FINALLY! after a bit more than a year of scrimping and saving it's time to go engine shopping

I'm not building it myself.... most likely will get custom vee dub to build it for me. looking at an 1835cc for daily driving / traffic terrorising. What in your guys opinion should i be putting the money into? my budget is about 6k and that will have to include carbies and the rest of the stuff. is it even possible to get something built for that money that will be reliable and have a decent amount of grunt?

suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Oh, also, does anyone know anything about mounting monster tachos and ADRs? are they legal to have? i've seen a mount that uses the centre air vent to hold the gague / wiring. can't remember what website i saw it on. i'd rather do that than drill through the dash or something

Sounds about right budget I am about to have a 1776 built, so far have a new case, polished and ported heads, engle 110 cam and counter weighted crank shaft, mohle pistons and twin delorto 40's.
Engine case is machined for external oil cooler and also have a additional oil sump.

Still need to buy digital distributor, alternator, tinware etc then its off to custom bugs and buses to have it assembled and installed

Build a 2276, buy your parts from the states, an example would be the carbies, use a set of 44 decade IDF copies, $598 US http://www.drdracingheads.com/xcart/DecadeCarbs.html 
Engine kit 2276, $849 US http://www.drdracingheads.com/xcart/DRD-Short-block-kit-82mm-crank-I-beam-rod...
Cylinder heads $749 US
http://www.drdracingheads.com/xcart/DRD-L5-CNC-ported-type1-heads-92mm-bore.html 
Aluminium engine case, $849 US
http://www.drdracingheads.com/xcart/Aluminum-stroker-raised-roof-type-1-race-...
That comes to $3000 US plus shipping about $600 US, this will leave you with the balance of about $2400 to pay a top class engine builder like dave Butler to assemble it for you, before you buy in Australia do a comparison on the cost of the parts, you will get a 1776 here or with the above parts a 2276, hugh difference. talk yo Dave and see what advice he gives you as he knows exactly what he is doing. Forgot the duty at 10%, $300, and before anybody say's we should be supporting australian business ( resellers ) just do the costing on a engine build like this.

^good advice
or get a smaller engine kit and have some super awesome heads or up the quality of say crank and rods
ps; I'm not sold on the Decade carbs so I'd go Weber

What are Decade Carbs??

Are they just DRD's rebuild of Emps??

The decade carbs are a redisgn on the IDF's, there is a review of them in the november hot VW's, very good carb. i also forgot to mention, what ever youy do, do not put Kadron's on it, use one barrel per cylinder for your carburation.

I would use the DRD L 7 heads or his new ones hes just released

of course there are so many combinations and the big question is exhaust lol for me i will probably g for a vintagespeed exhaust

As you said a basic 1600, just like to HMPX they have them right from what i read, but if you want 44IDF's you can have them for $260 US extra, this includes setting up to suit your engine.

Love this thread. Good on you for putting actual costs, company and suggested shipping and import duty. Thanks.

My point really was that the HVW's test was hardly worth the paper it was written on. To be meaningful it has to compare a set of Webers to the Decades back to back, and jet them too ffs.
I believe the quality of the DRD kits would definately reduces the build time of a high hp engine.

What i found interesting is it is not the overseas go-fast bits that cost the biggest money. Its all the little extra things. Cranks, P&B's and cam kits are relatively inexpensive compared to the sum of the total cost of the extras like pushrods, pushrod tubes, crank handware kits, oil cooler + mount, dissy drive shaft, general hardware/seals, shims/spacers, flywheel, pulleys, rockers, alt stands, oil pumps, oil strainer, tinwear, sump plates, rocker covers, gland nuts, relief valves and case studs etc.

Cip1 has a 10% sale at the moment to for halloween. expires on wednesday night. Be aware you can be taxed import duty if overseas purchase is over $1000

Never happened to me in fifteen years if you use USPS.

Then your a lucky fella! http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page5549.asp 

"If a parcel, i.e. one consignment addressed to you contains goods or other packages that were imported for other people (such as your friends or relatives) and the parcel has a declared or assessed value exceeding A$1000 you will need to lodge an import declaration and pay the duty, taxes and charges. Customs law does not permit a parcel to be split or broken down into separate packages for assessment, even if those other packages were imported for other people. "

"Duty, GST and other taxes are calculated and payable when you make an import declaration for goods that have a value above A$1000 or if you import alcohol and/or tobacco products. When your import declaration is processed, Customs and Border Protection will provide you with a payment advice. The payment advice will show all amounts payable to Customs and Border Protection relating to your imported goods."

