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ALH questions

3K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  Volkswagens-for-life 
#1 ·
Would porting and polishing do anything to diesel and is 140lb outa the question ? My beloved 2.0 aba is fn gas guzzler that po's me
 
#3 ·
Your aba needs work
Agreed. An ABA shouldn't be a gas guzzler. I guess the question is what is your definition of gas guzzler? Our supercharged ABA mk1 gets 30+ on the highway at 75.
 
#4 · (Edited)
The initial question has two questions: does the alh cylinder head benefit from porting...….and, can I mindlessly get a great deal of power out of it?

I will address the former: Yes, ALL of the early diesels and up to the alh benefit from an intelligent port job. Beyond that, I have no interest in any of the newer stuff....so, I can not comment.

The alh head requires a fairly intelligent mindset to port....as the intake (internal) runner makes a rather substantial turn instead of a mostly-straight shot like the old diesels do. The intake port on the alh has a very definite "doorway" as it reaches the space behind the intake valve. Determining how to modify and broaden the intake port is pretty much a black art.

The one high-dollar know-it-all alh cylinder head "God" over at the tdiclub has all the plebs believing he is the only person on the earth who can work on these heads....and that is pure hypnotic bull shht. He maintains a captive audience of "droolers" who boast of great intellect behind their keyboards. I believe he charges up to $600 for a port job which he claims is very "scientific" and specific. Maybe so....I have lots of doubts.

When I hand-port alh heads, it is VERY easy to get over 30 hours of work into the job. I do not have high-end tooling. I clean up the area behind the valves and remove a fair amount of alum. in the process all the way back to the opening.

I learned a lot by porting a LOT of 1.6 heads. The alh is a little different cat.

BUT......my engines fking run GREAT with no flat spots and they are always willing to pass more air. I still have one which has never been opened up. There is a very clear difference in how the non-ported head performs (or, more-to-the-point....does NOT perform). I stick to stock fueling and I risk a ticket every time I go out on the open highway.....as they run so cleanly that you are very soon beyond 85 mph without even trying to get them to run. I really have no use for more goose.

After seeing these run so well, I am totally confused by those who do not START with a port job prior to adding more fuel. It's like this: if you have to empty a 55 gallon drum as quickly as possible....would you really use a small straw for the job????
 
#5 · (Edited)
I have to run AC all year in my beloved fast 2.0 would porting net 2-3+ mpg? And would you have a ported a aba with the ok springs for the 268 cam unless it's gonna suck fuel like it's doing with ac on

And yes my motor needs everything cap and rotor are toast alone.
But l can get a 20v or ALH for 250-600$ bucks

Motor and tranny need to be San blasted and Cera koted or something .l don't think powder coat will stand upto 110 degrees outside temp.

Really would like to put a 1.4tsi in my mk3
 
#7 ·
TLDR; a simple port job by itself will not net you more than an expense.

From what I gather, it's a cumulative type thing. By itself, just a porting job isn't going add a whole lot, especially to an otherwise stock engine. It's probably not going to even register on a butt-dyno. There's really two ways to go about it. One- a mild port job where you simply end up with a better surface inside the ports. Obviously, you're not going to be seeing a whole lot of material removed or having somebody reshape your runners. You can gasket match everything to help optimize what's there. A full mirror polish is unnecessary, just an even smooth surface will do just fine with helping airflow. There's an important part of the head, right near the valves that creates this air swirl that helps it mix with fuel. Most of the time you leave it be. Two- a very aggressive port job where a significant amount of material is removed, the swirl area is reshaped, larger valves are used, the valve seats are completely redone. This is more for a racing application and it doesn't make it that great for a daily driven car. Also, it removes material between the valves making that area MUCH more prone to cracking and because the swirl area is now reshaped, it also ruins the mpg (but who cares on race cars, right?). Overall, porting an ALH doesn't add any significant amount of power by itself like a larger domestic V8. It's mainly to optimize it for whatever you're building. It helps when it's a complete package of a correctly built motor, turbo, fueling and tuning combination.
 
#8 ·
I ported/polished my ALH ~12-15 years ago.. but I did so because it was heavily modded. Yes, it makes a difference.
 
#9 ·
Far out!!! Somebody with some actual hair on his ass steps forth and speaks. Beware the little nerds who have not done squat. They make up for their laziness with taps to the keys. A good port job is not only felt at the anus.....it makes you feel good all over!! Hahahahahaha.

My ported engines are like a mean-assed bulldog stretching the links on his chain to "get in the game." My non-ports wear aprons and have very dainty manners. Big difference.
 
#10 ·
🤣🤣🤣
Porting the alh made it much crisper and smoother at all rpm. If I had done it on a bone stock or even mildly modified would it have made a difference? I'm not sure honestly. But in my case it was absolutely worth it. I always tell people.. its all of the 'small' mods that add up and add up and eventually become a HUGE gain. You don't always notice the small mods all at once or individually, but when you combine them bitches to formulate the big kahuna.. oh ya. Its dope.
 
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