Tony D

Yeah, they overcook it a bit. Any White-Superior, Nordberg, Cooper-Bessemer, Buda.... They are some real ground-pounders but are not normally 'moveable'... though in some cases I have seen Enterprise Engines in Big Tractors in the mines.

I would check with building codes and enforcement. Alteration of commercial parking structures can get into some fines. I worked at a place where they built beautiful offices in an open area similar to what you have---very robust over-code construction but wasn't permit-paid. Ended up tearing it all out. I think in the long run, a Chain Link with privacy curtian to block any eyes seeing through the fence is the best. Behind that you can do what you want once obscured. Don't think drywall is secure by a longshot. A quick kick and you're into the inside and pushing things out through the hole! With fence, you got to bring something to cut it with! No reason you can't go floor-to-ceiling with fence, either! (Code Permitting) Really it's sad you couldn't slide a container in there. A 45' high-cube would be obviously 45 feet long on one side, and 9'6" tall, so you would only need a short 'stub wall' up top to seal to the roof. The container would provide ample secure storage for the tools and even a car or two without cramping much floor space since it's only 8' 6" wide. You could stick it in through the door (if it's large enough) and move it on 1 or 2" diameter 10' sections of pipe for rollers till it was in position, then drop it on some 4X4's using a 6 ton floor jack. It would doubt it would be more than $3000 delivered. Don't know how that compares with other methods of 'walling it off' but it does provide an 'office space' so if you wanted a 'heated' work area, that could be it with the garage proper being for car storage and etc... Likely it wouldn't come under any codes that way, either. I'd really look into codes and what they will allow. The last thing you need is a code guy walking through or looking in an open doorway and saying "Hey, who pulled the permit for that, and when? Good Luck!

215 / 60 Split Moreno Valley-Riverside Did my time on the wash racks at Ft Irwin changing filters in water up to my waist... I had the compressed air service contract out there for a couple of years. Fun Fun Fun... But a better commute than going into freakin' OC on the 91 during rush hour!

The stock linkage for the mikuinis went to a pivot that mounted to the jet cover/float cover of the #3 carb. There was a short transfer linkage that connected these togehter to the crossbar. This is why I went throttle cable. Actually, it's not, i tried to braze the stock throttle linkage into the hole on the Mikuini piece, at which point I realized they had also made it from chrome plated brass. I discovered this as I poked the brazing rod into the 'red hot' linkage bit and promptly collapsed the arm of the damn thing. At THAT point I decided to use a quadrant I had and convert to a throttle cable.

I have called them, then put the car up on stumps and stripped the undercarrige. They weren't happy about that, but my spraypainting 'PYP CALLED FOR PICKUP 12/12/08' on both sides of the car kinda forced their hand. Left my wife with $40 and said "just play dumb and say 'it was complete when we pushed that damn thing out there last night! Kids in the neighborhood probably stripped it, it had nice aluminum wheels on it!' when they come to pick it up." It worked, they took it and didn't charge me. But I didn't get the $40 they said they would give me either! That thing weighed huge, I had filled in the interior of the car with old compressor elements (6 of them at 322# each!)and all sort of stuff from around the yard. My wife said they had problems getting it up on the back of the truck with their winch. They got a lot of scrap out of that one. Not many saleable parts, but LOTS of scrap---they can't complain!

Do the Ross Pistons come with Rings?

I believe the standard 'stroker' pistons are slipper skirted and have a 34mm pin height if the information on the Berg site is representative of the current industry trends. 87, 88, 90.5, 92, and 94mm pistons with a flat top and 34mm pin height and 22mm piston pin (full floater with circlips or teflon buttons.) I know the CIMA 90.5's are good for 100+ HP a hole and 8500rpms... Circlips retain the gudgeon pin: Gene's Thoughts on Pin Retention by Circlips

