Cams and head work

Since the shell is painted now and the engine is going to be coming closer to needing stripping, I've been wondering what to do with it, I think I'd like to bin the kjetronic and get some sort of throttle body set up, also fit some race cam and get some head work done, bigger valves etc, does anyone have any first hand experience of these processes? Or some pointers. 
 Thanks 

Why ditch the KJet, I don't understand (or you didn't say).

paul_c said

Why ditch the KJet, I don't understand (or you didn't say).

Well it's a bit old hat, it's been sat for ten years I'd need to replace most of the lines I'd think. 

Throttle body's look nice, sound nice, 

My engine bay has had the brackets for the kjet removed by previous owner 

Could do some tuning. It's be fun!

I haven't done any serious stuff but I have had all my heads skimmed, new seats, valves and springs plus the 3 wedge thing done to the valves.

Made an improvement. Or perhaps it's just psychological………    

Ian

Yes Ian that's kinda what I am looking to do, just make it breath a little easier and free up one or two old horses. 

Deffo go and have a chat with a local engineering company if you have one nearby.

I took an engine that I bought that 'has been cleaned up and new piston rings fitted and some other stuff I've done. Its all really good'  nope it hadn't. Bores were scored, wrong piston rings, oil seal on inside out!

If I'd of tried to use it it wouldn't have been good.

I'd recommend experts for engine stuff  

Ian

I know you say head work but you also say injection system is a bit old and therefore need to refresh.

If you have the money the this is my advice for what it is worth.

Get the bottom end checked out as more power means more pressure on the whole engine. Need to make sure big ends and mains are good shape. Have the crank measured and ground if necessary. No need for upgrades here unless you really want to push the power. Just new shells and piston rings. Home the bores and replace all the oil seals.

I would not lighten the flywheel as it makes it run a little lumpy at idle or at least my old mk1 Astra used to many years back.

Get the head lightly skimmed just to be sure for reassembly. Polished and ported inlets and outlets matched to the inlet and outlet manifolds.

Tri cut valves is nice not sure if oversized valves is a a good idea on these engines never looked into it.

Now if going to carbs then speak to a cam supplier about what would be the best pairing. Some cams will work better than others. I would go for a fast road cam or stage two maybe. Different manufacturers have different profiles so all depends. Piper or Kent are a good shout here.

Because you have had the head skimmed and putting on carbs fit a vernier cam pulley so you can retard it a little to compensate for the head skim.

Carbs do look nice agree but can be a pain in the rear to set up. Make sure there is a local tuner near you. You will become close friends over time as you get it set up every year obviously with all the head work and improvements you can have carbs with a little larger jets as you will be sucking in more air that means more fuel and a bigger bang. Now here is a little issue with the carb set up is a nice supply of fresh COLD air. Cold air is denser than hot air and this means more oxygen and an even bigger bang. The top of the engine bay is hotter than the bottom and carbs are just behind the rad. May want to consider some internal venting and ducting to feed air to the carbs.

Now you have to get rid of all that hot air and gas. No point working on the head and having a standard exhaust. So 4 branch tubular steel system is needed into 2 and then single pipe. Unless you go for some cool side pipes. Personally I would go for 2.5 inch but the choices are endless.

Don’t forget the fuel pump. Make sure you have a good quality one that can keep up with the needs of the carb set up.

Also all that work is no good without a spark. Good ignition set up is my knowledge on electrics is even worse than it is on engine upgrades so I won’t go there.

Now where did I leave my £5000 to do all this work to mine.

Good luck and if you can do this it should be a strong but still reliable motor.


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