Back to School

So, what’s new at Lee’s Speeds Shop? Funny you should ask that. I recently finished up a 3 day, one on one, advanced cylinder head porting class for Harley Davidsons at Mondello Technical School. The opportunity to spend the time with the legend, Joe Mondello, fine tuning my porting skills was something I am very glad I did not miss out on.
















sign at the entrance to the Mondello Technical School

When I call Joe a legend, I mean Legend with a capitol L. The list of those who have used Joe’s porting work reads like a who’s who of every type of racing. Don Garlits, Carrol Shelby, Andy Granatelli, A.J. Foyt, Connie Kalleta, Grumpy Jenkins, Eddie Hill, Don Prudhomme, John Force, Mickey Thompson, Smokey Yunick to name just a few of the most recognizable (and there are a boatload more who anyone with more than a passing interest in racing would likely know) Some of the major milestones set with Joe’s heads are: first to run 200 mph at the drags, the first to go 7, 6, and 5 second E.T.s in Top Fuel, the first 200mph runs in Top Fuel, Injected Fuel, Top Gas, and Fuel Altered. Like I said; Legend with a capitol L.

Now, why would a guy who has been porting Harley heads for 18 years and done more than 750 sets in that time (such as yours truly) need to go back to school? The obvious answer is "re-read the list above". Joe Mondello has been porting heads for over 50 years. The not so obvious answer is "new technology". You see, Joe, working with Lloyd Creek of Creek Flow Management, have developed "wet flow testing" to the point where it can fill in some of the blanks as to why some heads that show good flow on a dry flow bench do not make as much power as other heads with similar dry flow.

Besides bringing a couple sets of stock Twin Cam head castings to port under Joe’s tutelage, I also chose to bring along a sample of my "Bare Bones" ported heads as well as one of my top of the line "R-Port" heads. The first day at the school, while Joe was going over some theory with me, he had one of his guys do a dry flow bench test on the heads I had previously ported. I was happy, though not totally surprised, to hear from them that they were impressed with the flow numbers. (after all, I have a dry flow bench, so I already knew they had good flow numbers). The real test though, and a big part of why I was there, was to find out how they measured up in the wet flow bench testing.

In the mean time Joe and I went to work on the stock castings I had brought along. I have to admit I was unsure whether this part would be a waste of time, since I had plenty of experience porting. In retrospect, I must admit that the techniques, procedures and tricks that Joe taught me just in regards to the actual porting and polishing made the trip worthwhile! Not only are my ports looking better than they ever have, but I am able to accomplish the work in less time. That means I will be better able to keep the cost down for you, the customer.







the crew at Mondello's
L to R: Bret, Dave, Joe, and Mike







Wet flow testing did show that the heads I had previously ported had more fuel falling out of suspension in the combustion chamber than the heads Joe and I did together. That is not really bad news, since I now know that despite making very good power, my heads can still be improved.

The last head that Joe and I worked on was a quick job on one of the new Screamin’ Eagle 110 heads. Since I had previously ported a couple sets of these also, I knew we could get the flow figures up, but I was also curious how they would come out in the wet flow testing. As it turns out, the ported 110 heads have pretty decent wet flow characteristics providing one particular procedure is followed. What is that, you ask? Well, I’m afraid you’ll just have to send your heads to me for porting to find out.

Bottom line; armed with more knowledge and better techniques I fully expect to see even better results where the rubber meets the road, or more accurately where the rubber meets the dyno.

Reactions to Christ

This past Sunday morning pastor Voigt preached on some of the reactions and attitudes of those coming into contact with Jesus in Mark 15. This chapter describes the trial, scourging, and crucifixion of Christ. One of the phrases that stands out in this chapter due to its repetition is "King of the Jews". In the varied reactions we can see many of the same attitudes that are displayed by people today when confronted with the fact of the Kingship of Jesus.


First of all we see Pilate in verses 1-15. If he had been given a choice he would not have been involved with the whole "Jesus situation" at all. His attitude can be summed up in one word. Indifference. Pilate did not perceive Jesus to be guilty of anything worthy of death, but that conviction was not enough to make him take a stand and release him either. He would have happily let Jesus go free with perhaps just a good beating as somewhat of a compromise.


