Hey all.

Poor old Alyce's engine is starting to get a little tired. So I'm starting to throw ideas around for a rebuild.

I drive the car daily so I need a reliable engine, that's halfway reasonable on fuel.

The car is also regularly taken offroad. What mods/parts should I use to maximise the low down torque for offroading?

Does more stoke = more torque? Like in a diesel? Or is it a different set of rules for petrol flat fours?

Can you buy a cam that is ground for more torque? I don't really mind about sacrificing a few revs either. It's not a race car, I use it offroad and as long as she pulls 120km/h on the highway for overtaking I'm not too phased.

Any thoughts/suggestions/ideas/combinations will be appreciated. What combo would you recommend?

Thanks in advance.


Smiley

Sorry smiley can't help you with tech info but would encourage people to give generously with info cause I am interested in this topic as well.
What engine are you currently running smiley?

I'd recommend a 1915 as a first upgrade. Heads and carbs depends on what you can afford, but definately displacement is the easiest first step in the search for more torque and bottom end grunt.

You can make any engine reliable. It's the parts you use and the assembly details that make an engine provide the best power and most reliability. Also careful attention to the complete build.....cooling system and lubrication improvements are the most obvious yet regularly overlooked upgrades. I expect after the basic rebuilding costs, some people can't afford to do all the required improvements or just are in the dark as to what is required when you increase the power output sometimes twofold and beyond.

good type 4 with upright conversion, torque + longevity.

Type 4 is good too, I have one in my baja. They have great torque, but I also believe more $$ to build. As a starter you could buy a running Type 4 and spend the bucks to do the conversion, and later hot it up when you feel the need.

i think from memory when i got my car blue slipped a few years ago. its about 40kg difference between that and stock if that but that was also including the dyno mat i installed while rebuilding.
stock t4 with cam and carbs is enough trust me. mines stock with a mild cam and 40mm dels, it cruises 110kmh all day up and down the freeway without slowing on hills.

They are not much heavier and marginally more expensive if you are building a stock type 4, see if you can find a low km rebuilt longblock and work from there.

If you want a type 1, I would build a 1776 with mild cam , stock valve slight port heads, stock flywheel, full flow, etc.

Quote:

Originally posted by Smiley So lets build me an engine, on this thread, what would be required? 1600 twin relief case as a starting point? Bored out to 94mm. What's next? Smiley

I like the wavelength you're on Matt.

Quote:

Originally posted by Smiley Quote: Originally posted by barls i think from memory when i got my car blue slipped a few years ago. its about 40kg difference between that and stock if that but that was also including the dyno mat i installed while rebuilding. stock t4 with cam and carbs is enough trust me. mines stock with a mild cam and 40mm dels, it cruises 110kmh all day up and down the freeway without slowing on hills. 40kg is a fair difference when it's hanging out the back. My car already understeers quite badly in the wet. Smiley

I worked mine out between 20-22kg depending on configuration. F#%$k all really, and also narrower so easy to tune the carbs.

type 4 FTW!

nuf said.

type 4 engine. last longer cases better suited to more power / torque. get rid of stock type 4 cam, replace with something slightly lumpier, dual carbs (dellorto's imo), go.

I don't really think I can afford to go to a type 4 engine.
It's not going to be a cheap exercise.


Smiley

Type 4 fits the bill but definately not very budget effective.

I started a type 4 conversion on my bug back in 2002 and stopped cos of costs back then, can only imagine what its like now.

Finding a good core to rebuild can be tricky, most have been raped in overloaded and under maintained kombis for the last 30+ years by careless owners.

Carbs, cam and exhaust can make or break a torquester engine.

If it was me I'd be building a 1776 or 1916 with with stock carb, mild cam like a w100 and a decent exhaust, and abit of head work if budget allows.
That should give you a good balance of power, torque, fuel mileage and lifespan but be good offroad too.
Again thats just me though.

If you get good quality P&C kit the difference between 90.5 and 94 is minimal.
It's the same work to bore for both and kits generally cost the same anyway.

They actually make a thick walled 92mm kit now thats thicker than both of them. uses 94mm bore size.

You don't wanna go too aggressive with the cam when making an engine for off road seeing as 1 minute it will be low revving along then next flat stick up a hill.

W100 is pretty well the baby of engle cams, going bigger is geared more toward twin carb street engines

Quote:

Originally posted by Smiley I was thinking about a 1916 but was talking to one of my friends up here today and he said that the walls are thinner than a 1776. And I have to watch how hot it's going to be given the heat up here. Smiley

94's are one of the thicker jugs but have the least surface area because there fins are smaller due to the size of the jug eating away from that area.

So yes watch for heat, No. 1 enemy of the air cooled engine or any engine for the mater of fact.

The biggest trap is that as engine displacement increases, all things staying equal, your compression ratio also increases. This is because CR is the ratio of the engine capacity divided into the combustion chamber volume. So for every engine combo, the CR needs to be adjusted and it's how you do this that can make the engine efficient (read cooler running and more power) or inefficient (read hot and sluggish). That IMO is why so many bigger engines end up with the bad rap of being unreliable. Set the CR correctly and have an effective cooling system and any engine size available to you.......I'm presently planning a 2550 for a client and I'm sure he doesn't want it unreliable .

My Old motor was a great little torque motor.

1776,
Balanced std crank and rods
W100 cam
Stock heads with a 3 angle valve job and mild port and polish
009
full flow, with filter and extra cooler (though it ran cool most of the time, unless you drove for about 20 mins or in the peak of summer)
CR was about 8:1, I think a little step up from the std, but not buy much
Twin 40mm Dells
semi merged extraactors

some well written/explained advice there matt!

So what's a good CR to aim for with a 1776/1916 engine?


And where do people buy there parts from? I might price up a few different engine combinations and see what suits me best. I'm not looking from a slagging of businesses, I just want to know where you buy your high quality engine parts from? And what brand are they?

Have been looking at the CB Performance website, but $186 for a stroker crank seems a little cheap? Prove me wrong?

http://www.cbperformance.com/catalog.asp?ProductID=1185 



Smiley

So no one on here has ever bought quality engine parts before?

If you not comfortable posting up on the thread with where you get stuff from PM me. But I really need to know ASAP because the engine in my vehicle is going downhill fast!

I've decided to go with a 1915, stock bottom end, stock heads with a polish out, stock cam ( or should I use the W100?) twin Kadrons/webbers/somethings. Running full flow oiling with an external spin on filter and maybe an external cooler.

Can anyone see any problems with this setup? What is wrong? What should I change? Any advice appreciated.


Smiley