I figured I would start a thread on a "bare" cylinder head build, seeing that I have scoured the internet and found nothing at all on the subject. Maybe this will be my chance to actually contribute something...
Anyways, I'm building a 632 BBC, got a block, intake, carb, crank and nitrous setup from a friend, and the intake is setup for symmetrical port Pontiac Pro Stock style heads. These heads cost an f-ing fortune (usually upwards of 10K for a new assembled CNC'd set), but I can't afford that, but I did catch a good deal on a set of bare heads.
Bare heads come completely unported, and cannot be just assembled and run. They must be ported to be used, and the valve seats come uncut. So this will be my project fort the winter. I have a friend who was a professional motorcycle drag racer who owns a shop in town, Roth Racing, who has many years of head porting experience, and he is guiding me through the process. Hopefully I can build some insight on this, and maybe all this extra work will actually save me some cash. These are how the heads come shipped. I have started porting the heads, but need to bring them to my machinist who has the block to have them checked to the deck before I can port further, I also need to get the valve seats cut in to finish those ports correctly.