Yes Chris, but we have a free trade agreement with the states so I believe it's just gst, an extra 10%, so spend $3000 and pay $300, not really a deal killer. I've always kept my US orders under a grand and not been hit yet (in recent years at least), as bigger items I've purchased locally. I did have to pay duties on a large order from Sweden and duty was 5% +gst, so again, not bad really.

Having said that, if for any reason things aren't right, then it becomes interesting

I have spent thousands on parts sent from the USA.
Most sellers will actually put gift or a lower value on the postal declaration.
I have never once been charged any fees or GST?
If you can get the seller to use USPS its half the price of Fedex or UPS

As i said, just be carefull how you have it sent, i have not paid any duty in fifteen years.

*Just a note*

Three points, 1. Import duty. 2. GST. 3.Mild mannered street engines for those who are accountants not engineers.

Australia and USA Trade Agreement means you will not pay duty on items originating or manufactured in the USA. If a supplier imports from China and exports to Australia it does not meet the criteria of the "agreement' so import duty is applicable.

If the value of the goods is under AU1000 including postage and handling, you are unlikely to pay the GST. Australian Customs deem that the cost them to process an import is AU100, so if it is under AU1000 they will be running at a loss if they process those items.

If you ask someone to under value or suggest it is a gift you are breaking the law. If you have ever had to deal with customs, they have more power than the police and you will not win. If you have gotten away with this in the past then good luck to you. You are gambling and sometimes you win, but when you loose it is costly. Don't ask me, contact a lawyer!

If you are going to import, select the fastest most economic option. Do not go for the cheapest, and unless you really need it tomorrow, don't go for the most expensive.

This last point is my opinion. If you wish to discuss it send me a PM, as I do not have time for a debate, but happy to discuss the theory if you are after information on an upgraded street engine, not a full race engine.
If you want a reliable daily driver, I would not recommend one carby throat per cylinder, unless of course you want performance and can drive mostly WOT.
To smooth out idle and part throttle running you intake requires a plenum manifold.
Cheers Dave

Sorry to disagree with you about not using one throat per cylinder, tried most carbie combination during the last thirty years, the only way to go for drivability is exactly that, my 2276,fk87,10.8 to 1, two 48 drla's idles at 900 rpm pulls from 1500 rpm, smooth as silk. and i do not run it at WOT.

What distributor do you recommend, I am looking at the magnaspark digital.

anybody also tried one of these?

Crank trigger kit

I do not think you could go wrong with one of those, i have a mallory unilt with vacuum advance, i know it is more expensive the the magnaspark but it has the advantage of the vacuum advance.
http://vwparts.aircooled.net/Mallory-Distributor-Unilite-with-Vacuum-Advance-...

what about a mallory unilite without vacuum advance? compared to a magnaspark digital?

Mallory Unilite

I have not tried the magnaspark and cannot pass comment on it, i do know that the unilite with the vacuum advance has several advantages over the non vacuum advance model, i have had very good resaults with mine, it has been curved to suit the motor, if you want the best then you have to get rid of the distribuator altogether, this would be my choice. http://www.cbperformance.com/catalog.asp?ProductID=1890 

I've used both the Magnaspark and the Magnaspark Digital. Both great units. The digital has been instrumental in getting my big Fat Performance high comp race engine drivable on the street. The advance maps are fully adjustable on your laptop with vacuum and rpm inputs.
As for single throat per cylinder, I wouldn't have anything else, and many of my clients cars are running reliably like this. It's all in the set-up, jetting, linlages, heads, exhaust, compression ratio, valve train and cooling system, also engine-bay gear ratios and tyre size, build and maintain it properly and they give great performance, economy and longevety

I've also set up quite a few MSD's with very good results. The adjustable advance on the Magnaspark and the MSD are very similar . Using different springs and stops works well and is nice and reliable.

Some people would break a crow bar in a sand box, i drive my car hard without abusing it, some people cannot drive and have gear box issues all the time, you could break a vw box with 50 HP.

Unfortunately i live in a shoebox and don't have anywhere to put the parts once they arrive importing parts was initially an idea i had and from the information you guys have put up here big things are possible.

I'm definately not going to be driving it flat out all the time (i'm assuming WOT is Wide Open Throttle?). it's a daily and i just want to make it a little more special. i'm not on a quest for high HP or low 1/4 times, just something i can take to a club meet or show day and park with pride

some people have said to me once you go upwards from 1915cc engines tend to me a little more temperamental and have trouble with heat. i'd say this is in racing / drag applications and not related to a plain old daily but i dunno.

Thanks for all the info guys! i'm taking the car in to the mechanics on thursday so i'll take some of this info with me and have a good chat. Peter from Custom veedub has always been really good to me and the car. he's been looking after it for the last 2 out of 3 owners.

Very much appreciate the parts list and pricing vwo60! i'll be having a good look at that website tonight