Re: Head porting and polishing?

[brett@kodak.com (Brett VanSprewenburg)]

> 
> Does anyone have a machine shop they would recommend as being
> knowledgable about porting and polishing 16v VW heads?  I'm looking to
> get one done, but don't want to risk it by doing it myself.  I'd like to
> find somebody that:
> 
> A - knows exactly what material to remove, etc (has done many VW heads,
> maybe even VW-specific?)
> 
> B - has reasonable prices, and won't mind having me ship the head there
> 
> If you can help, let me know.

I was worried about this myself, and I was convincined that I was going
to have to send it out to west coast tuner like Velocity or Techtonics
(they don't offically do it anymore, but I hear that Colin still does it
on the side sometimes...).  Soo, I was rereading an old issue of VW&P,
June 1989 to be exact, with tons of great VW content.  One of the articles
was a VW tuners guide, and I came across one in Jamestown NY of all places!

Here's the blurb, reprinted without permission:


Motor Sport Service
1400 E. Second Street
Jamestown NY 14701
Alistair Oag
716-483-6287

Years in business: 31.  Showroom: No.  Shipping facility: Yes.
Catalog: No.

Engine/Engine Systems:
Engine development program: Yes.  In-house dyno: Yes  Type of dyno:
Eaton electric & a Clayton chassis dyno.  In-house machine ship: Yes
Cam development program: Yes.  Cam billets used: Reground to spec
(mostly 16v work).  Cylinderhead rework program: Yes.  Performance
engine packages: Yes.  Service facilities areas:  Dyno tuning: Yes.
Tuning: Yes.  R&R engine: No.  Engine kits providing larger displacement:
Yes.  NOS: No.  Turbo: No.  Supercharger: No.  Unique or specialized
engine products:  Our company focuses research and development on the
16v Volkswagen engine.  The facility is equipped with a flow bench,
balancing machine, and other pertinent equipment for this type of
specialized work. Engine work is primarily for Showroom Stock, IMSA,
SCCA, and Rally.

Chassis: None.
Areodynamics: None
Wheels & Tires: None.
Interior Appointments: None.
Accessories: None.

Racing Involvements:
Championships won:  1986 Volkswagen Cup, Golf 8v (Alistar Oag) 1987 Escort
Endurance, 16v (Phoenix Racing) 1987 SCCA Pro Rally, 16v 1988 Ulimate
AMOCO Ice Challange, 16v (Gerry Orr).  Also, 1989 IMSA Firestone Firehawk
Series.  Alistair Oag finished 2nd place in the Firehawk Series Touring
Division, winnning the Eastern Airlines "Rising Star" award.

Company history/Philosophy:
Motor Sport Service began as a full time foreign car service garage in 
1957.  <history of saab racing deleted>
In 1981, Alistair started driving VW in the Bilstein Cup races and has
stayed with the marque to the present time, competing in several 
professional series.  The led us to adding VW to our preparation. Our
aim is quality.  Using our test equipment and knowledge of racing
engines, we do our best (within the rules) to get the most performance
available out of each showroom stock class engine.

- --End of article.

> 
> Thanks in advance
> 
> John

I called and talked with Alistair personally (he's started his own company
away from Motor Sport Service and the above phone # is his new number) for
quite some time.  We discussed what I was working with, such as cams,
displacement, intake, and exhaust system.  He has no problems with
preparing a 16v cylinderhead for street applications, where you can do a
bit more then for a racing series.  The point is that he knows his stuff,
he's been there door to door in various racing series.  His prices are
around 1/2 what other tuners are _gouging_.  And he's almost local to me,
which can be a big plus.  I'll be sending him my 1.8L 16v head in the near
future, I'll let you know how things work out next year after everything is
back together.  He'll be porting my head and port matching my intake ports
and the 16v short tubes.  Everybody should know the specs on my engine by 
now, right?
:-)

So John, I think this shop fits your requirements pretty well.

==Brett
- --
To subscribe or unsubscribe, send email to scirocco-L-request@scirocco.org,
with your request (subscribe, unsubscribe) in the BODY of the message.

------------------------------