bridgeport exhaust?

[mercrazy]

just took the powerhead off 2.4 bridgeport efi. the exhaust holes in the plate were a lot smaller than the block. they appeared to be the same size as a stock 200 plate. this motor has the 1 piece plate and open snout housing.
1) are the plate holes supposed to be smaller or is it from some other motor? can i open up the plate with a die grinder to match the block and will it help the power to do so? is there sufficient metal there without breaking into the water passages?
2) can i open up a stock 200, 2 piece plate and get as much power as the 1 piece plate? what are the limiting factors?

[RocketMan]

Mercrazy,

Mercury built these motors just the way you see it. It looks stupid, but doesn't seem to impact real world performance. You can match the hole sizes in the HP 1-piece exhaust plate to the block's exhaust outlets. I don't know if a 2-piece plate has enough meat to grind on.

I have matched the block exhaust outlets to the exhaust plate many times when building 2.4 Mercs. It's one of those things that appears to be the right thing to do. This modification doesn't have any down side to my knowledge. HOWEVER, HP any gains are really small. You may not see it on the speedometer!

Have fun with your grinder.

RocketMan

[Edited by RocketMan on 04-17-2001 at 02:00 PM]

[Rickracer]

If nothing else, ya get to lighten up the motor a bit, :-)