Engine Rebuild

[shandyhaggis]

Afternoon all

Ok I left it 24 hours before I posted my first engine question... apols.

So far - Ive taken the engine apart and last year inspected it with James from Stateside. The engine is a rebuild from the US and the pistons are VW bus pistons. The heads are correct but would need stripping and refurbishing (no idea if they need additional work or not).

My end goal is to keep the engine 2.0 make it reliable and if poss increase power but thats not a prerequisite.

Ive several options ranging from just putting it back together (it looked reasonably ok to be honest) to handing it over to a specialist. Personally Id like to build it myself.

I could spend hours scouring the internet for bits and pieces and construct something that on paper should be ok but I dont really have the experience to tell. I could follow someone elses blue print (copy what ever parts they fitted) which I feel quite comfortable about.

Ideally as Im a beginner Id like a kit to construct, some of which are available from the US but its a long way to ship etc and sort out issues if things go pair shaped.

I found these guys in Germany..

http://www.riechertmotorentechnik.de/en/engineT4.htm

Does anyone have any experience of them? Id welcome any thoughts on the rebuild as well.

I do have access to a machine shop (my brother runs one) and I have an vintage racing engine specialist just down the road and of course I can commission Stateside for anything I couldnt work out myself (mainly head refurbishment unless the ones at riechert are any good).

Thanks in advance....

Andrew

[Bruce M]

Don't skimp on the head rebuild (valves, guides, perhaps even seats, properly cut too, springs, etc). Or get new Len hoffman's.

Throw away the gex rebuild warranty safe low comp pistons. If the cylinders are genuine, machine to 96mm and get JE pistons.

[jamie]

Hi Andrew,

Sounds like we are after the same thing - I have a 912 that I would like to fit with a 2.0 Type 4.

A friend of mine built a really good London - Cape Town 914-powered 912 rally car - http://www.alastaircaldwell.com/the-car ... he-912.htm. He does great work, so I'm going to go with the spec list he gave me.

Talk on PM if you like.

[shandyhaggis]

Don't skimp on the head rebuild (valves, guides, perhaps even seats, properly cut too, springs, etc). Or get new Len hoffman's.

Throw away the gex rebuild warranty safe low comp pistons. If the cylinders are genuine, machine to 96mm and get JE pistons.

Thanks

Ive just sent a note to LH to enquire on pricing of heads. Stateside would be about 1k ish max I guess, depending on refurbing mine or using new VW ones and reworking them to 914 spec.

JE pistons I dont know but I will have a look at their website.

ta

A

[shandyhaggis]

Hi Andrew,

Sounds like we are after the same thing - I have a 912 that I would like to fit with a 2.0 Type 4.

A friend of mine built a really good London - Cape Town 914-powered 912 rally car - http://www.alastaircaldwell.com/the-car ... he-912.htm. He does great work, so I'm going to go with the spec list he gave me.

Talk on PM if you like.

Hi

yes that would be great though 150bhp probably would mean me throwing away my refurbed brakes or installing an anchor:-).... I was thinking 120 bhp ish but I could I suppose just not press as hard with the accelerator.

Yes please details of the build would be very useful.

I also have the build spec from Ivan who did a great rebuild website ...

http://www.ephotomotion.com/914engine/index01.html

Ill start to wade through his site in a bit more detail now Ive finished the rewire...

thanks
A

[Bruce M]

A friend of mine built a really good London - Cape Town 914-powered 912 rally car - http://www.alastaircaldwell.com/the-car ... he-912.htm. He does great work, so I'm going to go with the spec list he gave me.

Talk on PM if you like.

Care to share the spec or is a racing secret
150bhp from 2.0 T4 is good going. Mind you I'd have thought it would cost nearly as much as a 912 rebuild.

[Mr Pharmacist]

This is what you want!

http://www.ddk-online.com/phpBB2/viewto ... =5&t=40605

[shandyhaggis]

Its the kind of thing I'm looking for but way too much power for me and its a lot of dosh.

I might have a look at the Raby website for an estimate of a run of the mill rebuild....

