I have been racing a 1973 2.0 with dual webers and a full flow cooler with electric fans. We had to swap out our 2.0 heads for a pair of 1.8s due to a failure (detonation hole bypassing valve seat and losing compression). We covered the original holes in the tin and opened new ones for the modified sparkplug location. We had overheating problems during the 7 hour endurance race. when we opened the engine, the pistons were scored top and bottom.
Now what to build and how to cool it. We have cores in 1.7, 1.8 and the 2.0 long blocks. Thinking of building a 96 bore by 78 stroke to minimize cost and get some extra push. Thinking about AA performance engine kit with Biral jugs and a web cam 86B (.500 lift 280 dur). Any recommendations? Has anyone proven or disproven these products and combinations or something similar?
We want a reliable endurance road racing combination to compete with the new Water cooled cars in our class.
Thanks for your helpful comments

You didnt say if the oil cooler was front mount or not....fans make me wonder....you should not have an oil cooling problem at all with a properly mounted front oil cooler...and that would help with the btu's that you are trying to remove with your air cooling....check with Jetsurfshop on this site , he has solved the problems you have with a similar car and race program

You didnt say if the oil cooler was front mount or not....fans make me wonder....you should not have an oil cooling problem at all with a properly mounted front oil cooler...and that would help with the btu's that you are trying to remove with your air cooling....check with Jetsurfshop on this site , he has solved the problems you have with a similar car and race program

I can say that the front mounted cooler keep my car alive for Sebring's 14 hour race. If my notes are correct our oil temp stayed around 190-200 and our cylinder head was at 375 all day.
I called BAT out of Tampa and they set me up. I don't have the details front of me but I believe its a 60 row cooler. More oil capacity was important to me too. My car now takes just over 7 quarts. (Have an accusump too-you need one!)
The engine your talking about building is very similar to what I have now.
78 crank/96mm pistons, dual webers and big cam.
You can have some real fun chasing down 924 and Miata's. My video from last years chump was the opening stint. I took it easy at first, policed the gauges and then got after it. We crashed the car in 13th place out of 90-100 cars. I was so proud of my type 4. Nothing like guys asking if there a 6 in there.
Thanks ablesnead for the props. Hope to see you at Sebring on the 23rd. http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?sho...94129&st=40
post# 45 is the video.
If you have any question let me know, glad to see another person trying to keep it air-cooled!

Well, we waited until we were in a rush to get it done, which is why I haven't been back in the forum, but as we rebuilt the car, my son and I discovered that there were a couple pieces of the cooling shrouds missing. We scavenged the pieces from a spare motor and ran the MSR Houston Lemons race 11/10-11/12 with no temperature problems. The cooler in our car was installed by PO in the rear trunk with PVC inlet tubes to an air box and fans blowing down through a cut out in the trunk floor pan above the transmission. We used the AA Performance 2256 kit with a Web cam 86B grind. It worked well until one of the drivers accosted a tire barrier with it. Now its time to build some custom fenders and get wider than the 205 50 15's on the 4X130 wheel pattern.
We are planning to do the BMW front brake swap and move the fronts to the rear.

Does anyone have a recommended route to get to a 225 to 245 tire width at a reasonable price?

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Pictures of that cooler set up would be interesting to see. My attempts at doing a rear cooler were all in vain. Glad you were able to get that to work.
What size carbs are you running? I had a pretty large HP gain with going from 40 to 44 webers.
Sorry to hear that your car found the wall too. I have pictures up somewhere in the paddock of my car. It was parked hard in turn one. It ended our day. (many thanks to four blades for the needed panels )
I drove a car with the BMW caliper conversion. The owner also added ducting. It did great all race. I think he's still tracking it with the same pads and rotors!!
Cant help with price for tires. We been running 205/50 on a 7inch rim (falkens). Works nice on the narrow bodied car. I jut bought a set of 15x7 for the front and 15x8 for the rear. I also want to run a 225 front/245 rear set up. One of the problems that comes to mind is with more traction comes more stress on the running gear. Its what keeps me up at night. Also look at the modifications on adding flares. One of us in the world built a nice car with flares and tech made him remove them. I don't remember way.

Shane, off topic. Just watched your video at Sebring, very cool with nice sounding engine....Just a question, what gears are you running in you trans. Best, Mark