To stroke or not to stroke, that's my question....

britegreenVWSB · Post by **britegreenVWSB** » Wed Apr 09, 2003 9:55 pm

Jordan,
I have a set of Berg stock valve p&p heads done by Clyde back in 1989. I have been running them since then, they have almost 100k miles on them, and all I've done is had them freshened up at 35k and then at 70k. They are due for another freshening. I don't know for sure (because I haven't compared them anything else) but I do believe that these heads would outperform most "out-of-the-box" heads. The performance of my engine throughout it's entire rpm range is fantastic. By the way, a set of Berg heads like this are around $830. I don't think I'd pay that much for a set of stock valve heads today, because there are a lot of head porters out there who know what they are doing and do heads for less than this, but that doesn't negate the fact that these Berg heads work fantastic.

TG

gleason · Post by **gleason** » Thu Apr 10, 2003 5:19 pm

Well, it looks as though we will be going with a DPR crank with the 78 mm stroke. I also was wrong on the carbs. They are actually 40 dells. I know that the heads cc'd out at 60, so I guess I have to try to determine what comp ratio to run on this engine. I need to get some contacts or leads on who all makes heater boxes for the big valves that will work with this engine.
I will need to get something other than the J-pipes and the bugpack header with a hideout, right?

Keep the ideas coming. Thanks

Advokat · Post by **Advokat** » Thu Apr 10, 2003 6:28 pm

Kymco makes a heater box coordinated system at 1.5", but this may be insufficient if you are going to go with the larger valved heads. Berg, however, makes a merged system w/boxes and you can get 1 5/8" or even 1 3/4". I don't know for sure, but maybe even bigger. This system will NOT be cheap, however.

Good luck

britegreenVWSB · Post by **britegreenVWSB** » Thu Apr 10, 2003 11:09 pm

About the Berg heater box systems, yeah they are spendy. I got lucky. I found an earlier 1 5/8" system at a swap meet for $350. They go for just about twice that new. Ouch.

TG

mschilling · Post by **mschilling** » Wed Apr 16, 2003 12:17 pm

Hi Gleason, I bought a complete engine kit from Berg about 10 years ago with unported heads. And then a few years later I sent them back to Berg and got them ported. Would have been great to take some pix of them before installing as they looked amazing, at least the chamber which just gleamed! Anyway, I can't remember what I paid but it was plenty. The point is that they will custom port them for your application, and will work well with stock size exhaust, guaranteed. You can't say that about 44's, which leave you stuck with having to find a bigger exhaust that heats. Remember, there are three levels of heat exchangers: German old stock, with heavy cast innards, the Dansk repops, and the least heat, the bigger diameter J-tubes inside a heater box. So the 44's with the J-tube 1-1/2" heater boxes won't put out as much heat, but I'm not sure about the actual difference. Talked to a guy at CalImports and he said it would be fine in a bug but not for a bus, but again it's relative depending on where you live. And I can't tell you that a Berg stock valve head motor with stock size valves will work as well as 44's with 1-1/2 exhaust. I haven't done a comparison, just know that mine works well.

[email protected] · Post by **[email protected]** » Mon Apr 21, 2003 7:02 pm

If you were to use a WBX 76.8 crank and 90.5 B pistons ( Stroker) , The motor will not need spacers and longer pushrods. There is the added bonus of the Bolt on Flywheel and 210mm in a bug or 228 mm Clutch in a Bay. Steve