Hi Pete,

seems to me that the welded VW head is the mainstay of many of the serious HP VW's running around. Remember that bigger valves

ARE heavier, and they beat up springs faster, as do big lift cams (and long duration too, as these cams tend to get used in the high

R's). Valvetrain weight and acceleration eats up springs! Now I am not telling you to go buy Chevy springs, (I fell for that and ate a

$8000 Super Flow motor back in 1993 when the Berg cam went flat and filled my motor with metal).

I think you can see the low 13's if you run 42 x 37 or maybe even 40 x 35.5 if you have an experienced man do your heads. I feel

velocity through the ports is as important as flow numbers, even with big cams. If you think about it, the higher velocity heads will

keep packing more mixture into the comb. chamber, even as the piston stops at BDC and returns on its way to TDC, because the

velocity has caused the flow to keep filling. Same with the exhaust, you want the chamber empty of waste gases, and the exhaust is

leaving under pressure anyway (as piton climbs back to TDC), and the inertia of the exiting burnt gases will actually "pull" a fresh

intake charge in.

I have welded Jeff Denham 44 x 37 heads on my 2276, but I built this motor for pretty much all out street HP, and knowing that I'll

have to pull it for periodical freshening up. My ports really aren't that huge, and the car runs well. I run 9.3:1 with pump gas (it isn't

a daily driver though...the summer time may affect it), and so far no problems! The valves NEVER get tight, and last time I checked

the guide wear was nil. If you wanna check out the details of my engine, go to Plow's cal-look.com under the member's section.

I think a call to Jeff Denham may help? Other trustworthy guys are Rog over at Heads Up or Fred at Perf Tech.

Have Fun!!!!

Jim Ratto

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I have a set of welded 040 castings on my 2110. I dont have many miles on them yet so as far a reliability goes I will have to see to

find out. I got them used (100 miles) and believe them to be Perf. Tech V-6. Perf. Tech said they would handle up to .550 lift with

their 40 x 35.5 valves. I too didn't want this car to be torn down a lot for head work so I followed Don Pauter's advice and got one

of their cams and 1.3 ratio rockers to keep the lift at .517 as to add life to springs and guides. But I am very happy with the combo's

performance. 2110 9-1 44's close 3rd and 4th. My ghia is all steel and is running 13.30's @ 101 w/ 2.05 60 ft. on street tires. I have

no doubt that slicks would yield 12.9 or less. Mike G.'s post was right on the money for all out power but I can handle 3 - 4 tenths

slower to have a car that will (hopefully) run a little longer without teardown. I hope this ramble helps a little. And........tear it

up!!!!

ghiaman

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i personally have heard 044's dont run any hotter because they have the same fin arrangement as stock vw. they run great on my little

1776 and never overheat(8.5:1)

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The heads on 12 second street cars take a real beating. Over .550 lift, more than 300 lbs of spring presure along with 7200 rpm

shift points results in frequent service.

It is not uncommon for some DKPIII 12 second cars to recieve a valve job once a year, the higher milage cars get new springs once

a year as well.

There are the exceptions that survive a couple years without having the heads checked. Though most prefer an ounce of prevention.

I would consider the 044 heads ported with no welding for maximum longevity.

You may want to order them bare with out the seats or guides installed and have your own trusted head guru install these for added

insurance.

Have you considered an 82 stoke crank to improve power with little backlash on reliability.

A step up would be to go to the 44 intakes which requires welding as the spark plug needs to be moved. Then again the added

performance maybe from a 13 second to a high 12 second ET may require more frequent attention.

In California the 92 premium pump gas will support 9.5 to 1 cr without serious overheating problems. Your 10 to 1 may be the

result of higher octane gas available where you live?

For example my 8 to 1 cr 82x94 w/ welded 44x37 valves and an fk89 runs high 12s. I limit my freeway miles since I would rather

wear out my valve job and springs on the drag strip.

Mark Tremblay at VW Paradise has been able to get good numbers out of stock 044 heads, near 200 cfm. Fred Simpson at

Performance Tech is doing some 44x37 heads for one of the DKPIII cars right now, mid 12s are the goal for this members 1900lb

panzer.

Mike Gagen

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I ran welded heads HARD on the street and found out that i valve jobbed every 5000mi.When i quit shifting over 7000rpm i got

8000mi and sold the moter to the SSB and it still runs with 4-8% leakdown EVEN with 94s....

Wednesday, 16-Feb-2000 12:15:09

mark reilly

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Peter;

Mike's advice is excellent, and I will defer to his expertise in building 12 second street cars. In terms of running 044s on the street,

I have run them for the last 6 years in my mild 2016 driver on the street and they have been excellent. It is not my understanding that

they have %20 less cooling. My car runs nice and cool, even on long 500 miles trips with a fully loaded car in 100 degree heat. The

casting is excellent, and these heads are a good basis for further work.

Some have reported problems with valve seats coming loose. CB claims that this problems has been fixed. You may want to

consider Mike's advice and order them bare and let your head guru take care of the seats.

My two cents;

John

John Plow