1600 upgrades, buildups, performance upgrades

[LeeVW]

"Is there anything that can be done to improve the spark/ignition."

Install the Compufire of Pertronix ignitor like others have suggested, and use it to trigger a CDI module. CDI (Capacitive Discharge Ignition) provides a MUCH hotter spark, which gives increased performance, better gas mileage, easier starting, and the spark plugs stay clean (the hotter spark prevents fouling). EVERY engine will benefit from a better ignition system. The stock VW ignition is notoriously weak. There are other high energy ignition systems out there, but they are expensive and don't have an easy bypass method in case of failure.

I run the Mallory HyFire 6A module, and I am VERY happy with it. If it should fail for any reason, a simple re-wiring of the coil will get me back to standard ignition. If anyone wants more details on CDI, just ask!

Lee

[EvilleT]

which one of these are worth doing?

http://www.aircooled.net/gnrlsite/resou ... s/mods.htm

[Kenny2428]

which one of these are worth doing?

http://www.aircooled.net/gnrlsite/resou ... s/mods.htm

Set of dual Kadrons, and a nice header/muffler combo is what I would do to a 1600.

[Bugfuel]

which one of these are worth doing?

http://www.aircooled.net/gnrlsite/resou ... s/mods.htm

Set of dual Kadrons, and a nice header/muffler combo is what I would do to a 1600.

345 degree cam, 13:1 compression ratio, one centermounted 40mm dellorto, 009 distributor, aggressively lightened rods, crank, flywheel, full balance and weight matching of all parts, 40x35.5 valves, ported heads, header exhaust. 140-150hp.... kind of weak low end in contrast to the top end, in a lightweight car it screams and pulls past 8000 like crazy once it gets on cam.

(basic recipe for a 1600dp race engine)

No, I would not recommend this to anyone short of an expert.

[ccbaja69]

ALWAYS BALANCE INTERNALS!!!!!!!!

Anytime you rebuild an engine and dont balance everything, your just asking to spend more and more and more and more and more and more money than you ever wanted to. nough said

Also, you do not want a super duper light fly wheel because then you will be robbing one of the most basic effects of your motor- THE FLYWHEEL EFFECT!! Ever heard of it??? not too many people have. This follows the idea that things in motion tend to stay in motion, and the greater the mass of that moving object the greater its inertia, the more force it takes to bog the motor. So if you plan on slipping the clutch, and dumping the clutch a whole lot, a super light flywheel will only make the engine speed fall for some period of time.

DONT YOU JUST LOVE PHYSICS!!

[Bugfuel]

>ALWAYS BALANCE INTERNALS!!!!!!!!

AMEN brother!


>Also, you do not want a super duper light fly wheel because then you
>will be robbing one of the most basic effects of your motor- THE
>FLYWHEEL EFFECT!! Ever heard of it??? not too many people have. This
>follows the idea that things in motion tend to stay in motion, and the
>greater the mass of that moving object the greater its inertia, the more
>force it takes to bog the motor. So if you plan on slipping the clutch,
>and dumping the clutch a whole lot, a super light flywheel will only make
>the engine speed fall for some period of time.


This is more a matter of personal preference. I like lighter than stock flywheels in fairly light vehicles. I wouldn't use a very light fw in a heavy bus though.

Heavy flywheels are great for maintaining engine (vehicle) speed. They take extra power to CHANGE speed, to either direction. Therefore, with a lighter flywheel, the car accelerates faster, but low end 'maintain speed' effect is weaker. If the engine cannot make enough power to overcome the mass of the vehicle, the light flywheel will cause the engine to bog down. It will also require more conscious throttle use during highway driving, the car will slow down or build speed unnoticed more than it would with a heavy flywheel, which is great for maintaining SAME speed.

So it depends on how you plan on driving, what you drive, and how you want the car to behave. I like mine aggressive, as it's mostly a weekend toy for around town driving. So I use lighter flywheels, putting most of the engine power to acceleration.

[rsb]

The best mods I've done on my car are'nt engine related, but worth mentioning...

I replaced my stock headlights with the $50 each halogen conversions by Hella (uses HB2 bulb). If you can change a headlight you can do it. I am very happy with the results, and now my vw has the best night visibility out of my 4 cars. If I had it to do over again I would have tried the $50 per pair conversion that uses the H4 Halogen bulb, but the money is spent, and Im happy.

The other mod I recomend is an electric windshield washer set up (although I cannot offer a comparison to the stock unit as mine was missing when I bought my car). Like a chump, I bought the empi kit for $70. Later I noticed in JC Whitney's general catalog they have a generic kit for like $20. Overall I was very displeased with the stupidity of the empi kit. They supplyed wing nuts to attach the bottle, only there is not enough room to turn the wing nut because of where the mounting tabs are located on the bottle. Also, the kit came with a toggle switch to activate the pump, not the kind that you flip on and when you take your finger away it turns off, no the regular kind of toggle switch that opperates in both the full on and full off position. So I used a spare push button starter switch, I think I may have had to supply my own fuse for it too. The install would have taken an hour or less had the empi kit had parts that worked together. That said, I love having windshiled wahser fluid at the push of a button.

worst mods... 009 distributer with 34PICT3, and the $170 heater booster kit.

