front side manifold can take hours,,had to hacksaw,with just the blade..a stubborn bolt?? better to soak soak soak and soak again in blaster,,You can use a dremel type tool to drill a small hole first before you attack a broken bolt with the big drill

[This message has been edited by uhlanstan (edited 02-01-2008).]

I have just removed both manifolds. (No broken bolts :-) ) Now I will reinforce them and port them, this will be real fun !
Ok I admit I had the heads off, so I could remove the manifolds in a very comfortable position on a bench :-), required a lot of soaking tough. I will also mildly port the heads now when they are off, port matching. Its funny how small the exhaust ports are, they seem a lot smaller than the manifold flanges, is it really of benefit to port the flanges without porting the exhaust port in the heads ? I can see that removing the part where the small pipes are welded to the collector makes a big difference, cause this really looks like crap ! How is it possible to let someone do such a bad design ....

Anyway, the porting will be fun, and I dont think I will coat the manifolds, is there really any spraycoating that will last ? How does exhaust wrapping tape work ?

Do I really need to put back the heat shields, one in the front and one in the rear right end ? They sure take up a lot of space, and are somewhat in the way also.

quote Originally posted by jimmygmartin: Thanks, I was hoping I could find someone who does this service. I do jobs like this myself on my project cars all the time, this car is currently my driver. If I go through the heartache of removing these manifolds, possibly having to repair a broken bolt or so. I want to just throw the prepped parts back on. In the achives some guy who is now denyed access to the forum, sold ported manifolds but required a core. Is there anyone who still does this??

PM sent

Porting is a time consuming job.this is one of the best modifications you can do to a V6 2.8 fiero,you only have to look at the obstruction in the pipe where the stainless steel actually protrudes into the pipe to know this will overheat the pipes.. and the weld job at the flange chokes the flow..of course the Y pipe should be opened up and cleaned up also..Any modification for performance will benefit from opening the exhaust ports..porting benefits performance ,fuel efficiency, cooler running,just a better operating engine,,do not port the head unless you know what you are doing,just clean it up.. the fiero has problems with overheating use the ceramic sprays available for $6 at auto part stores to keep heat down ,you have to really prepare the pipes and heat the painted pipes in an oven, this is best for the average fiero owner.. If you do not paint or tape keep the ugly exhaust guards..The tape works, you need to protect the front pipes from water.there is heat wrap available for chevy V 8s you can adapt to your car.. There is a small power gain from properly painted or wrapped pipes,according to dyno tast by auto magazines..The wrap is easier to do and more reliable . the paint looks better but the work to do a proper job is time consumming.. Never feel bad about paying someone to do work you could possibly do as long as you have the funds

[This message has been edited by uhlanstan (edited 02-01-2008).]

Just for fun pictures...

Log before. Got to look close.



Log after.



Y pipe.



ceramic painted.

What tool did you use for porting? I started off with a dremel but it made almost no impact on the metal.

Does anyone make block hugger headers for the Gm V6? Summit sells small block block huggers for less then $100, if I had these I could easily fab the rest of the exhaust system. Isn't this what the small block guys do?

quote Originally posted by Xanth: What tool did you use for porting? I started off with a dremel but it made almost no impact on the metal.

I used a $19 die grinder I got at Menards.. similar to the HF one, and a couple different size stones. http://www.harborfreight.co...taf?Itemnumber=92007

Ya I can't believe when people say to use a dremel. Seems like trying to kill a moose with a pebble.
On the Y pipe I used a cutting torch to remove the large amount and then finished off with the grinder.

[This message has been edited by Dodgerunner (edited 02-01-2008).]

I used an electric drill with a carbide cutter, then cleaned up with a teeny drum sander on the drill. The carbide bit makes all the difference - it eats steel like cheese.

I haven't done this yet on my Fiero, but all the porting I've done on my Corvettes has been with a die grinder. Cheap tool if you have an air compressor. The cutting bits are another story, start at about $15 each

the dremel worked good on mine. I had to use like 4 or 5 little wheels though LOL. Good luck .

I used the carbide burrs with my 3/8s drill and I used the Dremel flap wheel for cleaning it up. The metal edges are just too hard on the sanding drums to use them for the whole thing. You can use them though for smoothing in the tight places.

Arn

quote Originally posted by Xanth: What tool did you use for porting? I started off with a dremel but it made almost no impact on the metal.

Use a rotory rasp instead. Much more effective and you can get more material out than in the pictures above which still show lots of flashing. The rasps are about $3 each and you will need about 4 to do the job well. I usually get two square head rasps for the initial cutting and 2 round head rasps for finishing. Then use a paddle wheel for polishing. I know the pics are a little blury but take my word for it, the 'after' is a smooth as glass.

before:


after:

I used a hole saw for mine a few years ago. Just run it down the inside of the short tubes and cut into the long tube. I used anit-sieze to lube the hole saw. Then just weld the tube to tube junction to build up the the weld material in that location. Here are some pics after 3 years of use (pulled engine for 4.3 swap).





Edited to add pics.

[This message has been edited by fieroguru (edited 02-02-2008).]

For the guy with out fancy equipment the finish work can be done with STANLEY tool grinding stone set 97-127 available at many different stores,, cheapest at big lots for $3.oo made in taiwan sadly stanley has the past 2 years been forced to use mostly foriegn manufacture for thier tools to remain competitive.. they held out a long time