2lt 16v engine build

[fafnova]

have decided on rebuilding my xe. so far have dedcieded on regal uprated rod bolts all new bearings,gaskets etc new piston rings port polished head new valves will put my kent cams with adjustble verniers in and a set of 45s(carbs) and a qaife lsd to finish it off. is there any parts you could also recomend me to change here so far ?? will be started on in next few weeks so any help much appreciated :wink:

[CP]

To do a worn bottom end properly to cope with modest power gains (upto 50 or so HP and revving not much more than 7500 or so rpm) you should consider the following:

1. If you haven't done any bottom end work be wary of piling in and doing it yourself. Whilst easy in principle practical experience is vital to get it right and reliable! Go to an auto-engineer and ask him questions
2. A worn block (the engineer doing the re-build can measure this for you) is one where the bores, rings, probably big end and main bearings are worn. This is evident from blue smoke out the zorst, noisey rattley engine components, piston slap, big end knocks, low oil pressure when warm etc etc. Take the block in and get it all tested.
3. Dont put new rings and do a hone in a worn block - you are just wasting your time. Whilst its apart sort it properly.
4. The engineers will measure all the wear and advise if the crank needs a re grind etc and what overbore the bores will need taking out to. This will mean new pistons and rings to match plus new bearing and seals for the crank. It will cost at minimum ?500 and probably a lot more.
5. You can go for standard oversize pistons - there will be a choice or you can specify forged ones. These are very expensive and only really necessary for highly tuned engines where detonation and piston wear and tear is excessive. Situations where you would might try them - raising the CR right up, using NOS, raising the revs up over 8000. A lot of people add them for peace of mind. The engineer will advise and supply. Might be worth phoning round once he's advised you the ones to go for as you may need to make sure you aren't being charged over the odds.
6. Balancing the crank isnt all that important in the modren vaux engines - they are fine as is for most applications. Production design and tolerances are good as std. Its a reliability issue more than anyhting so competition peeps do it to help keep it all together at prolonged high revs. The one thing worth doing if for reliability is having the conrods shotpeened and ARP bolts for the big ends. Shot peening essentially helps prevent micro cracks and areas of weakness near the surface of the edges of the metal developing into metal fatigue and component failure. ARP bolts are just much stronger.
7. If you are after a fair bit of extra power you ought to consider raisin the CR but this will increase costs a lot as the pistons may need re machining as well as the head milling down and the block decking.
8. For a bit more he will build the block up for you so when you get it back its all sorted properly if you are worried about your abilities to get it right.
9. Go on MIG and ask on there about your bottom end work - there's a lot of useful peeps on there who have done everything to a 2.0XE

[johnny27]

Incredible increase in accerlation and alot more power, go for the steel crank if your willing to fork out, and on top of that it can be lightened. Lightening a standard XE crank would'nt be adviseable since you going to have a lot of power anyhow with the head and so forth and it will put massive strain on a standard iron crank since they loose tensile when lightened. But the steel crank would definetly be worth it.

[nova_kev]

Lightened Flywheel?! Will help it to rev quickier. 8)

[johnny27]

lightened flywheel is good, but its a massive difference with a light crank

[Philsutton]

the flywheel will allow it to rev more freely, its easier an cheaper to do than the crank, just depends what you want to do.