Any suggestions on which company to get a performance engine? I have a 03 A4 1.8t. Girlfriend just blew the engine while I'm out of town. I know it sucks!! Anyway I was wanting to purchase an upgraded engine then what I had stock. I have heard of a couple of companies like etektunning and BBM. I know that's a broad question due to how much I want to spend and how much horsepower I want. I'm looking to build up to around 400hp when finished. I have around 5000 to get started. Any help would be appreciated...

 

u can buy a complete stock engine, throw some rods and pistons in there, and buy a turbo kit that will handle over what your goal is. you would spend over 5k for a built block. the weakness in the engine when looking for high power is the rods. so put some rods in there, some lower compression pistons<-raises the margin of error and allows for more boost.. but low end torque will be compromised

 

Thanks for the info! I keep hearing about boring out for bigger pistons.. So will I need to have the stock engine bored? I apologize in advance for the lack of knowledge about the subject..

 

you only bore if your servicing the engine and the cylinder walls are too damaged that an hone wouldn't fix or the P2W clearance is out of spec, then you go bigger piston, and match the bore.

or if you want to increase displacement.

but if the cylinders are fine, just get it honed to create the cross hatchings which will allow the new piston rings to seat and seal properly. the cross hatching allows a very thin layer of oil to remain on the cylinder walls while the piston moves up and down. without it there would be metal to metal contact over time which will eventually make the wall shiny and it will heat up, you would notice oil consumption, and blow by.

ive put together a few engines in hondas before, on the initial start up i fill it with cheap oil, let it idle to operating temp, shut it off, cool down. drain oil.<- important because there will be fine metal particles in the oil from initial start up. then i fill it back up with oil and drive it. you have the vary the rpms to allow the rings to seat.

the second part of building a block if your upgrading rods are the bearings. no 2 rods are exactly the same when they are cut/forged/bored. you must check the clearance of the rod bearings to ensure a round seal. you can check this with plastigauge and a set of standard size bearings.<- this is the cheapest and easiest but not the most precise way. you could take it to a machine shop and have the clearances checked.

if you want more info i can provide you with info and links to go further in depth. but basically you must decide if your going to do this, how "tight" you want the motor to be.