Bitter about porting templates...
 

Well, I just though I would share this & ask for a little advise also. I payed $86 for 1 intake & 1 exhaust streetport template from R*****beat. (not sure the policy on saying company names) Any ways I got them a couple days ago and everything looks good except! They don't even cut them out! I almost shit myself I though "damn, almost $100 for 2 pieces of sheetmetal with a couple lines carved in it". Just kinda pissed me off when you can tell they used a machine to carve the lines in the sheet metel .. why not spend the extra 3 minutes it would take to keep going a cut all the way through. If I screw up cutting the templates I will screw up my motor, or have to buy another $90 worth of templates.

Has anyone cut these out before... what is the best thing to use for acurate cut? It looks like it is to thick for tin snips, My plan right now is to drill a hole in the middle and grind the holes out with my dye grinder... anyone have a better idea?

Thank You,
Robert

wow... thats some B.S. I agree completely, RB: cut the hole out!

I'd use a jigsaw and smooth it out with the grinder....
I know.. thats a LOT of money for what they are!!!
I say someone traces them out and sells the measurements/pattern for 10 bucks to get the idea across...

No templates from anyone that I'm aware of come with the holes cut out.

i think the reason they don't cut them out is so u can get some practice on them. if you can't cut them out you probably shouldn't be trying ot port the motor

Ya, I was thinking about a jig saw, but Its so hard to move a jig saw blade acurately in such a small area.. Thats not a bad idea though I might try that .. then grind.

Do a crude cut with the jig saw leaving some material. Then use a fine file to finish the job. You were probably going to do that anyway.

I totally agree with you!..

Sounds like its time to break out the dremel. Use reinforced cutoff wheel to cut out teh majority and use the grinidng wheels ot take off any burrs. Then make your own templates to hook the rest of us up. Iknow i would send you $10 for it.

Well I ended up drilling a hole in the middle of the template and then used my die grinder with a fine tip carbite bit to cut the templates out. Wasn't as much of a pain as I thought it would be... I made a perfectly accurate cut .. and it only added about 45 mins or so to the whole project cutting out both of them. Then I proceeded to port both intakes & exhausts ... damn I did a great job! it turned out fabulous and all total tooak from 11am - 3:30 pm today ... not bad considering the only place I could get it done locally wanted $400.

The reason is for you to get more practice before you do the motor. They want you to get practice. You are supposed use a die grinder to cut out the hole.

I don't think it matters much what you use... as long as it gets the job done & accurately. I don't buy the practice theroy .. cutting sheet metal is nothing like porting a motor. I just think it saves them time & money to have you cut them out yourself. I mean I am purchasing a product to use on my car at my own disrection .. I don't need them or anyone else for that matter telling me what I need to practice on. If I though I needed practice i would not be cutting my own ports.

Robert

The reason isn't "so you can get more practice", it's because when you order the template all they have to do is break out the master template and a blank one, slather some Dykem on the blank, scratch out the mark using the master, and ship it to you :)

I agree it's a bit much to spend, which is why I didn't spend the money... OTOH, and this is a tired saying, you're not just buying the template you are also buying their experience.

(I know someone who couldn't understand why software cost so much - "after all you can buy a box of 50 floppies for $25 or so")

I don't know why you're upset about it though. It says right in the RB catalog that you have to cut the template out yourself. Mazdatrix says that too (they sell the RB stuff).