18SS engine upgrade

[MartinB]

I am going down the route of upgading and have read the many postings on upgrades which has left me in asking these questions..

 

A new ECU is a must but where from and how much should I be paying.

 

Throttle bodies look nice and do the job. Who's do I use and how much. Should roller barrels be considered.

 

New cams are the next option and depending on the cost of the above are on the list as well as some minor head tweaking, but which ones to go for.

 

Hopefully this should get me up to 180+ bhp which I belive to be the limit without changing the head.

 

As I won't be attempting to do the work myself I would also like any recommendations for anyone who can do all the work under one roof and also do the rolling road.

[Swiss_Tony]

Or fit a proper engine..................wink.gif

 

James

 

[oilyhands]

On a 1.8K the limit is around 200-210 before considering a VVC/VHPD head or inserting the standard head for 32.5mm/27.3mm valves. The practical limit for bolt-ons that dont involve head work would be around 175BHP, this would be Piper BP285H cams with verniers which can use the existing followers, throttle bodies (Either Jenvey or PTP direct to head ones), and Emerald ECU or similar, a decent long 4-1 or 4-2-1 exhaust and a mapping session.

 

More than this will require head work, preferably using 29.5mm/26mm bigger valves in the existing head fully ported, using Piper BP285M (740) cams with the existing followers converted to solid.

 

This should give around 195-205BHP and with a rev limit of 7800 can utilise a stock bottom end.Forged pistons would be good at this level.

 

More than 210 will require steel bottom end, forged pistons, a VVC/VHPD fully ported head and hotter cams, at this level the cost per BHP escalates rapidly.

 

Rough costs are around £600 for the bodies, £500 for the ECU, £250 for the cams, £130 for the verniers, £200 for a set of big valves, £50 for springs, £40 for solid follower conversion, £400 for portingand a couplf of hun dred pounds for gaskets, seals and sundries. I'm not entirely convinced that barrel TBs offer much of an advantage at this level.

 

For more info try here

 

here

 

Oily

[MartinB]

Oily

 

Thanks for the info, backs up what I am already thinking of doing but in greater detail and it sounds like I might just get a bit more BHP than expected .

 

Where would you recommend going shopping or having the work done.

 

You mentioned the exhaust, at the moment I have a 4-1 Caterham race exhaust, is it worth changing and how much more power could I expect from another system.

[MartinB]

Oily

 

Thanks for the info, backs up what I am already thinking of doing but in greater detail and it sounds like I might just get a bit more BHP than expected .

 

Where would you recommend going shopping or having the work done.

 

You mentioned the exhaust, at the moment I have a 4-1 Caterham race exhaust, is it worth changing and how much more power could I expect from another system.

[MartinB]

Sorry for the double click but getting excited, thinking about more power.