I tried to find some "how to" and benefits info on port matching the
Vanagon heads to the intake manifolds with no luck.  My intake manifold
openings are smaller than the gasket openings (gasket between the intake
manifolds and the heads) which have openings that are slightly smaller
than the head intake port opening.  I used my Dremell with a burr bit
and also a large sanding drum to open the ports on one manifold to match
the gasket...about 1.5 hours of work.  I used a fluted pen in the two
bolt holes to line up the gasket on the intake manifold and then used a
permanent marker to outline what needed to be ported out.  I tried to
make the porting out as smooth as possible up the manifold.  I don't
think I want to match the gasket to the head as the manifold will again
be smaller than the gasket and I'm not sure it is worth the work on my
1.9.  Intuitively it makes sense to match the ports but this type of
work is probably more important on a high performance engine that would
suck lots more air at higher RPMs than my 1.9 Westy?

 

Pascal

'84 Westy