[OvalFast]

I'm building a 1600 engine for my Spyder RSK718 kit. I have a lot of parts I could use and would like to maximise power yet stay 1600 cc. Have a new alu case , 69mm cmoly crank c/balanced, Mahle forged pistons + Mahle cylinders, 5.4" race rods CB , several sets of race mains, big ends & cam bearings, several cams FK89, Ingle F200 & a few more Eagle cams, lightweight lifters, steel & cmly pushrods cut to measure, 1.25..1 bolt up rocker set up CB, CB 044 heads 40 35 & sever more heads from 041 , stock & 044 stock from JP, IDF40s no problem to balance tune & jet--lightweight 8 dowel f/wheel, 30mm oil pump , berg pump cover for full flow, --now someone out there what should I choose out of this pile of stuff, what deck height can I run for max performance & safety--what cc should I have in the combustion chambers ? any hints or help appreciated

[Chip Birks]

I'm building a 1600 engine for my Spyder RSK718 kit. I have a lot of parts I could use and would like to maximise power yet stay 1600 cc. Have a new alu case , 69mm cmoly crank c/balanced, Mahle forged pistons + Mahle cylinders, 5.4" race rods CB , several sets of race mains, big ends & cam bearings, several cams FK89, Ingle F200 & a few more Eagle cams, lightweight lifters, steel & cmly pushrods cut to measure, 1.25..1 bolt up rocker set up CB, CB 044 heads 40 35 & sever more heads from 041 , stock & 044 stock from JP, IDF40s no problem to balance tune & jet--lightweight 8 dowel f/wheel, 30mm oil pump , berg pump cover for full flow, --now someone out there what should I choose out of this pile of stuff, what deck height can I run for max performance & safety--what cc should I have in the combustion chambers ? any hints or help appreciated

You should start your own thread on this motor. You've mentioned it on two different posts today asking the same questions. Your best bet for getting good answers is to put all of your questions in one place. Sounds like a fun build!

[eskamobob1]

Ok, so sorry for an old bump, but for purely bolt on improvements to a stock 1600DP it seems like 1.4 ratio rockers (with corresponding rods), upgraded carbs or maybe even EFI, and proper exhaust (1-5/8 merged header?). What kind of changes can you expect from these changes? I realize the power bump likely wont go over like 60hp (~10-15% increase?), but how about the point at which power comes on? Also, what considerations do you need when driving? Seems like these should allow the engine to rev past 5500 RPM if you push it, but the internals themselves wont tolerate it. Anything else?

[V8Nate]

Amr500 supercharger best bang for the buck!

[Chip Birks]

Ok, so sorry for an old bump, but for purely bolt on improvements to a stock 1600DP it seems like 1.4 ratio rockers (with corresponding rods), upgraded carbs or maybe even EFI, and proper exhaust (1-5/8 merged header?). What kind of changes can you expect from these changes? I realize the power bump likely wont go over like 60hp (~10-15% increase?), but how about the point at which power comes on? Also, what considerations do you need when driving? Seems like these should allow the engine to rev past 5500 RPM if you push it, but the internals themselves wont tolerate it. Anything else?

Come on over to the Forced Induction Forum, there are lots and lots and lots of 1600 based combos in there. Many are actively building them right now. Mario has had great results with his AMR500 supercharged and fuel injected but otherwise stock 1600. Way more than your desired 10-15% too.

[eskamobob1]

My big worry with a turbo tbh is the longevity. My car is a DD that does about 100 miles a day 6 days a week (with the way home being completely stop and go). Is that something a turbo on a stock build can even handle?

[V8Nate]

Yes it is it's all in the tune and how you treat it. If your engine already runs hot, has excessive end play, and low oil pressure dont waste your time. Treat it right and it will treat you right. Forced induction is the best power for the money but MUST be tuned properly and maintained. I'm sure there is alot of budget built turbo stock engines rolling around to let you know what's up! I myself slapped together a amr500 charged sweep the floor 1641 and it did great:)

[V8Nate]

The amr's can be found for under 300 bucks all day long. Kie car shop sells adapters to fit to stock intake manifolds, and if you want to save yourself from centering a serpentine pulley from the junkyard to the crank pulley like I did you can either buy a serpentine kit or a v-belt pulley for the s/c. Or you could use a turbo charger and run all the exhaust, intake piping, oil and vacuum lines. Up to you but I would definitely recommend some sort of boost:)