I do respect your opinions and advice but I am trying to reconcile it with all the information I have been reading. For instance on John Maher's website he explains the rational of building the engine with the 90.5 x 82mm bore. I get that cooling is an issue but if a professional engine builder who has a good reputation in the business and website is explaining it as good I am trying to understand where you are saying he is wrong. He states: "This is the first in a series of articles that will cover the design and build of a 2110cc Type 1 engine. The overall aim of Project 2110 is to provide a good combination of power, torque, driveability and most importantly, reliability. This particular engine design is something I’ve been working on and refining over several years. It’s perfectly suited for use in a split or bay bus, where the emphasis is on delivering strong torque across a wide rpm range, sufficient power to run 16 second ETs at the drag strip, return decent fuel economy and handle long, fully loaded road trips with ease." John Maher Racing » Project 2110: part 1 | Introduction I am not looking to go fast and I know that I will still be limited to about 65mph cruising max on long journeys, and yes that irritates me but I have to accept it, but if I am going to go to the expense and effort of a new case and parts I th0ught it would be sensible to go bigger rather than just an extra 176cc.
The website is John Meyer Racing and the emphasis is on engines for racing, always was – note he says ‘sufficient power to run 16 second ETs at the drag strip’. And as far as I know he never finished project 2110. Sure, you can use a 2110cc type 1 engine in a bus but you’ll need to watch cylinder head temperature and avoid the temptation to drive at (relatively) high speed. And an expensive 2110cc seems at odds with your wish to build a good reliable engine that will not cost a fortune.
but a 2110 WILL cost a fortune. I cant see you getting out of parts, including everything from carbs to clutch to exhaust, for under $10,000 Aus (~ 5k pounds - dont have the right symbol here) CB 2110 is almost $6k US and that is basically a long block https://www.cbperformance.com/product-p/1183.htm
Jake Raby camper special 2.2litre type4 for only a snip under $25k . Personally I’d only go Type4 convert it to upright cooling if you want Type 1 looks . Better , stronger and more reliable over a type1
Research what you’d need to build a 2110cc and price up the parts. We don’t know what you’d like to reuse from the original engine but it won’t be much. Twin 36 DRLA carbs will work but are really too small, the 123 distributor, assuming it has vacuum advance, will be fine. You can use the original alternator and cooling fan and unless you want to sell the long block also the rocker covers and maybe the rockers and flywheel but just about everything else will need to be replaced. Crankcase, crankshaft, conrods, pistons, cylinders, heads, camshaft, followers, pushrods and tubes, clutch, oil pump, oil cooler, exhaust etc. A Subaru conversion might not be more expensive but it looks like you have already made up your mind so keep us informed – I love engine build threads.
yes - gone are the days of the late 1990’s when you could buy a beetle or kombi for a few $100’s. what cam should I use ? What jets do I need? Can I run x.x CR? Do I need dual springs? Why is my 1600 a dog after putting a 2” exhaust on? All to dear now to experiment with high compression ratios and the like. Cant afford the failures. I do hope you go ahead with the build though
With an oil cooler, I can maintain 65mph on flat roads with a 1641 without cylinder heads getting very hot or high oil temperatures. Going slightly uphill that speed has to drop because temperatures start to climb. Despite the air fuel ratio being about 12.5:1 with a stock ignition timing curve. By modern standards its still slow, there are hills on the M4 that get it down to 50mph.. The only 2110 I have seen in a bus close up had expensive 043 style cylinder heads..which had needed new valve guides in the past and which had a loose valve seat by the time I saw it.