In verses 8-15 the crowd of people are shown to be easily influenced. Wishy-washy you might say. The chief priests, in verse 11, are said to have "moved the people" to release Barabbas instead of Jesus. It is quite likely that among this crowd were some of the same people who had a week earlier hailed Christ's entry into Jerusalem with cries of Hosanna. Disappointed, perhaps, with Jesus failure to take the nation by force, they were quick to turn on him.


Next are the Roman soldiers. Verses 16-20. They, as a group, already have hatred and contempt for the Jews. They are more than willing to take it out on Jesus. They are bullies who like nothing more than to beat a man when he is defenceless. It is part f their job, and they love their jobs!

In verse 21 it is said of Simon of Cyrene that the soldiers "compel" him to bear Jesus cross. From the text we get little information about this Simon except that he was an unwilling participant.

The Jewish religious leaders can be found in several places throughout this chapter. Their motivation is made clear from verse 10, which states that Pilate knew that the chief priests acted out of envy. Clearly they wanted to remain the focus of religious authority in the Jewish nation, and so needed to get rid of this Jesus that so many of the people were turning to follow.


But where were the disciples? Not to be found in this text! Even the women who followed Jesus were said to be "looking on afar off" in verse 40. Now we know from other books of the Bible that at least some of the disciples were present, but they apparently were keeping a low profile. Keeping their distance. Not making an outright denial of Christ (as Peter had done earlier), but neither willing to share his fate.


Its pretty easy to make the comparison between those described here in Mark 15 and the people of our time. Perhaps most of the world is like Pilate. They can take or leave Jesus. They are willing to accept that he was a great teacher, but...


Unfortunately, many of those who call themselves Christian today may fit into the mold of the crowd who were so easily swayed. They may be hailing Jesus as savior one day, only to reject him as King the next, when they find he is not the one their man-made theology made him out to be.


Clearly there are "Roman soldier" types at work today. Atheists show their hatred of Jesus Christ on a daily basis. They hold him in utter contempt just as most of those soldiers did so long ago. For the most part they make it obvious that their hatred is reserved for Jesus, since they rarely waste any time attacking any false religions.

Simon the Cyrenian. His modern day counterpart can be seen in nearly anyone who is unsaved. They are an unwilling participant in God's great plan, but participant they are nonetheless. In fact it is only after God has saved us and changed us that we begin to become conformed to his will. Phillipians 2:13 says: "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."

We have some religious leaders that appear to be in it for the fame and fortune. They take the focus off the King, and seem to prefer that the spotlight is on them. These modern day "chief priests" seek to keep their athority at all costs.

And what of the disciples? How many who really are Christians spend much of their time keeping a low profile? Watching the work of the Lord from a safe distance? All of us are guilty of this to some extent at one time or another. Keeping our focus on the King should help!

How to Please God

As you may have noticed, I seldom link to posts by other bloggers, but I just finished reading a post by Dennis over at The Recliner Commentaries which was one of those that I agree with completely. So completely that I wish I had written it myself. And since I so strongly agree with it, and since I did not write it, I am going to do the next best thing and link to it.

So, click here HERE for a great dissertation (don't let that word scare you off, it doesn't take that long to read) on pleasing God.

Piston Survival Training

Any time you start dealing with old Harley engines with cast iron cylinders, there will be some concern about piston "scuffing", "scoring", or "sticking". All pretty much the same incident, just a matter of degree. In this installment of my series on the Stroker Flathead Engine Build , I would like to address this issue.

I have touched on this issue in another post, The Great Knucklehead Cylinder Controversy . Scored pistons can be a heartbreaking proposition when it leads to a broken cylinder. Its not much fun even if it only causes enough damage to require an overbore. Having seen so many badly scored pistons come out of cast iron cylinders, I was naturally concerned about how the pistons would hold up in this Flathead.

