1.6 8v & 16v Bottom end

[NovaNeil]

I heard some rumours that the bottom end of the 16vXE 1.6 is the same as the older Nova 8vSE Engine. Is this true? And does it mean that I can use 16v Rods in the 8v.

Also is there much point fitting uprated rod bolts to my standard rods? Beings as im running 80%+ more power than standard would it be advised? Or is the standard bolt only as good as the Rod?

Last question. Can you get uprated Shell bearings for the 8v and would they too be the same as the 16v?

Cheers

[Dicko]

just use the whole 16v bottom end as i did :)

not sure if it raised compression but was certainly faster :)

[NovaNeil]

So the 16v block bolts straight on to the 8v head?
What about things like the Water pump and Alternator? Are they in the same position? And do the water jacket holes and things line up?

Cheers

[Dicko]

yup the same. you will need some bits off the 8v, such as waterpump, bottom pulleys, tensioner, alt bracket. the waterways line up perfect

[NovaNeil]

Excellant! I'll look into doing that in the future then :P
What else can you do to the bottom end to make it more reliable at high power? Harden the crank? Better bearing?
Thanks for your help.

[cmatty]

Neil I've been thinking the same thing about the 8v and 16v bottom ends. If they are the relatively the same then whats stopping 8v owners going to SBD and asking them to build the same bottom end they use on their 9000rpm 200bhp+ TBd 1.6 16v engines?

[Dicko]

prob is the costs and compression ratios.
i would advice arp bolts (?60) and some new bearings. (?120) for main+big, dont get cheap bearings they wont last a week.

if you do anything else it gets VERY expensive. uprated crank would be looking at ?1200+, steel rods are about ?600-?800

[NovaNeil]

Oh dear, i've got those cheap bearings in at the moment. I'll get some good stuff next rebuild.
ARP Bolts ?60? Do you mean head bolts or Rod bolts Dicko because im ordering some SBD uprated rod bolts but I was going to use standard head bolts.

[beghy]

ARP Rod bolts ARE ESSENTIAL FOR ANY HIGHLY MODIFIED ENGINE.

U NEED IT MATE

[NovaNeil]

Are those what SBD sell? ARP?

[Dicko]

close enuf ;)

ye use vuax head bolts!!

[NovaNeil]

Just ordered some ARP Rod bolts from SBD (?64) and some copper uprated Main bearings also from SBD for ?86.

[Dicko]

cool

those bearings and decent and should last :)

and the bolts are good for more than youl need/use ;)