Engine stolen! Starting over. Please help.

[Superman74]

Hello all, I had been building a "no-machine" 1800. I sent the rockers, engine case, oil pump & cover, & lifters with all my taps and plugs out to get The "Bob Hoover" treatment. It was to a buddy on another forum.. I bought insurance and forgot signature confirmation. So the package "never got there" and the insurance claim was denied. -total loss.

So, 1) buy coverage and signature confirmation and 2) suck it up and start over.
I am looking for build advice using what I have left, selling some, buying some and possibly going to e-85 turbo, blow through & carbs later down the road. (I do not want EFI, or crank fire.) just intercooled and "low" boost if anything...

The Facts:

Car: 73 super, daily driver, tampa, Fl. 90+ heat in summer and sea level.

What I have left:

kennedy stage 1 pressure plate/clutch
Steve Tim's stage 1 heads 54cc (40X35.5) ported exhaust, match ported manifolds, dual springs.
Cb MagnaSpark digital combo with wires & coil
A1-sidewinder exhaust, stainless 1.5"
cb light weight lifters
1.1:1 rockers w/elephant feet and solid shafts on the way from a friend.
AA thick top 88's
74 cb performance crank
Two new sets of rods: 5.325" & 5.4" vw joural
BugPack 4062-10 cam.
2 dellorto 36 drla's
carter electric fuel pump 8psi.
Holley 2-6 psi regulator

The heads were supposed to give me 8.5:[email protected] deck on thick wall 88's (originally a no machine 1800 build.) to go with my bugpack 4062-10 cam.

So far I have come up with 2 scenarios: (here's where you come in!)

Scenario 1) 2180cc, 10:1 Compression E-85

A guy is offering me: A "new" AS41 case, doesn't need line boring! Std mains, came out of a rail that was used twice a year. It's tapped for full flow, clearanced for 82 stroke, and 90.5/92 register on the spigots. He wants $350.

I "think" <= dangerous! If I buy the case, I can get an 82mm vw crank, and if there is a way to get the deck back to .040, I let the heads out to 94 register, run thick top 92's and that will give me an 2180 with ~10:1 compression. Then run E-85. get a stroker clearanced cam, thinking of the Web 110/163 on 108 lobe center.

Sell the 36 dell's, get a pair of 44 webers/40 dells or bigger & choke em down if needed.. sell the 74mm cb crank, bugpack 4062 cam, and 88 thick top P&C's, and prolly the 5.325" rods.

I hope 10:1 is high enough compression for E-85 naturally aspirated. I would ditch the exhaust and blow through down the road, low boost on the magnaspark setup.


Scenario 2) 1968cc 9.1:1 Compression 93 octane

More or less, use everything I have and sell the 5.4" rods, the 88 pistons, maybe trade up to 40 dells if I cannot tune the 36 dells(I have 32 vents in 'em.)
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My analysis:

Scenario 1) more expensive, not a big deal. Leaves a few unanswered questions for me. Is 10:1 high enough for E-85? Does it leave enough head room for forced induction? Can I get back to .040 deck to get 10:1 using longer rods? maybe deck the case? I would like to use either the 5.4's or the 5.325 I already have.. Certainly, this would be more spirited of a daily driver even if I never go forced induction... as long as 10:1 doesn't leave the engine soggy. And I "think" a 110/163 Webcam on 108LC is a good choice. But when it comes to forced induction? I don't know. If 10:1 is alright for a daily driven N.A E-85 setup then great! Ditch the exhaust and go blow thru later if I want.

Scenario 2) Most cost effective, sell the extra rods (5.4" in this case) probably buy the 110/163 cam anyhow, skip crank clearancing on the cam. Sell the thick top 88's, buy 92's and just run premium gas. forget forced induction altogether.

I went over the top and installed phenolytic rubber, stainless fuel lines, and "Red Kote" ethanol tank sealer just as a precaution.


So, when dreaming of engine builds I get all willy-nilly and cannot think straight, I just here Tim Allen grunting BinFord 9000 in my head.. I have no experience with either engine or air cooled vw's. I have just built a lot of bow ties and diesels for the Coast Guard. I am going to have to rely on advice from others. If I entertain a blow through setup down the road I will cross that bridge when I get there.

