Cylinder Head Work

 
       
The Big Hoss modified Cummins cylinder head is one of the keys to the diesel performance that has been achieved by Banks Power.
Considerable modifications and machining are required to improve flow in the head for maximum power output.

Additional power comes from making the engine a more efficient air pump. This begins by improving airflow through the cylinder head.

Extensive cylinder head modifications have been tested at Banks® for the Project Sidewinder Cummins® compression ignition (diesel) engine. Cylinder head expert Victor Bangle handled the porting and polishing on the four-valve-per-cylinder head in preparation for dyno testing. Optimum intake and exhaust valve sizes continue to be evaluated in an effort to extract maximum flow from the head. The goal is maximum power output, but also drivability, low emissions and fuel economy for the ultimate street/competition combination.

The hand reshaping, contouring, and polishing of the ports is time consuming, but porting also produces the best airflow gains. When the final configurations have been determined through flow bench and dyno testing, as well as actual vehicle testing, a CNC milling program will be created to accurately reproduce the high-performance ports on Banks Big Hoss™ replacement cylinder heads.

Cylinder Head Modifications

Comprehensive cylinder head modifications and flow testing have been conducted on numerous Cummins heads at Banks. This cylinder head work allows the Banks engineering team to explore what can and cannot be done to the port configurations and valves, as well as possible ways to create efficient manifolding for the turbo system. More porting and flow work will be undertaken as refinement of the Big Hoss head continues.
 
 
Click thumbnails for larger image
The stock Cummins air box has been removed from the Cummins cylinder head and replaced with a Big Hoss intake manifold on the Sidewinder.
 John Espino shows the cast air plenum that was removed from the 24-valve head to make way for the custom intake manifold.
Several port configurations were tried on the Cummins cylinder head to achieve maximum airflow.
 Various port configurations were flow tested to determine maximum flow improvement.
Banks Power engineers determine the most effective modifications for increased airflow on what will become the Banks Cummins Big Hoss cylinder head.
 Careful inspection and extreme scrutiny yield possible avenues of power gains.

Hand porting cylinder heads is an exercise in metal sculpture with a massive dose of airflow knowledge. When port shapes are finalized, much of this work will be done by a fully automated CNC milling machine to produce Big Hoss Cummins heads.

 Head porting and polishing requires many hours of meticulous labor, but the benefits in torque and power output make the effort worthwhile.
The Cummins 5.9L 24-valve head was experimentally ported and flowed to achieve optimum performance.
 Victor Bangle ports and polishes a Cummins cylinder head in the effort to extract maximum power for Project Sidewinder.
Both intake and performance exhaust flow help produce the diesel power necessary to power Project Sidewinder as the worldäs fastest diesel sport truck.
 Both runners in each intake port are carefully reshaped and polished, as is the area between each pair of ports.

The Cummins exhaust ports were enlarged and polished for maximum exhaust performance flow.

 This is a look into an enlarged and highly polished exhaust port.