Building a Motor, how to figure out what you can do...

Books--Plenty.

Vogelin's "How to blueprint the small block Chevy"; Smokey Yunick's "Power Secrets", all the "How to Rebuild_(name your marque)", Bill Jenkin's Book on Chevies, etc., etc. are all good and relevant not withstanding the prejudice to SBC(s).

Any "Hot Rod" magazine or "Circle Track" racing mag that features some kind of engine build story are good resources. So is "Hot VW(s0".

Shop Manuals are simply a necessary tool.

How to tune and modify build "short blocks", "cylinder heads", " ignition systems", exhaust systems, etc. etc. are also good.

Go to a Barnes and Nobles and knock yourself out.

All stress the same thing--clean, crack test , balancing, cleanliness, assembly lube, cleanliness, taping bolt holes, cleanliness, necessary tools, etc.

Keep it clean!! All the rules applicable to a pro-built SBC, whether for drag racing or oval track racing, apply to our motors.
 
I would also try and learn more about your motor. Find out what mods will give you the biggest bang for your buck. Jeff's porting was huge for him, on a Miata it didn't do squat. ECU tuning not that important for some? HUGE on a Miata that runs crazy rich at high RPM.

Know your enemy, strike the weak spots first.
 
You may in fact be right; I just would hate to find out the hard way that I was pushing it too long! With the noted exception of the valve stem seals. Do VW's have the same problem? Can you guys get teflon ones? They shouldn't be all that different...

Very interesting to hear about the VW CR issues...[/b]
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I'd guess that VW, Porsche and Audi stem seals are all the same. For VW, yes, we can get Teflon (white), but I wouldn't recommend them since NO oil gets by to lube the guides. The black rubber ones simply can't take the heat in an IT engine (or many street engines for that matter). There are some reddish brown ones that come in some otherwise high-quality gasket sets -- they're better than the black but still not best IMHO (although I'll still use them in a pinch). The best bet is the Viton (usually green seals) -- they can take the heat but still lube the guides and last for years.

On the VW CR issues, there is some disagreement over certain specs. For IT, we usually have to follow the Bentley (factory authorized) shop manuals and add 0.5 to that. Some actual CRs were otherwise spec'ed 0.1 to 0.2 higher (and listed more correctly in other non-official manuals). In addition, there are apparent differences between engines originally built in different locations (perhaps they weren't all checking CR the same way). Some of those did often have lower compression by 0.1 to 0.2. I don't think that would apply to Audi, though, since the Audi engines were all built in the same place, AFAIK.
 
Thanks for the info, Eric. Unfortunately, my headgasket sets all come with green ones, so presumably they are the Viton seals. Sounds like I'd better get w/ Childs over the winter and try to figure out why we keep shredding them... unless my installation method has been lousy (quite possible, takes a little technique, and I think I did a better job this time around)...
 
Thanks for all the help everyone... Holding off on racing my car again this season, so you will likely see a much improved engine department in the Audi next season (Watch our Dave!!!)... I Would have liked to go to ARRC but as you can probably see I havn't had much time with the new jobs and what not...

Still open to the idea of going to the ARRC with my brothers car/truck/and 2 car enclosed trailer IF someone wants to join in sharing the travel expenses...

Also we will be at the Last Chance Enduro at the Glen in a few weeks!!! Canover... bring it, you will love the track, and the competition!!!

Raymond
 
Yeah, I know Ray. You Audi already equaled mine down the back straight without a full engine build, actually you pulled me considerably with your torque at first then I was able to catch up. Becareful not to go too fast or we might have to get you into ITA where you can be competitive. :unsure:

Btw, there's no "d" in my last name. (other post)
 
I don't know Vaughn, it seemed like your car and mine were very equal on the back straight. I was quite impressed with the power your car had. Then there was that BMW who was just blew me away on the straight.
 
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