This said, what would you do?!?

P.S. - I am using the AA piston website to figure out static compression. I haven't a clue how to calculate DCR on an ACVW or how to relate that back to octane ratings and detonation.

[Piledriver]

Good DCR calculator on all makes from (what was once) KB Silvolite:

https://www.uempistons.com/index.php?ma ... 525fa02016

[Superman74]

ahh, well if that one is most correct (i was looking at it last night) then the DCR is 7.56:1 using the 110/163 webcam. Some say that 93 octane is to low and others say with sea lvl and humidity say it just right.. that's what has me asking you guys, perhaps you have first hand experience..

[Piledriver]

If you are ONLY going to run E85, it's probably just fine even boosted.

For NA pump gas <=~7:1 DCR is a good rule of thumb for ACVW, many variables, chamber design/CHT etc.

[Superman74]

I am looking for direction on the build i guess i am going to read some threads.. it seems the "build once and be done" option is the 2180 with enough cam to bleed off to 7.1 DCR. Sound about right??

[Piledriver]

wide lobe center saves fuel(on overlap at lower RPM) bleeds off more compression, is somewhat more turbo friendly for those reasons.

A 163/86b @~112 lc or so would be a "go to" turbo cam selection on a T4, you have more options but it's probably still a good starting point.

On a smaller motor a 119@112 would likely be a bit more ~reasonable.
On a thickwall 2180 with decent flowing heads, something more might be appropriate.
Do they sell forged 92s off the shelf?

[Superman74]

sure do, $475. Whats on your mind?

[Piledriver]

sure do, $475. Whats on your mind?

Wasn't sure, the AA 92s are IIRC hypereutetics, I guess since the 92s with thickwalls are ~ideal for boost someone still made forged 92mm pistons. (Other than for Subarus)

There might be some "off the shelf" options with 92mm Subaru pistons... with various dishes & compression heights unavailable with T1 slugs. Even the factory ones, while hypereutetics, are designed for boost and are known to hold up to ludicrous power, and should last a lot longer than soft alloy T1 forged slugs.(and quiet)

[Superman74]

that is.. kinda brilliant actually.. I had been asking myself if there were any other manufacturers thats made pistons in a 92mm bore. i didn't realize that forged were known to hold up longer than cast or that it was even a factor let alone the noise.. I haven't bought the P&C's so thats something to look into. I ran across a thread where a guy used toyota piston and 5.7" rods. I don't know why exactly but I imagine it had to do with that rod/stroke ratio thats supposed to be 1.6-1.8 or so.. what ever that is… yet another thing to do homework on.

[Piledriver]

Under boost, the soft forged racing pistons are somewhat forgiving of abuse (read: light detonation) but the ring lands wear out over low miles, WISECO doesn't even recommend them for endurance racing, too soft.

The hypers will last ~forever as they are much harder, but brittle, can crack.

There are various possible alloys, 4032 alloy pistons are forged but have enough silicon % to last, factory forged pistons tend to be 4032 alloy, go there if it's to be a boosted DD. Even JE makes 4032 pistons, you just have to look.

The Toyota 22R pistons are 94mm. The Subaru 2.2 pistons are 92mm stock.

[Superman74]

Well first thing's first. Old engine stolen , sold off P&C's carbs, cam, crank, fuel pump and goodies.

UPDATE New build: 2110 - po-boy china style.

82mm 4130 empi crank
Universal mag case, pre-clearanced & full flowed.
Web 86A with 6 added degrees of crank duration on the widest base circle available.
Steve Tims stage 1 ported intake & exhaust (40X35.5)
45 Dell DRLA's:
34mm venturi (from CB,machined to size)
140 main jets, 180 air jets, 60 idle jets, 55 pump jets.
Empi 1.4's
A-1 Stainless 1.5" sidewinder exhaust
5.325' rods I- beam
AA 90.5's
straight but cam gears, 13lb flywheel, kennedy stage 1 pressure plate and kush lok disc.
Dynamic CR 9.5:1 StaticCR 7.3:1
I have a new set of big foot lifters (heavy) but should work with dual springs and "lower" redline.

and thats it, starting the build now while working on the car's body.. looks to me like a good build and just putting it out there. Thanks again for the encouragement.