Popped my first cherry. FINISHED PHOTOS ADDED.

[Speeddog]

I'll not bother to thank Alex for that 'pep talk'.

It's not rocket science, you've gotten this far and you can get it back together properly.
Remain confident and work patiently.
If you run into something that doesn't feel right, or doesn't make sense, stop and think it through.
If it still doesn't seem right, we're here to lean on.

[Norm]

Take your time, have the Haynes manual at your side, get the right tool(s) for each step, ask this board for any advice, & port only as much as I told you to(it's really port matching more than real porting), & you'll be proud of the results.

[Michael_Gannon]

Here is a little update on where I'm at with my project.

This first photo shows the before and after of my pistons. I used a very fine steal wool to clean them off. It was pretty slow going getting all the crap off but I think it's a lot better now. I was wondering if I should take it to the next level and polish the tops of the pistons. Any thoughts on that?

[img width=500 height=375]http://www.ducatimonster.org/ImageFolio3_files/gallery/DML_Titanium_Member_Folders/Michael_Gannon/Cleaned_vs._Uncleaned_Pistons.JPG[/img]

[Michael_Gannon]

Here is a photo of my cylinders after they were painted gloss black.

[img width=500 height=375]http://www.ducatimonster.org/ImageFolio3_files/gallery/DML_Titanium_Member_Folders/Michael_Gannon/Black_Cylinders.JPG[/img]

Here are a couple photos of the vertical cylinder head also painted gloss black

[img width=500 height=375]http://www.ducatimonster.org/ImageFolio3_files/gallery/DML_Titanium_Member_Folders/Michael_Gannon/Black_VHead_1.JPG[/img]

[img width=500 height=375]http://www.ducatimonster.org/ImageFolio3_files/gallery/DML_Titanium_Member_Folders/Michael_Gannon/Black_VHead_2.JPG[/img]

[m999s4]

cylinders and heads look great! good job cleaning the deposits off the piston. but why bother polishing it? won't it look pretty similar to the "before" after a few thousand miles?

[Michael_Gannon]

Originally Posted by m999s4

cylinders and heads look great! good job cleaning the deposits off the piston. but why bother polishing it? won't it look pretty similar to the "before" after a few thousand miles?

I kind of thought the deposits might have a harder time sticking to the pistons and they would stay clean longer if the surface was smoother.

[Michael_Gannon]

Here's another shot of the bottom of the vertical head. It use to be black with deposits like the top of the pistons in the earlier photo but I cleaned it up nice.

[img width=500 height=375]http://www.ducatimonster.org/ImageFolio3_files/gallery/DML_Titanium_Member_Folders/Michael_Gannon/Polished_Vertical_Head.JPG[/img]

[Cider1]

I'm impressed! If you weren't a mechanic before, you'll certainly be one when this project is done.

[strokerswild]

Originally Posted by grubbywarrior

just make sure if you gasket match/port anything that the die-grinder burr is made for steel or aluminum. it's like a fine or coarse* comparison with the coarse being for aluminum, if you use steel like I did on some car heads, they will load up really fast and get uggly even faster. also make sure to periodicaly dip the cutter in transmission fluid, this will help to cool/lubricate and to carry some of the shavings away.

if you want to get really technical you could coat the head/intake surfaces with blue layout dye and use a metal scribe to etch the outline of the gasket. Gotta be careful with how much material is removed, me & a buddy in highschool ported some old 350 chevy heads and put them on his truck and everything leaked :-\

By all means, be sure the type of carbide burr you use is correct for the material you are cutting. There is a HUGE difference (I port automotive heads fairly often). Using a burr made for cast-iron will load up in no time if used on aluminum.

You should be able to pick up some noticeable power by simply matching the ports to the gasket. Just take it easy and don't cut too much, and only go down an inch at best into the port from the gasket surface. You just want to smooth the transition, not hog out a whole pile of material. It's often worth using a little flap-wheel sandpaper disc thingy afterward to take any excessive roughness out (commonly called tootsie-rolls - you can get them from a savvy automotive supply place).

Of course, if you really know what you're doing porting a head you can go further and clean up the valve bowl areas and such, but otherwise you should leave it at gasket matching for now.

[Michael_Gannon]

Anyone have a good illustration of what port matching to gaskets looks like? I'm a very visual person and seeing some photos would help a lot. I was able to find this photo on Chris Kelly's site but I think he went a little further than I would want to go.



I also found this. I believe it shows how he cleaned up the valve bowl area. Maybe I'll take mine down a little further — more like this.