I started porting heads before I worked at a shop, or had a flow bench...... based on what I was reading in magazines at the time.
I was always pretty good at avoiding mishaps when putting stuff together, but really didn’t “know” anything about what it took to make power or go fast.
For the most part I copied what others with more experience were doing.
I felt my car ran pretty good for what it was....... especially when I look back at how little I really knew about what I was doing.
PBR has a few years on me, was in an area where there was way more car stuff going on, and probably got an earlier start on it than I did.
I think some of his stuff from the 80’s ran real well considering how much harder information was to come by back then.
In about ‘85, I had my street/strip Satellite running 11.50’s in full street trim, minus an exhaust system.
It also had slicks.
But, no fresh air, no “fuel system”, battery still up front, full interior, heater, wipers.
There weren’t many cars like that running those times at my local track back then.
That motor had some 906’s on it that I reworked using info and looking at pictures from a build in a Car Craft magazine that had come out about a year earlier.
The point being....... someone who has the desire to “improve” their own SM heads should certainly be able to go through a thread like this and gather enough info to do just that.
No machine shop or flow bench required.