Pistons stick, score, or scuff for one reason. The piston gets hot enough that it expands to the same size as the bore, leaving no clearance. Having too little clearance initially is only one of a number of possible causes. Lack of oil on the skirt can be one culprit. Lack of cooling (sitting in traffic) can be another. Retarded ignition timing and lean mixture are others. Add to that the fact that cast iron motors like Knuckleheads, Flatheads, and Iron Sportsters just tend to hold a lot of heat and you can see the potential for disaster!

In recent years I have been getting the piston skirts for Knuckleheads Teflon coated. The Teflon does a couple of things. It gives an extra margin of "lubricity", but it also allows you to run a little more clearance without fear of getting noise from piston slap (the Teflon coating "dampens" the sound). When Joe (the owner of the Flathead) brought up the idea of having additional coatings done, it sounded like a good idea.

What we wound up doing was having the piston skirts coated with a Teflon and the domes with a ceramic. The ceramic reflects the heat rather than letting it "soak" into the part. Most of the heat which ends up in a piston comes through the top due to being exposed to combustion temperatures. The ceramic should keep the pistons cooler, and thus less likely to stick. The Teflon on the skirts will give an extra level of protection in case of a break down in the oil film.

Added to this we did a ceramic coating on all parts of the combustion chamber (on the Flathead that means both the head and cylinder) including the face of the valve. We also ceramic coated the back side or "tulip" on the exhaust valves and the exhaust ports. Now with all those surfaces having a ceramic coating on them to limit the amount of heat soaking into them, this should be one of the coolest running Flatheads around.

One last thing. Likely not needed, and something you would want to do on a stock looking motor, but I added piston skirt oilers. With some careful measurements I determined that oil ports could be added to the cylinder flanges front and rear of each cylinder. Not any extra room here, so if you choose to do a similar modification be careful ! The holes need to be low enough that they are below the oil control rings with the piston at bottom dead center. Whatever fittings you use have to be small enough to clear each other in the "V" between the cylinders. I used some fittings from Clippard which were a #10-32 thread, 90 degree with 1/8" hose barb. Thses fitting are normally used in pneumatic air control devices. The actual hole going into the cylinder I limited to .050". Like I said, there is not much room for error here. I fed the oilers by way of a "T" in the oil pump return line.

Between all the teflon/ceramic coatings and the piston oilers this Flathead should prove to be about as bulletproof in the area of piston scoring as you can make it!

Your Local Church

There seem to have been a lot of posts recently on the blogs that I follow about the local church. Interesting how God works, leading different Christians in different locations, most of whom have never met or even know of each other to focus on the same subject. Having spent over a year in search of the right church for my wife and I to join, and having become members within the last 6 months, it is a subject I have given plenty of thought to.

During the time of searching (much of which consisted of "scouting" church web sites during the week and attending a different church every Sunday morning) I went though a goodly amount of soul searching as to that selection. At some points I wondered whether I was being too picky about certain things we deemed important, but were not actually issues of doctrine. At other times I wondered if it would be better for us to just continue endlessly attending a different church each week because we could not find one we agreed with in all areas. One thing that we never did consider though, was calling it quits on attending services altogether!

Hebrews 10:24-25 "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching."

Though we have this biblical command not to forsake the assembling together,attending church services is something that has never been a burden since I became a Christian about 8 years ago. In fact, I tend to think that anyone who doesn't have the strong "desire" to attend services at least once a week has fallen victim to one of two possible maladies.

The first possibility is that you have managed to "ween" yourself from church services. The world we live in today seems to just beg us to do other things on Sunday morning. Many of us spend a lot of time making a living, leaving little time for all the distractions the world provides. I am sure I am not the only one who puts in more than eight hours every day during the week, plus at least a half a day every Saturday. That barely leaves time to keep the lawn mowed, let alone a few fun activities. Forty years ago, when I was a lad, this was not such a trap. Since Sunday was largely considered a day of rest, very few commercial enterprises were open to lure one away those Sunday morning services. No one I knew had parents with any kind of cabin or lake property to cause them to be out of town on the weekends. Face it, there was not much else to do on a Sunday morning back then except go to church. Not so today. If you are not so worn out by working too many hours during the week that you want to sleep in, then you surely will be tempted by all of life's other pleasures that there never seem to be time for. Certainly life's circumstances can get you out of the habit of going to church regularly if you let them.

