Got any recommendations for grinders, size of grinding stones, etc? I am not going to use a dremel, and I am probably not going to get anything air powered because I heard the noise is just too much after a while, unless there is a huge price difference.

These are for aluminum rotor housings on my car...



looks like that except it doesn't have the splitter thing in the middle, that is a diffuser for nonturbo engines to quiet the exhaust down.

9/24/2008 2:14:29 PM

i've used an air grinder for other things and its not too bad...

9/24/2008 2:21:01 PM

Why don't you just get ear plugs if the noise is "too much?"

9/24/2008 2:36:04 PM

^really

9/24/2008 2:37:25 PM

Ray, that old compressor of mine won't push an air die grinder for very long without some pauses in between. You need to find an air die grinder with the lowest air consumption possible. That's really about your only choice unless you want to invest some bux in an electric one (Northern should carry one).

Wear ear plugs if you go with air. They're cheap.

As far as stones and such...you can't really use stones on aluminum because they'll get clogged VERY quickly. I prefer carbide rotary rasps for fast material removal, followed by emery cloth flapper wheels. You can get an emery cloth mandrel that lets you fold a piece of emery cloth and stick it in the end slot...works great for tight corners. You can get a twist mandrel that will accept emery cloth tapers. I've made my own tapers using 1" wide emery cloth and a hot glue gun, and they work fairly well.

As far as all the tools go, a lot of hotrod shops (and mail order places) carry the stuff. Mr. Gasket makes a kit that you should be able to get through Advance. Or, you should check out Goodson (http://www.goodson.com)...they have a lot of stuff.

9/24/2008 4:02:59 PM

the noise thing isn't so much about me, it's the fact that the car is at my parents house in north raleigh and they will go insane if they hear the grinder and air compressor running continuously for hours, especially if I want to work at night.

I'm going to start checking prices on electric ones. I'm in the process of ordering a porting template right now.

9/24/2008 6:18:38 PM

http://www.goodson.com/store/template/product_detail.php?IID=3070&SID=79bc4bb4e973daf126585f3784d1883c

http://www.goodson.com/store/template/product_detail.php?IID=3071&SID=79bc4bb4e973daf126585f3784d1883c


which one should I get? and here is the electric grinder they have:

http://www.goodson.com/store/template/product_detail.php?IID=7075&SID=79bc4bb4e973daf126585f3784d1883c

hmm, and I am about to spend $35 on a porting template. So just porting this could cost me $200, but I will have some badass tools though...

9/24/2008 6:25:08 PM

http://www.eastwood.com sells a nice porting kit.

and that electric grinder is huge! just buy a decent air compressor and talk your parents into taking a trip to the mountains for a weekend or something. nothing badass about having to buy a bulky electric grinder cause your compressor wont deliver enough air.

[Edited on September 25, 2008 at 9:10 AM. Reason : uig]

9/25/2008 9:07:08 AM

http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=15223&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=608&iSubCat=614&iProductID=15223

^

9/25/2008 9:12:18 AM

I'm starting to have second thoughts about buying $60-$80 kits online that I don't even know that much about... are there local (raleigh area) small timey places I can go to get this stuff? a friend said there was some place in durham that had some of the little stuff. I feel like if I buy the kit I'll end up getting a bunch of crap I may not need, and I don't plan to do porting on a regular basis. I'd like to go somewhere and bring the rotor housing with me so somebody knowledgeable can help me get what I need.

9/29/2008 12:14:42 AM

i sense the essence of a jew here, uncharacteristic for a rotary owner. please sack up and just spend the $. it is under a hundred bucks for cryin out loud. hell i have almost a full eastwood kit somewhere in my garage i will sell you for $50 and i am as small timey as you can get.

9/29/2008 1:56:11 AM

alright, alright, i'm just gonna order the damn eastwood kit in sumfoo's link

9/29/2008 10:59:29 AM

don't give me credit.. i was just bored and looked up the kit primer was talking about.

But i do agree it looks like good shit or i wouldn't have posted it.

9/29/2008 11:09:42 AM

I did a port & polish on my head when I built my stroker. I used a carbide bit for most of the heavy work (got it from wt tool.. there is a warehouse here in charlotte but you can order online at http://www.wttool.com ) and used a kit from standard abrasives to do the pretty work.

Summit sells a lot of standard abrasives stuff here: http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch.asp?N=400430

I used this kit but you might not need as many bits as I did.. http://store.summitracing.com/partdetail.asp?autofilter=1&part=SAI%2D260001&N=700+400430+115&autoview=sku

9/30/2008 6:12:30 PM

I'm going to be pissed if this kit doesn't have carbide bits.

9/30/2008 8:30:15 PM

Carbide bits are a must for removing mass amounts of metal. Sandpaper discs only last so long. They aren't that expensive though so don't feel too bad if it doesnt.

9/30/2008 9:08:19 PM

if you dont know what you are doing, the carbide will likely end up taking too much material. the sandpaper discs keep that from happening. that is why so many come in the kit.

9/30/2008 9:39:40 PM

Thats true. I'm sure in aluminum it'd be like sticking a soldiering iron in plastic.

10/1/2008 12:56:03 AM

hmm. When you are porting the side housings of a rotary engine (which have the intake ports), it is cast iron you are dealing with. So I presume that would be better for carbide bits. We'll see how it goes with these aluminum rotor housings. I'm sure it will all make sense when I get started on it. They shipped the kit today, and my new rotor housing is on its way as well. So within the next couple weeks I'll get started.

10/1/2008 1:37:18 AM

I suggest you practice on a spare first to get the hang of it.

10/1/2008 6:49:48 AM

I have one.

10/1/2008 10:19:58 AM

just threw down on the electric die grinder with the flexible shaft. and one carbide burr was $30. with the porting kit and template I'm over $300 on this project... for that price I probably could've paid someone to do the porting. but like any other tool purchase, it's long term investment I suppose.

i'll probably start the porting this weekend. motor will be put together over thanksgiving so i've still got some time.

10/31/2008 9:28:02 AM

yeah, porting your mom

11/2/2008 3:14:22 PM