Okay. My mind isn't made up I just found after searching and reading quite a few threads about 1776cc engine builds there was a strong bias to make it a stroker engine. Also when I go to VW shows or look at engine builders on ebay they advertise high capacity type 1 engines. So it seems a type 1 2110cc is not the way forward, which gives me more questions. 1. Is there any size stroker crank that I could/should fit that would work and be minimal work to accommodate? 2. Is a 1776cc worth it or is a 1641cc more sensible given that nothing needs machining, is that extra 135cc worth the effort? 3. Given the risks associated with buying a used engine case to machine (including my own experience of an internally corroded wrecked case) and then the cost of machining (not sure how much or where to go in the south west) is a new machined case by Auto Linea as sold by VW Heritage sensible and worth the extra cost or would it still work out much cheaper to try and find a used case to have machined? 4. What spec is a sensible 1776cc engine to build, I would have my 36DRLA carbs, 123 ignition, get a decent exhaust, what else should I consider buying over a stock components I would have, and what cam and valve size? 5. Is it worth getting the crank, flywheel, clutch plate and pulley dynamically balanced? thanks for all the help
I believe the "stroker" designation usually refers to using crankshafts with more than the stock 69mm throw .. The thing is there are two different markets for the T1 engine- The shiny one is pushing a light Beetle around where basically the higher it revs the faster it goes. Here, making a 2332cc engine can result in excellent times on the drag strip - delivering several hundred horsepower for 10 or 20 seconds. They dont even always connect the fan belt for cooling as the engine can store the heat produced. And the second market for the T2 Bus where a two tonne-ish blob is pushed along by an overworked undercooled engine, where for various reasons people prefer to make the engine rev lower than designed when delivering power giving two layers of undercooling - the designed in one from the cooling fan and the use of lower ratio " Freeway Flyer" gearboxes to reduce engine RPM. If you are cruising the flat part of LA from Anaheim to Huntingdon Beach, you can use a Freeway Flyer... The thing is that the 1641 has 73cc more than stock 1568cc which is 4.4% .. and the 1776 has 208cc more than stock or 13.2%. The 1641 difference with stock can be exceeded by just putting a better exhaust and dual carburettors on the stock engine, and using a decent distributor. As you propose for a 1776 also. The only reason I have a 1641 is it costs exactly the same as a 1568 to buy pistons and cylinders. The 1776 is noticeably more powerful and as some people have discovered, the reason their "stock" engine was faster and hotter running was that it was in fact a 1776. Really all you need is to machine stock heads and the engine case for the larger diameter cylinders of a 1776. If you go for bigger capacity you need to believe the cylinder head temperature gauges and back off the power if the temperatures start to climb.. And because the engine sucks air faster, producing more vacuum to suck fuel, some carburettors will have very similar main jetting as really they are designed for even bigger engines .. like my Progressive which appeared on a 2800cc Ford Granada. so it is actually fiddly to tune with a smaller engine.
A 1904cc uses a 74mm crank and 90.5’s and is a nice little motor. But………. If you want to get into numbers, and things like rod ratios the 69mm crank is the nice one with stock beetle con rods Same with the 1800 T4 motor that used the 66mm crank. My engine building mate always uses the 1800 as a base for hi po T4’s. In my opinion I would get the case opened for 88mm machine in cylinders and get a nice cam. A bit of head work, an exhaust, counter weighted forged crank and you will have an easy build that gives some nice torque
I,m just in the process of building a 1776 and why well to give me a bit more power and the extra torque for those hills, with all the extra weight of camping gear these are heavy busses. The cae and heads are going off next week to be machined and the crank may need a regrind or a polish, cost around £450. I could go for a 3 cut valve job but thats extra so will probably get a mild polish. standard cam or engle 110 depends whats available. I spoke to@paulcarf some years ago about his 1776 builds and his right up about the builds was very interesting. These busses arn't designed to go 90 miles an hour and braking 100 yards away in anticipion of somebody pulling out in front of you. Also going full flow mod.
Good move on the polish. The 3 angle cut is a good move. Well, they did a 5 angle on my heads when the build happened. I would step up on the cam. or consider 1.4 rockers on the stock cam I have these in my T25
Really enjoying this thread. Most of it is way over my pay grade but next time I’m sat around a camp fire with a Stella or two on board, I’ll be regurgitating all these figures and pretending I know what I’m rattling on about. I’m running a sprightly 1641 with twin 34s a stainless vintage speed and stock ignition. Works great for me and I enjoy driving it now I’ve sorted the rocker gear snapping issues. I also have a 2L type 4 sat under the bench getting dusty that I was gonna fit but never did, then I was gonna sell but didn’t really get round to it, and there’s an angry 1776 that is supposed to be a bit of a mover all plumbed up ready to fit either a cooler or a remote filter to his little pipey bits just sat on a little trolley filling another gap in my garage decorations . Looks the part though sat in between my stack of camping firewood and my mig welder and my prototype Stella dispenser cabinet. Might have to have a clear out soon. I seem to have collected a few engines, a few gearboxes, untold numbers of barrels and pistons under another bench and a silly amount of heat exchangers. So do me a favour guys and gals. Ozziedog,,,,,,,,,,,don’t let me buy anything else
A three angle valve job is worth doing. I've got an Engle 110 in my 1776, and it's fine. Don't want anything too drastic. With twin Dells, not a ball of fire but definitely moves the bus along pretty briskly
I would stick with stock pushrods/rockers/springs. For normal use, my engine builder advised against anything fancy. If the folk doing the heads are competent - if - worth relieving the heads a bit on the outer side of the valves. Just removal of a smidge of metal for better gas flow. They need to be competent tapping for a full flow filter as well - easy to mess the case up.
