VVC head conversion

[steviej]

This may be a been there, done that for some but, I have been gathering parts over the winter as a project to up the power my standard S2, I found a vvc head with a couple of bent valves on flea bay, some piper 270 cams on seloc, vvc plenum and a brand new janspeed exhaust manifold from a new guy at work who had it in his garage! Anyway work has begun, so I could post some updates, pitfalls and pics if it is of interest to anyone

Stevie

[robin]

Are you converting to solid cam? If so I think that Andy G may have some parts with Kiwirog that you could use?

Cheers,
Robin

[Rich H]

you know that VVC cams are not the same as non VVC cams?

[steviej]

Thanks guys, I think I pretty much have all the parts together now, I nearly binned the whole idea as there are lots of differences with cams, leads, sensors, covers etc but the whole idea was the challenge of the project and to do it on a budget so have perservered, modified and made a few parts, just got to bolt it together and hope it works !

[Rich H]

Pics - lots of pics!

[campbell]

Kiwirog could probably provide a breathed on head to suit your purpose, ready to bolt on, but where's the fun in that

I have been impressed by his work though. For the record.

[Rich H]

Get the dremel out!
DIY Porting thread...

[Shug]

Kiwirog could probably provide a breathed on head to suit your purpose, ready to bolt on, but where's the fun in that

I have been impressed by his work though. For the record.

Which, unless it was a VHPD casting (or a blanked off VVC with the right cams), wouldn't be as good as a stock VVC head - more to them than just the fancy cams

[campbell]

Understood, although I think it depends what you want out of it, no?

My limited understanding is that other changes are important, if you want to put the VVC or VHPD head on [and get the best out of them] - like exhaust manifolds, possibly airboxes, plenums etc. In fact is it not the case that without some of the right ancillary bits you can make the car worse in the "normal" rev range. Viz the odd yet celebrated Sport 160 maybe?

It's all about £ spent per bhp I suppose

And personal pref, which is completely fine.

Whatever the case, a great project especially if all DIY, as the satisfaction levels could be very high indeed.

[woody]

Understood, although I think it depends what you want out of it, no?

My limited understanding is that other changes are important, if you want to put the VVC or VHPD head on [and get the best out of them] - like exhaust manifolds, possibly airboxes, plenums etc. In fact is it not the case that without some of the right ancillary bits you can make the car worse in the "normal" rev range. Viz the odd yet celebrated Sport 160 maybe?

It's all about £ spent per bhp I suppose

And personal pref, which is completely fine.

Whatever the case, a great project especially if all DIY, as the satisfaction levels could be very high indeed.

The 160 has those bits.

[steviej]

Campbell wrote; Whatever the case, a great project especially if all DIY, as the satisfaction levels could be very high indeed.

This is exactly the intention, the head has been stripped of all the vvc parts, cleaned up via the dremel method as Rich suggested, damaged valves and guides replaced and surface skimmed ; 'solid' piper 270 cams fitted (only the inlet is a different sized cam) and vvc blanking kit fitted, this came from Mike Satur, a MG tuning specialist, and was 1/2 the price of others on the market ! So the head was ready to fit ..but there is a main difference on the vvc head being that it is 12mm taller than a standard k head so this meant that the cam position sensor would not see the cam 'pick up', the plug leads/ coil packs wouldnt reach the plugs, the rear cambelt cover is different and the belt and tensioner need converted to a manual type, none of these are massive problems but need a fair amount of head scratching when trying to achieve the diy project status, however the head is fitted, cams timed in (via diy slotted pulleys) and a few diy conversion parts currently in manufacture

Stevie

[woody]

Campbell wrote; Whatever the case, a great project especially if all DIY, as the satisfaction levels could be very high indeed.

This is exactly the intention, the head has been stripped of all the vvc parts, cleaned up via the dremel method as Rich suggested, damaged valves and guides replaced and surface skimmed ; 'solid' piper 270 cams fitted (only the inlet is a different sized cam) and vvc blanking kit fitted, this came from Mike Satur, a MG tuning specialist, and was 1/2 the price of others on the market ! So the head was ready to fit ..but there is a main difference on the vvc head being that it is 12mm taller than a standard k head so this meant that the cam position sensor would not see the cam 'pick up', the plug leads/ coil packs wouldnt reach the plugs, the rear cambelt cover is different and the belt and tensioner need converted to a manual type, none of these are massive problems but need a fair amount of head scratching when trying to achieve the diy project status, however the head is fitted, cams timed in (via diy slotted pulleys) and a few diy conversion parts currently in manufacture

Stevie

I know where there may be a set of vernier pulley available shortly.

[campbell]

<stacks of humbling DIY achievements>

Stevie

Did someone say where are the pics?!

[Rich H]

In that case stop posting and start with the work.

and pictures.

[steviej]

Here are some photos of the work in progress