Anyone got any good ideas for me to build myself a fast cvh? Which road to go down?

 

Depend on what power you ultimately want to achieve ?

 

Thinking 200-250bhp. But want safe reliable engine is possible

 

A lot of other factors are required as well as the engine itself, turbo, management, clutch, intercooler etc etc, this all needs factoring in.

 

Well this is kinda my question. I've got a large front mount, brand new stage one turbo technics turbo. Need to know what cams are good for power and what head work to have done etc. Best rods and Pistons to use??? Injectors?? Do I use pressure regulators?

 

Reliable CVH's are hard to come by these days, even newly built... but if you do want to build one then for your target power you need a standard engine, a chip a clutch and a stage 2 T3 (.36/50), then just hope your MFI can fuel reliably.
Cam, head work, rods and pistons are not needed, if you think you'll want more power later on then of course that's different, on top of them you'd need EFI management and injectors to have any hope of it staying in tune too.

 

What year is your CVH?

 

Well the car is 1989, so I presume the engine is the same

 

For 250bhp all you need is a turbo and a chip.not a chance.
My s2 had a bayjoo chip,mongoose exhaust,pro alloy front mount,uprated actuator,modified metering unit,Kent cam,low miles solid good running engine with correct compression,bleed valve instead of the Amal valve and that made 194 bhp atw on Ava's dyno back in 2005.
I asked why other rs turbos with an exhaust and chip were claiming to be well over 200 bhp and was told simply "they are lying" and my engine was putting out really good power for essentially a standard engine and if I wanted more it would be a zvh or something apart from a 1.6 cvh with standard internals.
If anybody's 1.6 cvh with a turbo and chip are making dyno figures of over 200 bhp then the dyno needs calibrated.

 

if your set on a cvh then get the forged rods/pistons because you will want more power in the future, and 250bhp reliably wont be possible on std internals. may aswell get the basics covered first. then you will want a good managment setup, mfi is really stretched when its heading towards 200bhp. of course you maybe lucky and have an mfi system that can fuel for 230bhp without breaking a sweat but you will allways be questioning wether its gonna fail anytime soon. a good intercooler, radtec or grs will keep intake temps cool. a stage 3 t3 will be good for upto 300bhp. ported cylinder head and a good cam. the thing with cams is getting one made from good material as much as anything. seems to only be a few manufactures capable of delivering the goods these days. or you could drop in a zetec and bolt a turbo on, add a bar of boost and you have a solid 250bhp relatively cheap. a forged zetec with the appropiate bits will do 400bhp quite easily

 

I was thinking of going down the zetec route, but then you start to loose originality and that lovely 'rs' exhaust gurgle

 

I think I'll just build a strong cvh, and include all the right factors. And hope the meter unit can keep up!

 

That's not what I said....

His target BHP is 200-250, a .36/50 will do 230bhp at a push so bang in the middle of what he wants, a stock cam will happily do that as will stock ports, pistons, rods, etc, he already has an intercooler and I assumed an exhaust as that goes without saying along with an air filter.
He asked what he needed for his new engine build... that is all he needs.

An old engine with literally just a chip and bigger turbo will be lucky to make 160bhp as the intercooler will hold it back

 

You will lose originality but you'll gain reliability, response, economy and the exhaust sounds the same if using the RST manifold, turbo and exhaust.
But I know what you mean, it's nice to see a CVH under the bonnet, just not many holding together well these days.

 

Ok so I'd go with:
Wossner pistons (stock CR)
PEC rods
ARP bolts
Ford/Payen head gasket
Newman Cam & solid lifters
NMS head work (bigger valves optional for your target bhp)
AP Racing Organic Clutch CP2000-35 and MK5 pedal mod
Stage 3 T3 .48/55
Custom inlet and exhaust manifolds always help

This engine will be good for 300bhp+ but you will be very lucky if the old MFI can fuel for what you want (200-250) and stay in tune too.

 

Let's not mix up the measurements here, 194 BHP atw (at the wheel) relates to around 225 BHP at the flywheel once you factor in transmission loss. I'm guessing the 200-250 he is after is a flywheel figure.

You have to remember that a rolling road (aka an engine brake) can only give you an at the wheel measurement and give you a best estimate at the flywheel power factoring a transmission loss. Hence why it is Brake Horse Power (deduced from an engine brake reading) not Horse Power (factual output).

I currently run a stage 1 T3 which is my limiting factor, I only run it at 10psi. My car makes 162 BHP at the flywheel but only 132 BHP at the wheel. The general figure people throw around is the flywheel figure.

Lee

 

So is this a proven formula?

 

Sorry,just read that again,I meant 194 bhp ATF,roughly 160 atw.
And a standard cam won't do 200bhp ever.

 

My old RST ran standard boost, fmic, exhaust and filter and she made 144BHP atw. I take BHP figures that people throw around with a pinch of salt unless there's proof (proof which I have for both of my claims!)

Lee

 

my old engine made 175 atw on a completely stock engine, a stage 3 t3 (.48/55 trim) with a bar of boost

 

The op is aiming for 250 bhp and a standard engine and mfi system won't do those numbers,not on an accurate rolling road anyway.
Tuning a cvh turbo is a very well trodden and documented path and if it was as easy and cheap as bolting a turbo,exhaust,filter,fmic and chip to 1 then every cvh would be a 200 bhp + monster as nearly every rs turbo has that spec nowadays.

 

Sure op said 200-250?????

 

He did.

Lee there's a big difference in what's needed for a reliable 200bhp and what's needed for a reliable 250bhp as I explained a few posts back, the mods you mention above if fitted to a freshly built standard engine will happily do 200bhp if his metering unit is in good order (unlikely these days though of course).