Currently 1600 turbo engine but want a mildly tuned NA 1600

[1938vw]

Right then folks I will be ripping the turbo 1600 dp engine down and building it up from scratch as a NA engine.
Here are the things I am after.......
Mild performance and reliable.
Now my budget will be small and preferably used part.

What would you suggest?
Should I go for 1641?
Will the extra revs from upratted springs, bolt up rocker shafts, counterweight crank etc make a worthwhile difference?
Should I go for high lift rocker arms?
What cam should I use?
What carb / carbs?


Thanks guys.

[FJCamper]

Hi 1938vw,

"Mild performance" and reliability would mean sticking to standard-thickness 1600cc barrels, 1.25 ratio rockers on a stock cam, HD valve springs, and if a stock crank, keeping the redline at 5500 rpm.

Get yourself a set of 40mm Kadrons, 28mm venturis, with 130 main jets. And a 4-into-1 street header system.

Keep it simple.

By the way, what happened to turn you off the turbo?

FJC

[1938vw]

My wife hates it and I'd love her to be able to drive it. Also it always felt like it was on the edge of going horribly wrong. My fault I'm sure, I spent more time watching the afr than the road!

So with regards to the cam and crank, I'm splitting the case anyway, was it just a time / money saver to keep it stock?

[FJCamper]

Hi 1938vw,

Yes, keeping the interior stock is a time and money saver. A stock crank can handle 5000-5500 rpm, and a counterweighted up to 7000, but the higher you rev, the quicker you break or wear out.

Going to heavy duty single valve springs keep valve float under control. Float can start at about 4000 rpm and up on stock springs!

For the street, a mild performance upgrade will give you quicker response and better accelleration, not much better top end. No turbo lag, just good drivability.

Your wife will love it.

FJC

[1938vw]

Cheers buddy that sounds good and even sounds like it could be fairly cheap!

[Clonebug]

Put some AA thickwalled slip in 88 mm barrels and pistons in it. That will bump you to 1679 and the barrels are thicker than stock ones. All you have to do is bore the heads for 90.5-92 mm.

It will help a bit for very little cost. I paid $159.00 plus shipping for my set.

[1938vw]

I have changed my plan a little, over here in the uk the machining of the case and heads plus a set of b&p will take up around a third of my budget so I will be sticking with 1600.

So, I have just bought a pair of genuine weber 34 itcs with manifolds and linkage for a great price.
I'm also getting a set of scat 1.25 rockers with bolt up shafts, do I need to cut my push rods down to fit them or is that just 1.3 and over??

Is it not worth getting a new cam?? Like a engle 110? I can get that in a kit with hd spring and that so its not too expensive.

What dizzy should I use and why?

Cheers for the help guys

[woodsbuggy1]

If you are thinking about changing cams I would seriously consider an Engle W100. It will give you good low end torque and be very easy to drive while still making more power than stock. I would still use the HD rocker shafts but stock rockers and the Engle kit will give you the proper lifters and springs to match the cam. I know that my wife would be much happier with a W100 than a W110.
Good Luck
Kenric

[1938vw]

Cheers buddy, I'm relatively new to the cam idea, why would it be better to use stock rockers over ratio rockers with a W100?

[madmike]

W110 is the smallest cam I'll ever use,drives just like a stocker,with the right combo as stated above,back to back testing on my two cars I'd rather drive the car that has the W110 in it,just has more power when it gets on the pipe/sweet spot, W100 is a Bus cam IMHO The W110 is a lowend/mid-range Torque cam too .Madmike

[1938vw]

Interesting, I too think it would be better to have more mid range torque in a bug?

[woodsbuggy1]

The only reason I have seen to run ratio rockers is with a stroker crank where clearence between cam and rotating assembly is an issue. As far as cam selection is concerned; it all depends on how you drive and where you want to make power. I have been guilty of putting too big of a cam in several engines. I have learned that for my driving style a smaller cam starts producing torque at a lower RPM (but still better torque curve than stock cam) which makes it easy to drive and provides better fuel economy than a cam that is capable of producing more horsepower at a higher RPM. Camshaft selection is VERY subjective to the driver and combo.
Good Luck
Kenric