Has anyone worked on a K series engine ?

Has anyone worked on a K series engine ?

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carphotographer

Original Poster:

500 posts

195 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
quotequote all
Have a bog standard 1.6 K in a Caterham and wonder how 'easy' is it to tune. Yes I've been to DVA and looked. Is there any benefit with polishing the head without proper gas flowing and how easy is it to fit cams ?

DVandrews

1,317 posts

283 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
quotequote all
I've worked on around 700. Don't look at the DVA commercial site, have a look at the K series development page which is linked. Plenty of Information there for DIY.

Dave

anonymous-user

54 months

Tuesday 3rd May 2016
quotequote all
TBH, first thing i'd do is put the 1.8 litre in! Easy mod, and good gains.

carphotographer

Original Poster:

500 posts

195 months

Wednesday 4th May 2016
quotequote all
Thanks Dave
and how easy is it to drop a 1.8 in a caterham ?

carphotographer

Original Poster:

500 posts

195 months

Wednesday 4th May 2016
quotequote all
As the K series seems to be a popular engine to mod. why hasn't anyone done a Youtube video or two on the engine or an Ebook with lots of photographs


DVandrews

1,317 posts

283 months

Wednesday 4th May 2016
quotequote all
There is a good YouTube video showing how to tweak your K to 200BHP and you get to see my cat (now deceased).

The K series page is close to an e book and it's free.

You will need to make some modifications to fit an 1800 to a Caterham in place of a 1600

You need to modify the block on the exhaust side to clear the starter
You need to fit a spigot bearing and sleeve to the end of the crank
You need to shorten the gearbox first motion shaft by15mm or so or it will bottom in the end of the crank
You need to transfer the flywheel, clutch, oil pickup, baffle and sump to the new engine

If you are keeping the existing ECU you also need to either trade the injectors up to larger capacity ones or increase your fuel pressure from 3 bar to 4 bar to cover the change in capacity.

If your engine is a supersport you will need swap the cams over.

If one of the engines is EU2 and the other EU3 you will need to make some adjustments that will depend on which is which.

Dave

carphotographer

Original Poster:

500 posts

195 months

Wednesday 4th May 2016
quotequote all
Cheers Dave,
I've tried to look for the video but can't find it on YouTube , tried looking under your name, DVA power k series tuning etc
Can you provide a link or a title of the video.
Good news about the ebook

DVandrews

1,317 posts

283 months

Wednesday 4th May 2016
quotequote all
Look for videos by Lorne Mason.

Dave

stevieturbo

17,255 posts

247 months

Thursday 5th May 2016
quotequote all
turbocharge or supercharge it....job done lol

Evoluzione

10,345 posts

243 months

Thursday 5th May 2016
quotequote all
stevieturbo said:
turbocharge or supercharge it....job done lol
I don't think it's strong enough (generally).

anonymous-user

54 months

Thursday 5th May 2016
quotequote all
Evoluzione said:
stevieturbo said:
turbocharge or supercharge it....job done lol
I don't think it's strong enough (generally).
And frankly, a nice 200 odd bhp is, imo, the sweet spot in a Caterham, especially if you want to use it regularly on the road.

Get a 1.8 with good cams and a decent head job and that'll do nicely!

DVandrews

1,317 posts

283 months

Thursday 5th May 2016
quotequote all
You will need a lot more than cams and port work to see 200BHP. 155BHP or thereabouts.

Dave

carphotographer

Original Poster:

500 posts

195 months

Thursday 5th May 2016
quotequote all
I found the videos on Youtube - thanks.
Actually I think I brought the videos on VHS when I had an Elise many many years ago.
Jon

anonymous-user

54 months

Thursday 5th May 2016
quotequote all
DVandrews said:
You will need a lot more than cams and port work to see 200BHP. 155BHP or thereabouts.

Dave
on a 1.6 yes, but not from a 1.8!

(factory VVC was up to 160bhp, with no fancy parts)

DVandrews

1,317 posts

283 months

Thursday 5th May 2016
quotequote all
The VVC has 4mm larger inlet valves, 3.5mm larger exhaust valves and a lot more port area together with 290 degrees of cam duration when the VVC is fully extended, if makes around 155BHP if you are lucky. Early ones made 145 ish.

The most you will see from a fully ported VVC with hotter exhaust cam and custom programming is 175-180.

On a non VVC engine try running a 290 degree cam with fixed duration on a plenum with an ECU that Uses MAP for load sensing... See how far you get. Your pistons will dissolve above 160 if you get there.

A 1600 with full big valve port and the hottest cams the stock ECU will tolerate will give 150-155, and 1800 with the same mods will give 160.

Dave


stevieturbo

17,255 posts

247 months

Thursday 5th May 2016
quotequote all
Max_Torque said:
And frankly, a nice 200 odd bhp is, imo, the sweet spot in a Caterham, especially if you want to use it regularly on the road.

Get a 1.8 with good cams and a decent head job and that'll do nicely!
Exactly that via boost should be relatively unstressed and very easy to achieve ?

DVandrews

1,317 posts

283 months

Friday 6th May 2016
quotequote all
stevieturbo said:
Exactly that via boost should be relatively unstressed and very easy to achieve ?
Accommodating the hardware in the confines of the engine bay would be problem.

The pistons would fail at around 160-170 BHP.

Getting the power with a boosted engine is easy, getting the engine to stay together isn't necessarily.

You can perm any two of the following terms, but not all three.

Powerful
Cheap
Reliable

Dave

stevieturbo

17,255 posts

247 months

Friday 6th May 2016
quotequote all
DVandrews said:
Accommodating the hardware in the confines of the engine bay would be problem.

The pistons would fail at around 160-170 BHP.

Getting the power with a boosted engine is easy, getting the engine to stay together isn't necessarily.

You can perm any two of the following terms, but not all three.

Powerful
Cheap
Reliable

Dave
What in relation to power causes the pistons to fail ?

Boost is generally very easy on an engine, especially the low boost that would be required for such a small power upgrade.

And certainly 200hp from a 1.6 or 1.8....I would never class as powerful, so that leaves cheap and reliable smile

227bhp

10,203 posts

128 months

Friday 6th May 2016
quotequote all
stevieturbo said:
What in relation to power causes the pistons to fail ?

Boost is generally very easy on an engine, especially the low boost that would be required for such a small power upgrade.

And certainly 200hp from a 1.6 or 1.8....I would never class as powerful, so that leaves cheap and reliable smile
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=47&t=1554825

DVandrews

1,317 posts

283 months

Friday 6th May 2016
quotequote all
Pistons fail regularly in much lower powered engines, the VVC (145BHP) had a habit of popping pistons which is why the later versions had tougher ones fitted. Caterham supersport engines at < 140BHP suffer with piston failure. The ring lands collapse at >160BHP or above 7400.

Dave