How good is Indy's cnc port work

Asking for a friend. How good is the work on their cnc porting? Considering getting bare cnc heads from them (thru a dealer of course) to be vj'ed and filled with good hardware from said dealer. You guys making any good power with their ports?

Call Porter Racing Heads

So how fast have you've gone with them?

Which heads, Dwayne has done different sets for a couple of my motors. He will get you lined out. Jim

Larry Smith in North Carolina does great work. Fast turnaround too. Very reasonable if you want hand port work.
I personally would find someone who does CNC porting.

Buy your new Indy heads from either Modern Cylinder heads with their CNC porting(586-468-7914) or Bob George racing (724-941-4251,ask for A.J.) to get a good job on the heads at a reasonable price from both of them

Not sure I’d go “Modern”.... seem to keep reading issues concerning things like “timely manner” and “communication”.

Dwayne is an Indy dealer as well.

Been on here since 06. I know who the dealers are guys. Anybody making power with Indys portwork? Or are they turbulent junk?

I don't recall ever running a set of Indy ported heads. That is why I told you to call Porter Racing Heads. He uses a lot of Indy CNC ported heads so he'll know which heads are good and which aren't so good. There are a ton of choices so you need to figure out which head you're interested in first.

Indy programs aren't terrible, and some are actually pretty good. The trouble has historically been the terrible VJ, the horrible blending, often with either .003-.005 guide clearance, or, even worse, .0005 on the exhaust lol. Or a big ole curl of aluminum under the seats so the fall out in the oven.

The human part is where a good program goes to die. Also core shift castings, with porosity that leak.


I've had them port heads before with no seats, and no guides.

IIRC Dwayne used one 345 cnc-1 head with his own valvejob into the 900HP range. Dartin' has the same Indy head/program on his 540" and is making 850ish with a milder combination but again valve-jobed before use.

Like has been mentioned, it's better if you can buy the cnc core ported OR have it done independently.

A good porter will give you a heads up on your cam choice as well.

The "Best of Moparts / Tech Archive" forum has some older posts by Dwayne Porter "fast68plymouth" that include before & after prep results for a variety of Indy BB heads, including some of the ICH CNC-ported options. No, I don't have links to them.

I know someone who has the 345's on a 440ci sbm (4.185x4). Its gone mid 9's in Avenger not a very light one either. It would be best to know what the current combo is, or the expectations.

I think the Indy programs are pretty good....... but if you’re trying to build something that requires something “more” that what they can deliver....... then going a different route may be a better option.

X2. I've been waiting 3-1/2 years for Bob to make me a set of SS Hemi heads. I sure as heck wouldn't give him any money up front and use a credit card to pay when he's ready to ship. I've called numerous times, get the voice mail machine. I never get any calls back, no return e-mails. He has time to post on FaceBook. I wouldn't recommend Bob to anyone. I had good luck with Jeff, a set of iron bracket Hemi heads and a set of W2s that Jeff did for me. Bob is not Jeff.

I cannot speak for all their selectons. I have had a few sets of their CNC stuff and currently have one set on the dragster. I can tell you there Predator stuff is ok. My heads actually went to Slawko after coming from Indy with their CNC work. Tom did some massaging to them and they were certainly better, that with his valve job we picked up 20 average Hp. May not sound like a lot of this is a 1200HP deal. A second set were done right after mine were used for his new cnc program and that set is on a single 4 70GTX all steel all glass street strip car and runs 8's NA...

I couldn't even get a quote for new heads from Bob

I must be one of the lucky ones. Hes done at least 5 sets of heads and did complete CNC work, supplied the titanium intake and exhaust valves, springs and retainers and never asked for one dime till they were done. I told him I needed them in 4 weeks and they were at my door in 4 weeks. Every time. I have no complaints with Bob at Modern.
He will always get my business.

I currently run a set of indy 325-1 on my 540. With 11-1 comp and a blower cam running na the motor made 720 hp. Car is 3100lbs ran 9.47 @142 at Lebanon valley. The heads were brand new but still needed new guides and a good valve job.

I've only seen a few sets of Indy heads come thru the shop and they all needed guides and/or valve jobs. Indy has some expensive CNC equipment for porting but they either have really old equipment for valve jobs, or they don't know how to use the equipment. Never figured out how a shop had enough smarts to program and run CNC equipment but didn't know how to do a valve job. Just one of the mysteries of life I guess. Maybe the new owner will fix that issue.

I had a new set of 360-2 230 cc on a mild 408 pump gas combo 3400#s go 9.80s first time out spinning all over the place. Bob George touched up the VJ, honed the guides and blended them a little bit. Never ran the car again. Put some street miles on it and sold the engine.

Our 600-13X heads had broke through from ex into the intake on one port but there was a clear dip in the same spot where the cutter had gone in on every ex port on one head, guessing core shift had left that one thin. The other head had no such marks or issues. Easily corrected though if you know someone with a welding shop.

I recently sent Dwaynne Porter a new set of Indy Hemi heads cncd with titanium valves. They were bought a while ago but I never put the motor together. Dwaynne said he'd seen a lot worse. He touched up some of the seats and sent them back to me. For this kind of money, and they were expensive, they should have been perfect. But I guess since they were from Indy, I'm lucky that's all that was wrong with them.

An FYI, I always wanted to put this on the board but never did, but since I'm here now I just want to tell you a story.....
Several years ago I was at Carlisle looking at stuff at the Indy booth. Don Garlits was across the way signing autographs. While I was still at the Indy booth, he came over to talk to Russ about building a Generation 3 Hemi for a new dragster. Russ treated him the same way he treated everybody else. I thought at the time that having Don Garlits as a customer would be great for business but I guess in Russ' world it didn't matter.

The CNC work on my IndyBrocks was nice the guides were good, but the valve job was off by a mile.

Had a buddy run a set of CNC 345s direct from Indy on a 505 in a 68RR running 9.90s. They developed a pinhole in one of the intake runners fairly quickly. Likely slight core shift mixed with an overly aggressive CNC program. That was his experience...things may have changed since then.

sorry meant 360-1's

I have a set of aluminum 345-1's that are 8 or 9 years old that have been problem free.

Never got anything from them but see the same stories for years. Never heard anything but good things about Best and Dwayne.