Aircooled VW South Africa

Hi
I like that angled plug mod very much Porsche did that on the 914 to cure head leaks as that is the thinnest part of the head moving the plug gives more "meat" in this area
Is that cast aluminium cylinders?
Armand

Hi IMPI

You know - I was totally ignorant about the whole Nickies vs other NIkasil cylinders fight that was going on over the internet when I bought these. I now know the Nickies are billet and these QSC ones are cast. So strength wize they are not the same. I am still going to give them a try and see if I can make it work.

Getting pistons was a hassle, but I found a company in USA willing to supply JE pistons. After measuring the inside bore of the cylinders, I got them as 101.9mm, so they are supplying me according to that bore size.

I'll tell you, I'm awake at night with worries (piston set was R8000.00). I PRAY the piston/bore clearance will be alright.

Best
Mario

If your pistons alone were R8000-00, I really don't want to know how much the rest of the motor costs

Type 4 baby, Porsche spec, Porsche Price

I believe JE racing pistons will cost the same for type 4 and type 1 - they are not ONLY for type 4 - used in V8s as well if I'm not mistaken

Got the pistons today!!





Measured the cylinder/piston clearance - 0.08mm. All looks good. (JE recommends 0.07mm as min)

Moly coated and compression height of 29.5mm (1.16 inch) Total seal top ring, limited interference top land, double oilers as well if I remember correctly.

Now I can go and sleep - been awake now for 30 hours.

How about those 96's I might be able to take them over?
BTW a billet is just a big chunk of cast metal.
if those cylinders were centrifugally cast they just might be a whole lot stronger than those billets! The other point about those nicely machined parts: unless all the cuts finish in curves there will be lots of little stress riers at each sharp edge which could also spell trouble. I personally think a lot of the so called wisdom about things on forums are by people who really dont have a clue. I see you are paying modern vw prices for your parts LOL
Armand

Nice parts, hope it is a success.

Its pure porn, lovely

Thanks everyone

IMPI - I send the 96mm pistons back for a refund. They had 22mm pins, so couldn't be used on type 4 conrods.

Mario

AirPower, I think you basically hit the nail on the head. It is not the fact that Jake's business is a scam or whatever you want to call it. IT is just that SA (and I am sure for that matter Aus and NZ) aren't on the right continent. AC technology has come a long way, and so has the market for spares, but it is still not big enough(if you compare it to the V8 HotRod/Harley Davidson scene). And therefore, if someone or some business is in it just for the scam, they will be ratted out VERY quickly and before you know it, they will have to close doors. Contrary to all the hate out there, the fact that Raby is still around(and actually advancing in the AC <well..., T4> field) says enough. Sure, a single person can not be liked by EVERYONE. We dont live in Eutopia! It is just such a big problem getting parts from the US to anywhere else for that matter! And that makes it difficult for all of us. Hell, even here in France it is difficult to source decent stuff. Here, NOTHING is made local. And NOBODY is interested in making custom parts. It is just too difficult and complicated

i have a friend who is an "authorized JE Piston supplier"(have only ever got pistons for bikes from him ) wonder if that would have made a difference getting stuff thru him ? maybe next time someone needs je stuff we should 1st give him the prt no's and see

Hey splifan, thanks for the offer. I'm not sure if he'll get them cheaper - these pistons where custom made to order which is why they were more than off the shelf items $$$ wise, but I'll keep that in mind.

ZeroAxe (are you related to tripple X?) . I'm definitely not saying his parts are inferior (I bought some), just very expensive and for the money I spent there I expected a little more help from him and not the blind shoulder he turned on me. That left me panicking big time. I also think there is a market here in SA for these type of performance parts if the price can be kept low enough. We've got some very knowledgeable engineers in this country.

All the best
Mario

AirPower wrote:
The long and the short of it is that after some arguments with Jake Raby about the small pistons, he ORDERED me to return my own property to him for a refund and then promptly refused to sell me the correct size because I didn't buy the NIKASIL cylinders from him or LN Engineering.

After seeing the quote below on his forums, it makes a lot of sense how this dude thinks

You might have paid for it, but thats MY engine.

Having built a highly modified T4 myself, I can understand all these frustrations you are going through. I used Volkspares to import the majority of my spares with Bugger sourcing some of it for me. After going through all the pains, I've said "never again". Next time I'm building a T1, easier to source, and cheaper.

Good luck with your project, it's looking awesome.

p.s. Have you considered ceramic coatings in the ports, exhaust, etc.? In my opinion it makes quite a difference. Also twin spark / wasted spark adds lots of horses. Just a pity the bottom plugs are so expensive and tricky to change.