I hear you guys. I've read many accounts here about performing a partial overhaul and the risk involved.

I'm at somewhat of a critical path here. I know for a fact that my uncle took very good care of this car and motor in particular. He did, however, clock over 200K miles, all at about 1800 rpm commuting on the freeway. I have run the engine but with the vaccum leaks it ran pretty rough.

If one ends up splitting the case, do you generally go with all new internal parts? Cam, crank, bearings, rods, p&c's heads, valves pushrods & tubes etc.? Is anything re-used if it is still in spec?

Rods and crank generally get re-used, though some work may need to be done on them. Often the pistons and cylinders can be re-used if they are re-worked.

Bearings, cam, lifters, and all the other wear parts get replaced. New oil cooler is not a bad idea, but cleaning the old one can be OK if the engine didn't spin a bearing or ventilate something. The oil pump can be cleaned up and re-used if it's in spec.

For the most part, the only "must-replace" items are the bearings and seals. I'd probably include the cam and lifters in there because they are well-known Type IV wear points. Most of the rest of the engine should be measured and the parts can be reused or reconditioned if in spec.

A complete valve job would include new guides, cutting the seats, cleaning up the valves, new retainers, possibly new springs. Any parts that are out of spec would get replaced. (Valves would be a real possibility on that.) The heads should be checked for cracks around the plug holes and in the ports; fixing those is "above and beyond". Usually not included, but often a good idea, are new valve seats. There's sure to be stuff I'm leaving out...

--DD

There's a complete 2.0 on Recycler.com still in the car somewhere in area code 323. Search "Porsche" under auto parts. Asking $900. It's been there awile, so he might take less.

If you split the case, buy the cam, lifters, gaskets, p&c's, do heads, etc., this might be a bargin. Not many engines you can drive before you buy. Of course, do a compression check on that one too. If the engine comes complete with induction (I didn't call), it's a bargin.

would the stock L-Jet FI work on a 2.0 set up?

I'm not sure which way to go. It basically comes down to a case split, measure the stock components, and come up with a laundry list of parts and their prices + machining. $$ talks.

Out of curiosity, is the Web Cam stock grind the way to go in this case? and what brand p&c's are recommended?

I'm not in a terrible rush, so I can afford the time to plan it and do it right.

The stock cam is the fastest way to keep the heads hot......it was designed for fast warm ups.

I like a web 73 with stock FI,works well. cools off the heads.

Mueller ran unmodified L-jet from his old 1.8 motor on his new 2.0 motor. He said there was no problem at all. I'd try to be cautious, as I would think there's a possibility of the thing going lean at high loads and high RPMs (max fuel demand) but he didn't report any problems at all.

Raby and others like the Web 73 grind for stock-type FI. Other people (Kap'n Krusty from the 914 Rennlist for one) say that it won't work right without some real tweaking. Especially the D-jet EFI; the L-jet might be more tolerant, I'm not really sure.

--DD

Jake, could you elaborate as to how the the webcam can make your heads stay cooler, and make more power too? How is a cam designed for fast warmup? Are you talking valves or heads or both. I'm intrigued.

PD

It has alot to do with valve timing and the duration of the events in the engine.

for instance:
One of my test engines for my "powerstroke" series of bus powerplants used a stock cam,it was in a 2109cc (76x94) engine. and it utilized a stock 914 cam profile. The engine ran great but had a short powerband,shorter than I wanted. The head temps would want to run 365-380 sometimes unless I dropped the A/F ratio to around 11.8:1 and ran it rich,even with retarded timing(7.6:1CR static ). The engine ran 18,000 miles before I decided to swap cams, and try to increase the powerband and cool it down a bit.

I tore the engine down and swapped to a web 73 on a tightened lobe center for some added torque. I bolted the engine back tgether and RAISED the static CR to meet the cam change a bit better (8.1:1) The engine was dynoed on both synthetic and cnventional oils and then the CIS injection system was installed and the engine installed. I was worried that the engine may still run warm with the CIS installation as it was keeping me to 13.6;1 almost all the time, a little lean for an aircooled engine worked with a heavy load for hours at a time. I was amazed on my first long trip with 2500 pounds of engines,crossing the smoky mountains that it would not get above 350 on the temps until I dropped out of the powerband. I was also able to remove the external oil cooler that was a requirement before with the lower CR,Carbed(rich too) with the stock cam.

I have seen it way more times than this, I never use a stock cam any longer, as it has crappy open and closing rates and duration. More VWs were sold in col climates than hot cluimates,so they made the cam accordingly. It is not uncommon for me to build a 2270cc engine that runs 15-40 degrees cooler head temps than the stock engine that was previously installed....More than a few of those customers are here maybe they'll chime in and back me up. Making a SLIGHT cam change even on a stock engine can be a wonderful thing.

i think the manifold stud patterns are different from a 1.8 to a 2.0?
raby,you are expanding our knowledge base. good info. let me know the next smokey mountain trip/circle the wagens. i'm in the burg

I'd never have thunk a different cam would make my engine run cooler (and i presume last longer too). Will that cam require a new set of webcam lifters too ( I have rimco reconditioned one's to go in)

PD

I'm gonna back Jake up on this one.

2270cc, 163/86b Webcam, 9.5:1, stock oil cooler.

This thing runs cooler than the 1600DP that was in my early car (63 Bug). When Grant and I shot some outside videos of it, I absolutely BEAT on that motor (broke 'er in real good ;) )

We're talkin repeated launches from a stop up to 90-100mph, drive by's at 100+ and just general screwing around. Plus, we drove it all around town and I generally lug the motor since it has so much torque.

After I did multiple launches, I just popped the decklid to take a looksee at the motor and look it over (I don't have a head temp gauge installed yet) and I could TOUCH the top of the engine block and assorted bits.

It's all about the volumetric efficiency of a motor, the better you can get the air/fuel in AND out, the better that motor will run; not only power-wise but heat-wise. If you can get the heat out, it's going to run cooler.

Later,
Tom

FYI, thats one of the wonderful things about most TIV split duration cams.....they really blow the heat out the exhaust port! The 163/86B is a prime example of that.

I'll back Tom up on this one. We ran the hell out of his car one day, and while it was cooler out (about 60 degrees), it should have at least gotten somewhat hot. We get back, open the decklid, and I said, "Check the dipstick for temp" to see if we could touch it and how hot it would be. He pulls it out, hands it to me, and says "here". It was luke warm at best. So, we start touching case, barrels, heads, etc. Warm but nowhere near hot.

Now we are worried it is overcooling in cool temps. We'll see how summer and the track treats it. :)

Oh, and that's supposedly "ungodly" compression for a street driven aircooled motor (according to old logic).

I agree with Jake, he is on the money with this one, it's all about the combo.

Later,

G