Anyone done or have advise for K series to K series VVT head

[deaddave72]

Well pretty much as the title says, anyone done or have advise on doing this conversion? I only ask as i might have to do this job on a friends Caterham . Yes i have ripped the mickey for him getting one with a k series in it, but as we have collected a donor today with the VVT lump (poss overheated ) i was hoping someone out there has been daft enough to do this conversion before and can offer advise?

I know the heads going to come off one way or another to check the head ,i have done in excess of 25 of these head gaskets, all of which in freelanders and none with the VVT cams.

So, any nasties on the VVT head , or is it pretty much a straight swap? Yeah i have a list of other bits that will need swapping (ecu etc etc)

Feel free to let me know what a bad job it is and what sort of nutter would actually willingly do this job (i do run a Cadillac ) i have a fresh bottle of JD sat here to drown my sorrows in if needed.

[loudandproud205]

VVC as its known is the most over complicated and IMO underrated system.

Its also an utter pigs to work with its pretty much infinitely variable.


Personally depending on what he wants I'd look at ditching the VVC and using solid state cams and ITB's.

I swapped a 1.4 214si to a 25 GTi which was the 1.8 VVC 143 engine later adding the MEMS ECU and inlet from a 160 a few other tweeks and only just read over 160 on the rolling road, yet a friend of mine running solid cams quite aggressive with Jenvy ITB's and Emerald ECU and it was closer to 185 and was an absolute animal and much fun to drive, and realistically once we both worked out the time/money thrown at both his wasn't that much more expensive.

IMO if you do the swap then do the full lot. Take the head of and head gasket would be best done on a platform you know works before messing around with anything else and ensure it works as that means you won't be chasing problems that you don't know if they existed before taking the engine out.

Most of all read up on the VVC its really complex but in turn really interesting IMO

Again personally I'd go the tried and tested Vauxhall XE engine as is just works really well.

[chairchild]

VVC makes the ideal compromise between low-end power, and high-end power, from playing god with the cam timing.. as you no doubt already know.

BUT... you can't fit "massive" cams into a VVC head, without losing the whole VVC setup. To my knowledge, the VVC head is better flow-wise than a non VVC 16v, so you may be better upgrading the head with more of an aim for track use, than the daily driver it was targeted at.



Would be a very fun project!

[mart154]

If the Caterham is original, it might actually have a VHPD head. What is, in every way, better than the VVC

[deaddave72]

Nov 2, 2014 13:12:16 GMT mart154 said:

If the Caterham is original, it might actually have a VHPD head. What is, in every way, better than the VVC

Hmmm that's interesting.. Any identifying marks that would give me the heads up on if that was fitted ? As as far as I am aware it's a factory built and original model .

Thanks for the info so far as well, this is helping toward this new project to work on :-)

[Good Scrap]

Here is the closest thing to the k-series bible

www.dvandrews.co.uk

Go to the k-series development page, loads of info on heads and every other mod you might contemplate, including the issues of fitting a VVC head to a standard block asi think the head is slightly taller for one thing and silly things like the plug leads are longer
If skimming the head it's common proactive to peen the face around the fire rings, this closes up any porosity and also gives you an indication if the head has gone soft, which can occur if overheated.

Brian

[mart154]

These heads are essentially a hybrid between the normal K16 head and the VVC head in that they use the same base casting as the K16, but with the VVC ports and chambers cast in without provision for the VVC gubbins. The VHPD head uses the same sized valves as the VVC head.

So look for 31.5mm intake valves instead of 27.5mm and 27.5mm exhaust valves instead of 24mm.

Heads were originally fitted to some Lotuseses and Caterhams. And usually around 190hp

[deaddave72]

thanks guys, this is proving to be most educating to me. Having only dealt with freelanders and have a perpetual hatred for these engines in freelanders, my eyes are being opened slightly i belive i have some bed time reading ahead of me !!

[loudandproud205]

If you enjoy technical reading and have lots of time its fantastic reading I loved it and how the whole thing came about. But tunning was always an issue with it, and when compared to the Honda the VTEC has it beat in nearly every way.

[customsinc]

Head will for standard block they are all the same.

Be very surprised if it had a VHPD head. Most folk in to caterhams will know if they have a VHPD motor. Saying that if it does and it's for sale let me know!

Basic principle of doing the head gasket is no different to non-VVC, the fun bit is if it needs the head skimming as the valves have to come out which means taking the cams out. Leave the mechs bolted to the carrier and it's not difficult, just make sure notches line up otherwise it'll be a pig to start and run!