If it were not possible for a real Christian "ween" themselves from attending services, then we would not have needed the warning of Hebrews 10 quoted above.

The second possibility is that you really are not a Christian in the first place. Perhaps you do not even claim to be one. My guess is that if such is the case the only real desire you may have to attend services would be the working of God in calling you to him. Follow that calling. Your salvation is in the gospel, and the gospel has been entrusted to the local church.

What if you claim to be a Christian, but have never felt much desire to go to church, but only a sense of duty? Maybe even more like a chore. That should be enough to cause you some worry. The bible makes it clear that there is such a thing as making a false profession of faith. 2 Corinthians 13:5 says "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? " It is not an unhealthy thing for a Christian to consider their spiritual condition from time to time. Better to find your lack now than to one of those Jesus spoke of in Matthew 7:22-23 when he said "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."

In fact one of the clear "proofs" that the bible gives us that we are indeed saved is that we love the bretheren. As it says in 1 John 3:14 "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death."

So, if you are saved, then you love your brothers and sisters in the Lord. Why would you not be a member of a local church? That is where you will find those brothers and sisters. And if you are a member, why would you not be a regular attendee? My wife and I have children and grandchildren who live out of state. We don't get to see them very often. My wife is going to visit them in about a week, and I wish I could be there with them. It gives me a real ache down deep when I think about spending time with them. But on a slightly smaller scale I get the same feeling when I am going to miss a church service. I think that is the way it is supposed to be.

Now the church that I belong to is a small one, and in the last year has suffered from even lower than usual attendance. No fault of the pastor. He certainly delivers a good challenging sermon ever week. Most of the members tend to be "older" with children that have started their own families. And as is so often the case, those grown children no longer live in the area. This has lead to very small number of children in the church, which means no children's programs. It is tough to attract new, young families without a program for their children. Sort of a catch 22. The bottom line is that there is a very real concern that the church will not be able to continue. Ouch!

My point is this; If you are a Christian and you are not a member of a local church, then why not? It is your biblical duty! If you are a member of a local church and you do not attend or support financially on a regular basis, then why not? It is your biblical duty! Do not take your local church for granted! Not only do you need your local church, your local church needs you! Be involved. Why? Because the Lord that died for your sins wants it that way!

Day of Atonement

As a continuation of the series of sermons on the Jewish Holy Days from the Old Testament, this past Sunday our pastor preached on the Day of Atonement. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, fell on Saturday September 22 this year. I wrote about the previous week's sermon on Rosh Hashanah here in this post titled Trumpets

As I said in that post, the Feast of Trumpets has much to do with remembering the giving of the Law. Focusing on the law should put us in mind of how miserably we have failed at the keeping of it. Once the law has shown us our need, then the atonement shows the solution. The Day of Atonement has to do with redemption, that is the buying back, or payment made for our sin. As Hebrews 9:7 says "But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:"

This day was a foreshadowing of the great payment which would be made for sins by Christ as our great high priest which we see in Hebrews 9:11-12 "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."

Eternal redemption! That is certainly something worth spending some time remembering!

BEWARE THE FLOW TEST

by Lee Wickstrom

Quoting from the SuperFlow operators manual: " In it's simplest form, flow testing consists of blowing or sucking air through a cylinder head at a constant pressure. Then the flow rate is measured at various valve lifts. A change can be made and then the head can be re-tested. Greater air flow indicates a flow improvement. If the tests are made under the same conditions (emphasis ours), no corrections for atmospheric conditions or machine variations are required. The test results may be compared directly."

"Under the same conditions"; therein lies the rub. Variations include, but are not limited to:

1. Brand and size of flowbench -Variations between brand of flowbench can be a problem when comparing data. There is probably no good rule of thumb for comparing results from different brands of flow bench. Even when using the same brand of flow bench differences will be seen between benches of different capacity. (for instance a SuperFlow 110 vs. a SuperFlow 600)

2. Test pressure used - SuperFlow has a chart in their operators manual for converting flow figures from commonly used test pressures to other commonly used test pressures. Flow figures taken at 10" test pressure must be converted in order to be compared to flow figures taken at 25" test pressure.

