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Thanks Mitch...I don't need the help... I'm thinking that Mac Muz has not built too many engines for HP if any at all otherwise he would not make the statement about push rods.
I stated that I had blue printed and balanced the engine if he understands what that means. I was in the engine rebuilding trade for 28 yrs and had a VW Dragster NHRA Legal and licensed for what it's worth. Spend over 10K in a hobby and then maybe we can talk shop.
Factory Turbos off the assembly line are nothing to speak of. If they were that strong people would be grenading their engines left and right.
It take some special mods to the Turbo unit itself and in my case re doing the carb.
There are special things to do with a engine (outside and inside)...things that take a little R & D (lots of money) to pay somebody (specialist) or in my case research.
I have a 6 inch small plastic box with over $300 worth of main jets/idle jets etc for my Weber Carb. This is what is needed for R & D.
I wonder if some here have repaired or rebuilt or modified a Turbo...I have.
So, it seems that I will be looking into beginning mechanic classes at the community college when I come back next semester, and maybe a part-time job helping to change oil and stuff at a foreign-car mechanic here in town.
I just have a few more questions:
1. What are the advantages/disadvantages of superchargers and turbos (if possible please explain the screw superchargers) and what are both good at?
2. M3 Mitch, would an M3 engine be able to take the added strain of a turbo or supercharger? I'm not looking to turn this into a dragster, but I do enjoy driving (especially in hilly, curvy areas ) and I plan on doing some driving "just for fun" in this car, like a road trip up the "1" in California, Oregon, and Washington (so I can drive along the ocean.)
Please keep in mind that this is an eventual goal of mine, I will NOT be starting on an M3/3 series (Audis are nice, too) but I do love German cars. Most likely I'll wait a few years so I can at least learn the basics before jumping into a project car.
So, it seems that I will be looking into beginning mechanic classes at the community college when I come back next semester, and maybe a part-time job helping to change oil and stuff at a foreign-car mechanic here in town.
I just have a few more questions:
1. What are the advantages/disadvantages of superchargers and turbos (if possible please explain the screw superchargers) and what are both good at?
2. M3 Mitch, would an M3 engine be able to take the added strain of a turbo or supercharger? I'm not looking to turn this into a dragster, but I do enjoy driving (especially in hilly, curvy areas ) and I plan on doing some driving "just for fun" in this car, like a road trip up the "1" in California, Oregon, and Washington (so I can drive along the ocean.)
Please keep in mind that this is an eventual goal of mine, I will NOT be starting on an M3/3 series (Audis are nice, too) but I do love German cars. Most likely I'll wait a few years so I can at least learn the basics before jumping into a project car.
Ever go to any races? If you do, and see something on a racecar you have no idea what it is or does, ask what it is and what it does. Just don't ask between rounds when they are scrambling to make it back on the track in time. A polite way to ask is to se someone sitting down, and right tell them you do not know what's what on cars, but want to know if you can ask a question about their car. Most racers will be happy to answer.
It has been done, several times, I'm not sure how much engine and transmission work it'll need though, the M3 (E46) engine's pretty strung out, so it might require massive amounts of work with the internals, the strength of the transmission might be an issue as well.
I don't know or care much about the E46. The E30 engine makes almost 100 BHP/liter out of the box, the "point" of the car is about balance anyway. Some people put the later model 6-pots in the E30 cars. I don't care about that either. They probably put ketchup on pheasant too.
Turbos became popular back in the 80's *in part* because they are a good "bolt on" power upgrade for the low compression engines of that era. HP Books has a couple of good books on turbo and supercharging. Turbo cars, particularly "home made" ones, tend to have "turbo lag" and this can make them even more of a handful for a driver who is not used to dealing with this.
If you are in Cali, getting an older aircooled bug will keep you away from the Smog Stazi there, which can otherwise be a real nuisance to a tuner. I see you updated your information and you are in Las Cruces, NM - I don't know if you have to deal with smog there or not.
The older, cheaper VW cars - Bugs, Sciroccos, Golfs - are a lot cheaper to learn on. That and like I said if you can find a local mentor, that would not hurt your learning curve either. They are less likely to eat the lunch of a guy who doesn't have a lot of experience wrenching or driving, nor deep pockets.
But, hell, don't listen to me, I have only been a car enthusiast for about 35 years, what do I know?
I'm a nuclear engineer with a good job, and I consider the E 46 to be heavy, fragile, complicated, and expensive. But if you have better mental and financial resources, hey, be my guest...
Don't have to listen to the smog people, I can get my car registered in a rural county where there are so many farm trucks that the smog people wouldn't be able to keep up.
A VW Golf would be tons of fun to work on
I'll take your word for it about the E46, but what about the E36? Are those any different?
If anything, in my opinion, the E36 is not as good as the E46, but I don't like either of them. For me, when it comes to M3's, it's E30 or pound sand. The early E36 cars don't even have a real M-division engine. When driven hard they tend to have unibody/floor pan issues.
That's just me though.
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) and I plan on doing some driving "just for fun" in this car, like a road trip up the "1" in California, Oregon, and Washington (so I can drive along the ocean.)
