Anyone use a sonic tester on their ports?

Bos's5.0 · Post by **Bos's5.0** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 9:41 pm

I ponied up and bought a PR-82 ultrasonic tester. This one is touted as THE tester made for Automotive testing, Esp. cylinder heads and intake manifolds when porting. I got 2 tranducers, one for iron, one for alum.
I have been trying to use it on my intake and heads, both aluminum, and I'm about ready to smash it into the earth. It is the hardest "tool" I have ever seen/tried to use. I've read the instructions carfully and got it so it was quite accurate on the very very few parts of my head I could get it to measure. I'm ticked off and sick to my stomach, since it was a very expensive piece for a hobbyist like me to buy.

Anyone have experience with them?

CNC BLOCKS · Post by **CNC BLOCKS** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 9:56 pm

I have one in the shop as we test cylinder walls with it and I have had no problems so far.

Bos's5.0 · Post by **Bos's5.0** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 10:05 pm

CNC BLOCKS wrote:I have one in the shop as we test cylinder walls with it and I have had no problems so far.

You tried it on anything else?

bill jones · Post by **bill jones** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 10:32 pm

-Since you are in SLC, take your sonic tester and your heads over to Mike Chapmans place in Woods Cross, drive around and use the east door, and talk to tall Mike (Mike Lane) or Cory Stultz about your problems and see if they will help you some.
-Tell them Bill Jones sent you over and maybe that will help, but just don't be a pest.
-They have an old sonic tester that Mikey Chapman bought in the early 80's, that I know Cory still uses.
-I used that tester for several years off and on and it was deadly accurate on most cast iron block cylinder bores, but I never found any joy doing heads because the probe ends didn't make proper contact with the port walls.
-They might have bought some special probes to do heads or might have found some things that need to be done to get good readings on head ports.

Wolfplace · Post by **Wolfplace** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 11:11 pm

Did you tell Rich that you were going to use it on heads & get the right probes?
I have had one for a very long time & it is an outstanding unit & Rich has always been one of the best when it comes to customer service.
I got one of the first ones he designed when he left StressTel & started Dakota & he came up with all his equipment & spent the day messing with mine & trying different transducers on different blocks.

If you are using the standard probes it ain't gonna work on ports.
They have a ton of different transducers & can make about anything you require.

Bos's5.0 · Post by **Bos's5.0** » Mon Feb 14, 2005 11:19 pm

Yeah, he knew exactly what it was for.
I'm thinking I need a little more time.
I also need to know how these aluminum heads are made internally as I think they are more solid than what I thought.

When I get my iron ones back from the machine shop, then i'll see whats up since I know them things have waterjackets all around the intake ports and exhaust ports.

Post by **ClassKing** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 4:02 am

Bo - Sometimes those testors require a feel, constant calibrating and the right lube. (Sometimes I said - don't jump on me guys) I was a mechanical nuclear inspector for six years and had to perform all kinds of
specialized tests with very high dollar equipment - mainly on inconel - but getting repeatable results was tedious work - sometimes. I'd like to get one myself for porting - but I'll try it out before I buy it.

I know this - depending on what's on the other side of the surface you're trying to measure can casue all kinds of problems. Variations in the casting. The rougher (jagged edges) the opposite side is the harder it will be to get accurate results. Don't give up. It's not a simple tool to master quickly - sometimes. !

Bos's5.0 · Post by **Bos's5.0** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 9:53 am

Thanks for the replies guys.
I finally found a cutaway of the head I was trying to measure, and it is mostly my fault. They are pretty solid all the way around the ports.
I just used it on my stock E7 5.0 heads. Seams to work awesome, I just need to get the feel for it.
By the way, Rich has incredible customer service. He said if I don't like it, he would take it back, no questions asked. He also has a newer way more advanced one that just came out.

Wolfplace · Post by **Wolfplace** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 12:37 pm

Bos's5.0 wrote:Thanks for the replies guys.
I finally found a cutaway of the head I was trying to measure, and it is mostly my fault. They are pretty solid all the way around the ports.
I just used it on my stock E7 5.0 heads. Seams to work awesome, I just need to get the feel for it.
By the way, Rich has incredible customer service. He said if I don't like it, he would take it back, no questions asked. He also has a newer way more advanced one that just came out.

=

Yes he is a real gentleman & has been since the day he opened his doors.
And the new one he is talking about is killer. It not only measures for thin & thick spots but will "graph" the hidden wall so you can get a picture of high & low spots or flaws.
Almost too much info

It then will down load it to your computor so you can print everythng,, pretty impressive deal.
There is a bunch of info on his site.
http://www.dakotainst.com/