3. With or without intake manifold on intake port - Obviously a flow test done with a restrictive stock manifold on the head will not show as much cfm as one with a very unrestrictive manifold.

4. With or without carb on intake - Same idea as with the manifold, in order to compare apples to apples the flow figures you are comparing need to be taken through carbs that flow the same.

5. Type and design of radius entry on intake - If testing is done without a carb or manifold a radius entry should be used at the port entrance. The shape and size of this radius entry can effect flow figures. If an intake manifold is used on the head, it too should have a radius entry.

6. With or without pipe on exhaust - Adding a piece of pipe to the exhaust when using a SuperFlow 110 does not seem to effect the results much, while on the SuperFlow 600 with its higher test pressures it makes a large difference.

7. Design of pipe on exhaust - flow figures will increase from having a "bell mouth" or "flare" on the exit end of it.

8. Operator methodology - The way in which the operator does the test can also play a big part in results obtained. The angle that you read the manometers from will affect the results, as well as how quickly you take your reading after turning the machine on, to name just a couple variables.

All of these variables can be minimized to the point of being negligible if you are comparing only heads that are checked on the same flow bench. In other words, "Cousin Roy's Backyard Porting Shop" (fictitious name, I hope) with his SuperFlow 110 may do just as good a porting job as Mr. Hi-Tech in LA (who uses a SuperFlow 600 with all the bells and whistles), if he has done his homework and learned from his testing, porting and re-testing. The trouble is, it may be hard to know how his work compares without testing Mr. Hi-Tech's heads on Cousin Roy's bench or visa versa.

How then can the average consumer pick the best cylinder head shop to spend his money with? Well, here are some guidelines that we would suggest:

1. Spend your money with a shop you can trust. Ask around. If possible talk to someone who has used their services before.

2. Is the shop's reputation based on advertising or on results? Anyone can claim to be the best cylinder head porter in the business. The truth be known, any GOOD porting shop is capable of putting out quality work. There is a limit to how much any valve size is physically capable of flowing. Most talented cylinder head porters should not be too far apart on their flow figures for the same head and valve size. Much of the difference in their flow figures may be attributable to the items listed previously with the heading "under the same conditions."

3. Does the shop keep records of their flow testing? If you are paying for a porting job and flow test you should get a copy of the results. If you are not getting a flow test with your porting job, the price should reflect that. Some misunderstanding can be eliminated by using correct terminology. A flow test is only the actual measurement of the airflow. Porting is the actual modification to the head to increase the airflow. A "ported" head has not necessarily ever been on a flow bench. A "flowed" head is for the most part a meaningless term, since you can put a stock head on a flow bench and test it. Usually when a person uses the term "flowed head" what they really mean is "ported" or "ported and flowed". It is not illegitimate to sell a porting package without flow testing. Remember though, without a flow test you are at the mercy of the experience of the person doing the porting. If they do a lot of the particular head and valve size you are using, then they can probably be fairly consistent without checking every head. Stock evo heads are pretty easy to be consistent on, but if you only port one every 4 months you may not realize that you have done something different and lost flow unless you test the head. Shovel heads are at the other end of the spectrum. The large differences in port core from one head to the next make it very difficult to get consistent results without testing and rework. CNC ported heads are a different matter altogether. Due to the repeatability of the machine, the minimal difference in flow from one head to the next should only be because of core shift in the head casting. In this case a flow test is not really needed. All heads should flow reasonably close to the CNC Port Master (the head which was ported by hand and then digitized for CNC)

4. You get what you pay for... sometimes. A mediocre porting job will probably flow about halfway between a stock head and a well ported head. Hopefully the price will reflect that difference. Don't expect top notch work for a dirt cheap price. On the other hand there will always be people out there who are more than willing to charge premium prices for mediocre work and make up for it with bravado. See # 1 above. SuperFlow says there is only a 1% difference in the flow loss due to wall friction between a sand cast and a polished surface. Shine does not necessarily equal airflow.