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Last question first: Yeah, it'll cost, a lot. The more quality parts and time (spin balancing, porting, etc.) put into it the more you'll pay, but it'll last longer and produce more reliable power. For a new performance engine figure about $3000 to start. The more parts you can supply, like carbs, the price will drop some. The more parts your builder has to supply, modify (like adding an oil filter)/balance/blue-print, the more it's gonna cost you. The more compression an engine runs, the hotter it will run. So, for a cooler engine reduce the compression...and lose some hp because the more compression you have the more hp you will produce. Don't ya just hate that?! I have 8:1 compression so I produce more heat and to compensate I have my oil pre-cooler. But I had my engine built knowing this. If I didn't want to worry about extra heat I would've agreed upon a lower compression with my builder that still gives me power but without sacrificing engine life due to extra heat. FYI: My last engine died due to heat stroke (8:1 compression as well). Many of the internal parts were heat damaged (cam mostly). This is why I am adamant about secondary oil cooling! Reliability? I don't think it's about reliability but tunability. A properly set up engine should be reliable, right? Because a built engine isn't stock, duh, it requires more time to tune so it's running correctly. The cam, distributor and carbs make this difficult because a built engine's power is gonna live in a certain rpm range. Thus, where the power lives, the engine will rock! But when the engine is in the other rpm range(s), it's gonna be unhappy and be less than satisfying. For example, a drag racer is gonna have all the power come in the high rpm range, say 5000-8000rpm. The engine will produce its best power there and just scream, but below that rpm range idle will be rough and driving will be lethargic and bumpy (with carbs, that is). My engine is set up for mid-rpm range, roughly 2500-4500rpm. Going from idle to mid-range there's a flat spot, the cam and carb jettings balking at each other :) Highway cruising is just fine since that's in my mid-range! Beyond that she will move but with the stock (restrictive!) exhaust it's slow (but probably still faster than a stocker :) Lifespan? Yeah, shorter. How you drive does affect engine life, measured in miles or, with racing, in hours or laps :) Unfortunately, I don't have great records for the mileage on my previous 2.0, but it did make it to a round trip to Texas at the end of a heat-spell! There's a minimum of 5500 miles of life right there, I know that! Now, all of my experience is with carbs. Personally, I much prefer fuel injection and I would like to get an after-market fuel injection system (engine management system) on of these days. FI is great for improved fuel economy and power extraction, and eliminates many of the pitfalls of a carbed intake system. Such a system alone, I firmly believe, would increase the life of an engine. Toby Erkson air_cooled_nut@pobox.com <-- Please use this address for email '72 VW Squareback 1.6L bored and stroked to 2.0L, Berg five-speed '95 VW Jetta III GL 2.0L, P-Chipped, Jamex sport suspension Portland, Oregon, http://www.icbm.org/ >-----Original Message----- >Toby - Is all the talk about larger engines being less reliable, running >hotter, and having a shorter lifespan just talk? How do you think a 2.3 will >last in your square? And where is it from, and more importantly what will a >beast like that cost? ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pitch in! Send your pledge of support! mailto:support@vwtype3.org