A

[Nige]

Run of the mill rebuild from Raby will cost you in excess of what Shambly wants for his 2.2 kit.

For my 2.1 I sourced all the parts over the internet, most came from Stateside Tuning or the VW Speed Shop, CSP in Germany do some nice stuff too. A guy I know built the engine for me after a local machine shop screwed it up. Stateside did all the balance work whilst my friend put it together. I converted it to twin 40 Dellortos and had a custom exhaust which pushed the price up a bit. If your pistons need replacing you might as well increase to 2.1 with some Keith Black pistons and have the barrels machine to match (though there might be different options these days). I think my build came in around £3k but I lost a chunk with a bad choice of machine shop at the start. Happy to put you in touch with my friend who built for me, the cost really wasn't worth me getting involved. He knows type IVs inside and out and use Stateside for the machine work too.

Jamie I'd like to see that 2.0 make 150bhp on a different dyno, I think realistically you'll see 115-120 from a well built 2.1.

If I was to do it again, I'd buy Shambly's kit and mega squirt it.

This site is good for reference
http://www.tunacan.net/t4/

[shandyhaggis]

Run of the mill rebuild from Raby will cost you in excess of what Shambly wants for his 2.2 kit.

For my 2.1 I sourced all the parts over the internet, most came from Stateside Tuning or the VW Speed Shop, CSP in Germany do some nice stuff too. A guy I know built the engine for me after a local machine shop screwed it up. Stateside did all the balance work whilst my friend put it together. I converted it to twin 40 Dellortos and had a custom exhaust which pushed the price up a bit. If your pistons need replacing you might as well increase to 2.1 with some Keith Black pistons and have the barrels machine to match. I think my build came in around £3k but I lost a chunk with a bad choice of machine shop at the start. Happy to put you in touch with my friend who built for me, the cost really wasn't worth me getting involved. He knows type IVs inside and out and use Stateside for the machine work too.

Jamie I'd like to see that 2.0 make 150bhp on a different dyno, I think realistically you'll see 115-120 from a well built 2.1.

If I was to do it again, I'd buy Shambly's kit and mega squirt it.

This site is good for reference
http://www.tunacan.net/t4/

Thanks, my pistons look ok but they are bus pistons rather than 914s so I was going to change them. I would def appreciate contact with you friend. I suspect hes not far away from me as Denby is just 25 mins down the road from me. It would be good to have someone who could build / help build and offer good advice on the internals etc.

It would free me up to work on the fuel injection, which after Ive chosen the engine bits etc is the next point of debate. I probably will go down the megasquirt route as the VW plug in kit from the US is around 2.5k... more ouches

Presumably if you did it again youd go for the other kit for increased power? or is it overall better balanced/engineered?

Thanks

A

[Nige]

Jake Raby stuff is top draw stuff, if you can afford go for it. So yes I'd buy the kit due to increased power potential and the engineering. Shambly is running a Raby motor in his Speedster.

My friend is actually based in Birmingham/Shirley, so still not too far away. I'll drop him a message as I think the number I have might be old, I'll send it to you once I have an update.

[shandyhaggis]

Anyone have any idea what Hoff head I would need?

Ive dropped him a note so he might reply.

According to the aircooled website/store there are a number of options :-
Camper special - $1695 plus shipping and import VAT etc
RS+ - $2100 plus shipping and import VAT etc
LE200 - no idea on price

The verbiage reckons the camper special is ok for 2.0 rebuilds where as the RS+ is more for performance builds.

Has anyone had heads rebuild in the UK? James at Stateside I think would adopt a similar approach. It would be daft to import from the US if the end result is comparable to something I could get over here....

Any thoughts?

Thanks

Andrew

[Nige]

Hi Andrew

I've PM'd you my mates number, give him a ring to discuss all aspects he's a type iv guru.

OK
Nige

[shandyhaggis]

Thanks Nige

Much appreciated

Andrew

[Bruce M]

Andrew,

Do you need any of the 914 2.0 oem injection gear?

There is some intake bits on eBay at the moment incorrectly advertised as camper parts (has the 3 bolt intake runners that were only used on the 2.0 914).