getting the most power possible out of a 1400!!

[greg1.4]

me and my dad are building a 1400 nova engine.. it will more than likely be getting used for rallying.

i am wanting it to be quick as possble

if i go for the 1400 8v option which will probably be cheapest and i know alot a fair bit about them engines i would be doing the following.
Piper BP300 cam kit,
alloy vernier pulley,
1400 SRI head
Webber 40 DCOE's on GSI/GTE manifold,
4 branch manifold (for which model would be best though? sr/sri/gsi??)
full competition exhaust system,
ARP rod bolts

its the bottom end i am stuck on though. would be doing more but i dont know enough about, so please help..

i have heard of bigger pistons or boring out etc? what is the maximum overbore i can have? what pistons do i need? what else will i need for this to work?

what else can i do to recieve the maximum out of my engine?

and what sort of torque/bhp would i be looking at?

oh and what bottom end is best?? 1400 spi or sr? or are both bottom ends the same?

cheers

Greg

[greg1.4]

now for the 16v, i know nothing about these engines..

what mods could see me with alot of power out of these engines?

is there a certain 1400 16v engine to go for? corsa sport is the one i know of?? what else do they come in and which is best?

i would like to fit my twin carbs as i love them..ha ha. do i bassicly get rid of all injection and fit a manifold and carbs with a different coil/dizzy?

what setup do i need and from what car do i need to run 40's with a 1400 16v?

i take it kent/piper will do cam kits for these engines also..

is there a big advantage with thses over the 8v?

please list a few things i could do to the 16v engine as i know fcuk all about them..

thanks in advane,

Greg!

[Stuart]

on the 8V front you are likely to spend a lot of time at very high revs so the lifters might lose interest regularly.

I suggest opting for a solid profile cam and getting a solid lifter conversion (you can either pay for it or make the solids yourself by welding up the std lifters and shimming to suit)

have a read of my 1.4 tuning guide.. its not the be all and end all but it should point you i the right direction.

[Adam]

I hate threads like this,Lol.
"most power", its entirely dependent on budget, and any class rules you have to stick to.

Hell, you could see over 200bhp from a 1.4 8v, with enough time/money.

Your 1400 8v spec sounds good for about 110-115bhp.
1400 16v is your other choice, they are more tuneable than the 8v, but it costs more to tune them. For instance a set of new cams is ?300-?400 alone.
Twin carbs would need ignition management, and thatwould neep mapping.
Best option is forged pistons, arps/ 288-300 cams, throttle bodies and management, big exhaust manifold and system. But that list is getting easily towards ?2000 in parts.

[greg1.4]

oh, looks like it will be a 8v then..

i would like to see 140/150 bhp though! what kind of things will i need to do for this?

cheers
Greg

[Stuart]

solid lifters, a hard ass cam (see catcams.be for some scary specs), a bullet proof bottom end and some carbs + mappable ign ideally for 140-150bhp from a 1.4

[CP]

If you are going to compete rallying you need to have a good look at the appropriate rule book first!

Most of the rally boys have engines made by a few well known names and the big thing is bullet proof reliability. You should talk to them and find out whatever you can about the accepted wisdom.

The one thing you definitely will need is an effective and very reliable rev limiter as over revving is a major cause of destroyed engines.

You should aim for the best torque figures you can get - hp without torque will leave you bogging on slow gut lugging corners where your gearing might not be ideal. Make sure you match the power curve and your gear ratios as best you can so you can stay in the peak torque part of the curve as much as possible.

You will probably be able to use higher octane fuel so you should look to raise the CR and tune the ignition timing to suit. This will be ok for the engine as it will run pretty much flat out all the time but you will need to carefully check clearance tolerances before getting any machining done. Consider blue printing if allowable mods are limited.

Larger valves and correctly flowed head will compliment whatever cam you decide to fit and get the best out of it. All exhaust and inlet parts should be carefully matched. Ideally a modified head from a recognized rally tuner will give best results.

Ultimately it will depend on attention to detail and you need to make sure that you have uprated items throughout where necessary like the cam belt etc etc. The abuse incurred during rallying is immense -reliability and durability is paramount above maximum hp performance.