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spool rods looks pretty chunky. although abit of unused wieght in them. sact and eagle are similar too. either way for the money, who cars.. all capable of the same power.

and all made from 2 seperate bits.. not a tru billet. but then again for the money, all the same.

Hey Paul how do u rate the cp ring sets? i pulled my motor down after the initial dyno tune to check pistons etc and noticed a couple of the ring gaps had lined up with each other, any ideas why? i've not had any issues since reassembly but not something i want to happen if possible. I used to run Jun cosworth pistons and never had any issues, but since my bore is bigger than 87mm i cant use the jun ones anymore :)

CP rings are too thin in my opinion...0.8mm top ring and 1.2mm second ring...CP have since addressed this with 1.0mm top ring and 1.5mm second. The earlier versions were permitting too much blow-by for high boost applications as they had a small contact patch with the cylinder wall and sealing was an issue.

Dave the rods look great...im a fan already...I beams FTW!

I like your thinking paul... rb26 2.8 stroker would be nice :)

I was more thinking of a stroker crank for the CA18 engine. Im a big fan of them as they are basically the same design as an RB26 missing 2 cylinders. SR's have significant problems with rocker arms, oil pumps and their open deck block design has issues at high horsepower. A tough CA engine is a great option and in my opinion an often over looked prospect for performance.

and im itchin' to build one to prove it.

Edited by DiRTgarage
I was more thinking of a stroker crank for the CA18 engine. Im a big fan of them as they are the same design as an RB26 missing 2 cylinders. SR's have significant problems with rocker arms, oil pumps and their open deck block design has issues at high horsepower. A tough CA engine is a great option and in my opinion an often over looked prospect for performance.

too bad they sound worse than an sr :)

CP rings are too thin in my opinion...0.8mm top ring and 1.2mm second ring...CP have since addressed this with 1.0mm top ring and 1.5mm second. The earlier versions were permitting too much blow-by for high boost applications as they had a small contact patch with the cylinder wall and sealing was an issue.

thanks Paul, when did they switch to the better ring sets? i bought my pistons around october last year do u think they were old or new ringsets? i might pull it down and redo them with another set if ive got the old versions

Paul,

I can get CA cranks, changing the stroke shouldnt be too much of an issue.

Cheers

I was more thinking of a stroker crank for the CA18 engine. Im a big fan of them as they are basically the same design as an RB26 missing 2 cylinders. SR's have significant problems with rocker arms, oil pumps and their open deck block design has issues at high horsepower. A tough CA engine is a great option and in my opinion an often over looked prospect for performance.

and im itchin' to build one to prove it.

Scat are manufactured in america.

or is their website full of it?

http://www.scatenterprises.com/

All Scat's forged parts are "forged" in china, but much of the machining is done in america aparently. What isnt clear is exactly what is US machined and what is Chinese machined. Scat has been a major player in the VW aftermarket parts scene for years. I cant remember where i read it, but it was from one of the top VW drag engine builders in the US.

Clearly where the comments were going were to do with concerns about parts quality from china, because we've all seen the ebay parts that are available these days. Well there is some reason to be concerned. While im sure SCAT is working to improve quality controls on their chinese manufactured products, demand for cheaper product seems to be not helping improve that quality.

There have been issues with some parts that were machined with terrible tolerances such as lifters not hardened or radiused properly resulting in camshaft and lifter lobe failure, pushrods with the ends rattling loose, high ratio rocker assemblies that have too much clearance and the ratio's differ from one rocker to the next (when measured with a dial indicator) because they arent machined the same.

Good news is though i've not heard much of people reporting crankshaft or rod failures in recent years. There was some quite a few years back though and for a while Scat had a an australian reputation of "scatter" when some of their crankshafts were breaking, though that was unconfirmed whether they were the forged or the cast cranks.

Seems to me that its not often you hear of an engine breaking solely on power. Its usually an oil system issue, or at worst a rod bolt letting go.

On topic again...

Great build progress... love your work!

Cheers,

Ian

spool rods looks pretty chunky. although abit of unused wieght in them.

? I want your "in head" FEA app :)

I'm a big fan of them as they are basically the same design as an RB26 missing 2 cylinders.

:) CA18's are wicked little motors that ppl don't seem to pay much attn to. A capacity nudge would make them a real SR killer.

Shanef ur deaf! - full house CA's sound wicked imo!

EDIT: Dammit, limpus beat me to it.

Edited by GeeTR
All Scat's forged parts are "forged" in china, but much of the machining is done in america aparently. What isnt clear is exactly what is US machined and what is Chinese machined. Scat has been a major player in the VW aftermarket parts scene for years. I cant remember where i read it, but it was from one of the top VW drag engine builders in the US.

Clearly where the comments were going were to do with concerns about parts quality from china, because we've all seen the ebay parts that are available these days. Well there is some reason to be concerned. While im sure SCAT is working to improve quality controls on their chinese manufactured products, demand for cheaper product seems to be not helping improve that quality.

There have been issues with some parts that were machined with terrible tolerances such as lifters not hardened or radiused properly resulting in camshaft and lifter lobe failure, pushrods with the ends rattling loose, high ratio rocker assemblies that have too much clearance and the ratio's differ from one rocker to the next (when measured with a dial indicator) because they arent machined the same.

Good news is though i've not heard much of people reporting crankshaft or rod failures in recent years. There was some quite a few years back though and for a while Scat had a an australian reputation of "scatter" when some of their crankshafts were breaking, though that was unconfirmed whether they were the forged or the cast cranks.

Seems to me that its not often you hear of an engine breaking solely on power. Its usually an oil system issue, or at worst a rod bolt letting go.

On topic again...

Great build progress... love your work!

Cheers,

Ian

Excellent post Ian, Yes Scat are a major supplier of VW performance parts (thats where they started from). As their are about a dozen grades of 4340 id say the cheaper products are made from the inferior grade that just meets the SAE or ATM standard. The Spool rods although being Taiwanese made are of such a standard in regard to their finishing tolerances that they would be up to the task in all but the wildest street application.

Im unaware of any RB26 engines standard rods failing due to a weakness in their construction. Its always the bolts or the oil supply (or lack of). I made over 450KW at the tyres on STD rods and raced the car for over 3 years and when checked after pulling the engine down they could have been reused as they were in perfect condition. RB26 rods would be adequate in this build but i leave the final choice of rod selection up to the customer. Some people just like new shiny stuff :)

RB26 rods would be adequate in this build but i leave the final choice of rod selection up to the customer. Some people just like new shiny stuff :(

Mmmmm SHINY!!! :P Get some pics up of the new rocker covers on the head Paul.

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