2.0 rebuild Options

[80cap]

Here goes.
I am a new guy here and I don't want to cause a feud but I am trying to build a street able engine without breaking the bank. Some of the confusion follows, AA good or no good, 96mm, or 94mm, rebuild heads or new, Web cam specs for Dellorto, ( I have ),I know you get what you pay for but I also have a budget. I just purchased Jake Raby's how to video. I have read all the bad post so maybe I just looking for insight. Maybe this post will centralize some data.
Thanks Brian

[Dave_Darling]

Quite frankly, those are all options. They'll all give you slightly different characteristics and mean more or less work for you.

With the AA P&Cs, measure them every way you can think of. Multiple times, with precision equipment. We've heard stories of cylinders that were out of round, or had different lengths, or were otherwise problematical. And weigh the pistons, in addition to measuring them.

94mm is stock, obviously, and 96mm gives you 2056cc displacement instead of 1971cc when used on the stock 2.0 crank and rods. If you are going to autoX or race it or some such, bumping the displacement might put you into a "cubic dollar" class. You'll want to read the rulebook for any series you think you may want to run before building. Setup for the 2056 is a little different than that for the 1971, but that's mostly a worry for people running D-jet still. You'll have to tune the carbs no matter what, so tuning to one spec or the other shouldn't be any harder.

New heads are expensive. But they're new--and if you get them from Len (HAM) you know they'll be top-quality stuff. You're exceedingly unlikely to have any problem due to the heads or the hardware on them. I wouldn't go with new heads from anywhere else; the AMC castings are not 2.0 castings so they have to be converted by cutting and welding, and the stock AMC hardware is not of very high quality. Used heads are less expensive, but can have hidden (or not so hidden) problems. Repairing the problems can make the used heads approach or even pass the cost of new heads in some cases.

If you're doing a lot of the work yourself, then going with AA 96es, good used 2.0 heads, and a Web Cam can be a relatively economical way to go. Or if your current 94mm P/Cs are in spec, using them can save you even more.

If you're paying someone else to do the inspecting of parts and other QC, it's probably less expensive to start with the best parts and pay up front.

--DD