What To Put In My Engine?

A stock enngine will always last longer than any that have been modified. A longblock assembled from all new parts will always last longer than one that has been rebuilt.

As for a good place to buy either, try

They are the largest and oldest > Hello fellow VW lovers!!

Bullshit

"They" would be you, no?

What sort of "performance" parts should I look for on one of these engines? Balanced Crank?

The entire rotating assebly should be balanced as a unit pulley to pressure plate. the pistons and rods should be seperately balanced as well. This is money very well spent, as it will pay itself back in performance and longevity.

Cam? yep it definitely needs one

Eight pin flywheel?

definitely a good idea with a displacemnt or clutch stronger than stock.

What type/brand of pistons?

Mahle or I've heard good things about the AA's...I have a set here that I haven't run yet, they were very nicely balanced out of the box.

Special connecting rods, lifters?

Forged I beams are a terrific value these days, but for what you are looking at stock rods with upgraded bolts are fine. the thing is once you factor in upgrading the bolts the I beams again are comporable in price.

What else? There seem to be an incredible amount of parts options for these engines, and not being that knowledgeable about the innards of a VW, I'm sort of unsure what I really need!

Well this depends a lot on what performance exactly you are seeking. Sounds like a mildly built 1776 would be right up your alley. A nice set of DRD level 3 heads 90.5 pistons, magnesium case tapped for full flow oiling, solid rocker shafts, I'd talk with the head porter for cam reccomendatiomns and compression ratio....likely somethign liek a web

163@ 8:1...but again...I always take the head porters reccomedations, deep sump if you plan on pushing any corners for extra oil capacity, stage one kenndy pressure plate and solid clutch disc, and a ste of dual 40mm webers...or kadrons if you are looking to save a little money at the expense of a wee bit of performance,. Really most of these variables will be decided by the builder you go with...I take it you are not comfortable with building it yourself? Do you have a local shop that does quality work?? I have heard decent things about several builders online, but have used none personally.

Nothing I haven't read before, maybe OTT for a low reving daily driver ?

Rich

I can't vouch for whether "vwdanny" is indeed the "they" mentioned above, but I can vouch for Danny's workmanship and ethics. He has always treated me fairly and I have learned many things about ACVWs from him.

Jim /

/ Amarillo TX

Nothing I haven't read before, maybe OTT for a low reving daily driver ?

....well, you could down the cam to a web 119 and run 7.5 to 1...thats a great bus combo. While true there is no need to get carried away and make a race engine for the street, most of the items listed are for the sake of security and longevity. The 8 dowel, I stand by, as reccommending for any clutch, or displacement over stock. The counterweights, are not really necessary for a low rpm engine...but with the cost of a 69mm DPR crank as low as it is allready 8 doweled...well, I'd still go for it. Again, I allready stated stock rods would be fine...but with the cost of the chromoly I beams....might as well. The full flow and blancing....no question on those the extra life an efficiency warrants those no matter what size engine you build IMHO period. The level 3 *is* a mild head...and is perfect for a mild street engine. They can even be run with heater boxes. the sump is optional...but they are cheap insurance to keep from oil starvation if you ever do any spirited driving. In short you may be able to shave a $100 or 200 on a $3k engine..but think hard before you decide to do so. =-) BTW I am biased on using quality parts. I just spent over $2600 on a 1600cc You may not always get what you pay for, but you ALWAYS pay for what you get. Cry Once!!!

I may have sounded abrupt with my last post - sorry.

Dont get me wrong - I would love to have an engine like you described - I would be tempted to go for a 78 crank to give better bottom end torque,but for a stock daily driver I would still say a turnkey 1600 exchange longblock from a reputable supplyer would do a good job and last well. Properly/regularly maintained and driven nicely that is.

1641's are quite popular over here (UK). Once you go 90.5 on the bore you have machining to do - and the cost goes up, you may as well go a little further - but where do you stop !