Do you see the price difference? Why buy cast for less than $300 a set? Or for that frame of reference: for less than $100 more, why not get the forged items. Also leaves it open at any time to split the case, slap in a big cam space the barrels and blow 25psi into it while twisting 8000rpms. Especially if you had the forethought to spend the $69.95 for the counterweighted crank that will allow you to go over 5500rpms without pounding the hell out of #3 Crank Web. There is a reason they dubbed me 'turbotony' back in Michigan. Take a 2liter (1915cc or 2110cc) twist the thing to 8000-8500 rpms with a 7:1 CR and pump 25psi into it sucking through a Holley 650 and see what you get...in a car that weighs 1200# (or a Bus that weighs 2315#. Somewhere around 300-350HP...more or less.) Anyway, air cooled engines traditionally had forged internals. My Corvair TRW slugs, every VW I ever built. Frankly I was shocked to see cast piston kits being offered these days for sizes other than stock. Oil control is more an issue based on jug wall thickness and going out-of-round when overheated. I never had oil consumption issues with forged pistons in a VW...they warm up pretty quickly compared to water cooled lumps. Stockers are limited to 5500 for the above reasons, but once you put that counterweighted crank in there, even a small set of Kadrons or ICTs, and have the ubiquitous Engle 110 cam in there, you quickly kick yourself if you didn't put that CW crank in there the way they start revving with even slight increases in carburetion. They are like an old 2.8 German Capri with that small carb on there...derestrict that intake and they start whizzing up in the RPM range. Far too easily... Oh, and there are apparently newer VW Water-Cooled engines that run an 83mm bore... but the pistons are priced accordingly to the water-cooled market. From Gene Berg.com: 85.5mm forged aluminum Cima pistons. For stock replacement, or use with our counterweighted and stroker cranks. (39.6mm pin height), case 90mm, head 93.8mm. (POTL) RW: 2/2/5. See Note A. approximately 7.3:1. SW 28# Yes, this is where I learned detonation blows cylinder heads off VW's and that is why they came up with 'case savers'... Yes, this is where I learned that boost and carburettors work juuuuuust fine if you can live with some quirks... Yes, this is where I learned that an 18 year old kid with an NIASE Patch and Cert can make decent money working on "Import" Engines in Michigan... Yes, I blew things up. Thank god the parts were cheap! (And, comparatively still are!) I'd suggest you look to the Berg set, they are cut/clearanced for counterweighted throws...and aren't the boring 'cylinder' style pistons like stock. Though doing this is pretty easy if you have access to a mill. I digress....

IMO the temperature switches are too high. If you want to run it that hot, get a 24psi cap for the radiator!

Find out what they will accept, they have been known to say 'no' if it's something that needs to be manhandled too much to get it on the truck.

Mine are forged at 87 mm and it's a '1641' kit...I don't buy the cast kits.

No, they are probably superior, but packaging is difficult as Drax pointed out, if you are not turboing it (even if you are), and it flies in the face of 'me too' marketing. Lot cheaper and easier to sell a large bore throttle body and cheaper to manufacture than a manifold!

In the other thread this contention was made: "but all of the successful turbo efi intakes ive seen have been of log design." As Drax pointed out above a plenum feeding the runners a non-turbulent airflow seems in theory and computer modeling to produce the best results. But several olde manifolds (including one from AZ Z-Car) used a log manifold (plenum) with a CENTER THROTTLE PLATE. That is a very different prospect than the 4 bbl manifolds being discussed. The center throttle plate used the plenum for air storage and runner charging. This does not happen in the 4 bbl setup. Additionally, port injection is good for EMISSIONS. Ideally the further you have the injection point from the back of the valve the more power you will get. F1 engines inject obliquely to the port wall above the throttle butterfly. The only reason OEM's went to port EFI is emissions, and cold running emissions at that! For performance the record is clear, atomize it right, and give it time to mix and tumble and you will be rewarded. Issues on the 4bbl setups which would be alleviated with port injection is (if you have a sophisticated enough EFI ECU) to tailor the individual cylinder mixture for the airflow variations which may be present.

If you have to ask about the price of an LY head, you can't afford one. Bare, last I saw in Japan, was upwards of $30,000US. I would likely posit the 5% number comes from a comparo against a comparably prepped non-crossflow FIA L-Head. Engineering-wise, that sounds about right. It doesn't change valve area appreciably, doesn't alter a properly ported L-Head intake valve approach angle much (compared, say to the FIA L-Head). Both LY and FIA have the most important addition to the L-Engine: adequate cooling flow to the head for high-specific output operation. In reality, that is the largest contributor to their desirability. You can make the power in a standard L-Head, but keeping it cool under sustained high load is a challenge. Most overcompensate with external bandaids, when infact, it's an internal engine engineering issue to get the engine cooled down properly... I digress...

