while there are certainly pros and cons for most things engine related, i like the "stage I", "stage II" type of concept when it comes to head porting in most circumstances.
it takes care of several issues....for both the customer and the supplier.
both sides know what the cost is, and what the expectations are, as well as exactly what work will be performed.

like Jeff, i used to just do as much work as what the customer wanted to spend.
sometimes that works well, sometimes its just the customer spending extra $$$ for almost no gain.

as an example.....say i charge $500 for a "stage I" prep on a set of heads, and $800 for a "stage II".
the customer may have $600 they want to spend for that portion of the motor build.
an extra $100 applied towards a "stage I" job isnt really going to do much of anything in terms of a performance gain when you have to divide the $100 worth of labor between 16 ports.
in most cases all it does is lighten the customers wallet a little, and they would have been better off spending that same $100 on something else.

for me, the step from a stage I to a stage II is what i feel is the amount of extra work thats necessary to make the heads enough better to show a performance difference.
trying to improve upon a stage I job, without going all the way to a stage II isnt an effective use of the available funds, IMO.

no, its not going to satisfy everyones needs....but it does work for the majority of the people i deal with.
i can tell them the price, what labor will be performed, and what they should flow when completed.
in a way, its a lot like having a set of heads CNC ported.
the CNC porting shop knows how much they are going to charge, and what they should flow when finished.
this is the same type of thing for us smaller shops that dont have CNC porting equipment, who are trying to satsify the needs for people who dont quite need the heads to be ported to that level.

the main purpose of this thread was more to educate the Moparts members(rather than argue the pros and cons of the "stage" porting philosophy), so that they would be more aware of the differences in the amount of work different shops do under the same name.
when shopping for heads, if you're dealing with a shop that does use the "stage" type of terminology for their work....dont just assume you know what you're getting for each level of porting/prep they offer.
ask them to explain what you'll be getting for your $$$.

this post was prompted by the AeroHead BB E heads i have in the shop now that got their "stage II" porting.
lets just say there are MUCH less modifications done to the ports that if i did them to my stage II package.
after seeing what was done to these heads....i can see why they are able to charge $250 less than i do for "stage II" porting on these heads.
in fact....they have less done to them than i do for my "stage I"(and its reflected in the flow numbers).