A tunkey exchange long block would cost from 500-600 GBP over here and probably outlast the ownership of most drivers cars over here (closer together on our tiny island ! ) against 1500 GBP and upwards for a 'performance' engine. (that's 3 stock engines ! )

Stock carb - 80 to 100 GBP against webbers 250 to 600+ GBP

See what I am getting at :-)

I think longevity would come from proper maintenace (oil change rocker gaps etc) that most daily drivers DONT do !

Just my opinion.

Rich

Hi everyone!

Here is what I think I may do.

I'm going to purchase a long block with the following parts for a 1776 engine:

New, factory, dual pressure relief case with case savers.

New, 40x35.5, racing heads with stainless valves, high rev. springs and heavy duty retainers.

New stainless valve covers with breather kit.

New forged, counterweighted and balanced, 8 dowel crankshaft.

New, stock, balanced connecting rods.

New, Mahle forged pistons, cylinders and rings with heavy duty snap rings.

New Engle 110 camshaft.

New dual thrust cam bearings.

New high performance steel pushrods.

New solid shaft rockers.

New, 30mm, heavy duty oil pump.

New oil sump.

New, forged, chromoloy,12.5 lb. 8 dowel flywheel.

Electronic distributor (any recomendations?).

Either Dual 35mm Solex or 40mm Kadron carburetors (depending on what I can afford).

Either a stock clutch or a Kennedy 1700 (I'm a bit worried that the 1700 may be a bit more "harsh" than I want).

New alternator.

Either a stock or electronic fuel pump.

Traction bar (I'll need one, right?).

Rancho (a local VW transmission builder) Pro-Street transmission. It actually is just a reinforced stock transaxle and not as fancy as it sounds! :O)

The long block is fully balanced and blueprinted.

Believe it or not, I may attempt (with a bit of help from my friends!) to bolt all of the stuff to the long block myself!! :O) I mean, how hard can it be?

It's going to be a "mild" daily driver.

Gee Gary! I was hoping to get by without a cam! :OD

What does everyone think? Did I forget anything important?

Thanks!

Lianna :O)

8< 8< 8< snip >8 >8 >8

I replied to this already at the Shoptalkforums board, but just for the benefit of other readers here in Ramva, which I call my Home :) I'll copy it here too:

"Racing" heads may mean a lot of things, but the more expensive Racing heads have less effective cooling fin arrangement and they are not recommended for the street. A "race" would last only less than 15 seconds at a time, for the kind of heads and racing that I have in mind

And new bails to keep them on tight, right?

A set of new ARP bolts would be a good idea. A better one yet would be a setr of new I-beam (like stock) Scat rods, that come with the abovementioned ARP bolts. The stock rods like to fail under heavy abuse, when the bolts let go.

That's a fairly mild cam, wide rpm range, pulls nicely from idle to

6000rpms and beyond, depending ons anumber of other factors. Very comfortable, and not a "race" type cam. Easy to tune the engine with it. Expect to get something like 90-100hp out of that engine.

There are several manufacturers and types of steel rods. Get LIGHT steel rods, there are big differences.

Stay with aluminum bodied 26mm. 30mm is overkill, and may cause trouble with too much pressure, especially with a cold engine.

The Kads would work great, and you get very good support for them (adjustment advice etc) from AJ Sims of Lowbugget.com where you should buy them from too, I think Smile

Kennedy stage 1 is very civil, get it. The new style is light to use too.

Stock pump will suffice.

Right.

Awww damn. Sad I know it's hard to run a honest, quality operation these days, when the market is swamped with quick and dirty hacks.

Jan

I agree with Jan (hell it does happen every once in a great while) The only other things I would change off hand is to upgrade to AC.Net HD aluminum pushrods for a quieter easier to maintain valve train. With the HD aluminum valve adjustments are just like stock...and they are lighter to boot. Also, I'd ditch the valve covers. A stock set of factory valve covers with a breather tube brazed in (berg sells em if you can't find anyone local to braze) will seal better and run cooler. the stainless is polished and will reflect heat back into the engine. VW made an Arctic package with chrome valve covers and sump plate to keep the engines warmer in sub 0 temps.

awwww :)

Jan