Why is it stepped? Because in Toyota OEM applications that was a removable part. It allows the same venturis to be transferred from the stock 40PHH to a set of 44phh's that you put on the manifold after you port the head and manifold. Early 18RG and 2TG's used these carbs. I have a few with that removable venturi. Matter of fact, there is a set of them on a VARA 510 that I lent for the cause.... Horns you got sound like standard parts for a 44PHH.

Wasn't this asked earlier---with some Danish requirement for using the L24? Revving of the engine is totally dependent on the camshaft you select. Put an L24 Camshaft in an L28, it runs and revs like an L24, just with more power... Easiest displacement option to keep regulators and inspectors at bay is the L28 crank in your original block for 2600cc's displacment.

87mm is 1641, stock VW bores are 77, 83, and 85.5mm. Hmmmmm.... Usually two variations are available, those for use with strokes below 78mm, and those meant for strokes longer than 78 mm. If you could fit an 83mm piston in there...stock VW pistons cast are DIRT cheap---under $100 for a set! Forged probably incrementally more since 'stock class' off road racing drives that business and there are forged pistons out there. Did I mention 83mm pistons with flat tops are a stock VW piston setup? And they have dished pistons in that same bore size for the Mexican Beetles that ran on crap Pemex gas. The 40HP and 1500CC Type 1's were 83mm stock bore. 85.5mm is stock Type1 1600CC (85.5X69) Like I said, I've thought about it, just not had the time to do the last bits of checking on the particulars.

I am having a very hard time imagining this common part is not avaialble through Nissan---they are all over Japan and still in stock there. This is simply a matter of some phone calls or faxes to get the P/N and ordering them from the local Nissan Dealer. They will come from Japan, but these ARE available. They are also plastic, as the originals were. Crumbly in the sun plastic, just like the interior on the damn things.

Leopard? VG30DE / VG30DET, been done. No worries.

What is it with 'Fat old White Dudes'? Much maligned at some websites purportedly about performance, but when you get around real horsepower you always seem to see them hanging around? Why is that? That looks like a quad pack close-coupled V871T like they use in work boats. When I went to Harmonay Platform off Sta Barbara the seas were not good, and the only way I made it was by putting plugs and muffs on, going into the engine room and laying against that big quad on the mail boat. Went out like a baby. I love the rhythm of the Detroit 71 Series. It's like a heartbeat, and under a cyclic load riding up and down the waves it put me right to sleep. Good thing, too! They had great chili on Harmony Platform and I ate 6 bowls in anticipation of leaving by chopper. Leaving on the crew/mail boat in 22 foot seas was not on my horizon. The DEDEC kept my Chili Down!

Oh, PNP will not fall through, likely you will just have to pay them to haul it off. Usually $40. They only pay money for complete vehicles. If it's incomplete, you will pay to have it hauled off. Ask me how I know... "BUY?" If you have a title, you can GIVE it to me, I might come get it with my trailer. And buddy, that's going to be your only hope!

Someone has not 'read the book'! Reaming the small end for a bushing (thin wall bronze) is no different than a 22mm pin. When you consider most performance applications use a 22mm pin, and they bush the small end for THAT.... Reaming the small end of the rod for a steel-to-pin floater will be easily accomplished. All that remains to discover is pin height and then just how much you can cut off the skirts and under the head to lighten it up (if so inclined)--those Mhale pistons are probably some of the more expensive units out there as well. Really, for guys looking for CAST pistons, this might be a really good deal as well if the pin heights can be discovered. I know they are listed but don't have the time to pursue it right now.

Someone hear has the aforementioned vector set. He made his own gasket through a vendor and retains rights to the vector print since it was close to $1500 to get it set up the way he needed it (basically universal L28). There were other developments using that set of vector points as well. I must remain silent on this point. Sorry.

so you missed my post on 87mm VW Forged pistons with rings and 22mm full floater pins for $238 a set of four? Might be worth checking into...

The dyno owner, for the record, was NOT happy about me sneaking into the test bay to snap photos with the engine under load...or to take I/R readings on portions of the cooling system we couldn't instrument with RTD's...