Date: Tue, 6 May 2014 21:16:40 -0700
Reply-To: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Engine parts source
In-Reply-To: <53699D49.8020805@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
There are plenty of custom component builders who for a reasonable sum
will build you anything you want....You just need to do some measuring and
order up.
Scat makes stroker cranks to order and there are others. There are
custom piston makers, too and you can bore and sleeve blocks to any size
that will fit....When I did my Porsche 928V8 race motor, one of the class
requirements were it had to be normally aspirated...so we went with a
stroker crank and custom pistons with titanium con rods and 8 individual
throttle bodies.... All that took the HP to just below 600 from about
360hp stock and took the displacement from 5liters (appx) to 6.5
liters... It was just a matter of measuring parts and clearances and
ordering the crank in the proper throw, the rods in the right lengths and
the pistons with the proper configuration....
The simple way is just blow the motor or turbo it....that's the easy way
to more power, for sure.
Other guys in the performance 928 world got nearly the same HP using
superchargers, but they weren't competative due to classing....Turbo or
supercharged cars were run in separate classes...
The problem with making that much more power is that even though our
motors were incredibly dependable, they had too much torque for the
transmissions that were available...When you begin to up the power, the
next weakest thing breaks.....You upgrade that, and the next one down the
line breaks....
.We finally solved my racer's the transmission problem by cryogenically
treating the internals and de-tuning the motor to make less torque....and
by learning never to plant your right foot with the vehicle in too high of
a gear.....and to make certain to lift the throttle if the car ever got
airborne...12.5" of soft slick road race tires were capable of a lot of
grip when up to temperature...causing the input shaft to spin off the gear
teeth under sudden load...that didn't help the inside of the gearbox,
having all those pieces inside...
On Tue, May 6, 2014 at 7:41 PM, JRodgers <jrodgers113@gmail.com> wrote:
> Robert Lilley on this list a few years ago went through his WBX'er and
> Lilleyfied it to boost smoothness and performance. I don't remember all
> the details but part of the goal was to refine many of the systems, like
> porting and polishing, different kind of lifters. specials cam, polished
> oil pump ports, water pump, etc. He basically did a lot to reduce
> internal friction that robs horsepower - as well as increase HP output.
> Don't remember if he used a big bore kit or not. Not sure that is what
> he was after. I seem to remember that he anticipated a 15 to 30 hp
> increase but I'm not certain about that. Dunno what happened to him or
> the project.
>
> John
>
> On 5/6/2014 8:07 PM, Tom Carchrae wrote:
>
>> On Tue, May 6, 2014 at 11:49 AM, TJ Hemrick <x53gunner@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Does anyone know the source for striker cranks or big bore kits that some
>>> of our trusted vendors offer? Back when I was strictly an air cooled
>>> guy,
>>> I knee these things, the sources for wasser boxers, is, as you all know,
>>> a
>>> much smaller market.
>>>
>>>
>>> You could go back to the aircooled days and convert your van to an
>> oxyboxer: http://www.shoptalkforums.com/viewforum.php?f=37
>>
>> I just rebuilt my bottom end (84) and I agree that there are not as many
>> providers. I was told because, unlike AC, the WBX engine does not need
>> rebuilding so frequently. Hah. I'm not sure that is entirely true as
>> mine
>> needed it - it had a cracked thrust bearing. But I guess 30 years is a
>> reasonable bottom end rebuild time - the dates were stamped on the cam
>> bearings. Happy 30th to my van, have some fresh bearings.
>>
>> I suspect one of the reasons there are less mods for the WBX is the added
>> magic of fuel injection and digital circuits. Even if they are stone age,
>> you'd need to reckon with the digital brain as well as making mods, and I
>> think that bamboozles most. Never mind the fact that who would need more
>> than the smoking 100bhp afforded by the 2.1 wbx.
>>
>> I have ordered pushrod tubes from http://www.cbperformance.com/ and I
>> think
>> I'd like to track down some new-and-not-$200 injectors at some point as
>> well. It is all a bit black magic and lots of research to find out what
>> may or may not work. And it seems most people get frustrated and try and
>> transplant a modern engine in instead.
>>
>> Tom
>>
>>
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