VK berlina 202 black converting to 308

[veight man]

hey guys i have been wanting for so long to convert my VK berlina for 4 years and i just never got around to it....i know i need to get different suspension and brakes to start off with, i need also a radiator...but what really gets me is because these lovely old engines need to run off the old fuel emissions..so if that is true would the valves or the engine itself just corode over time because the use of unleaded or premium unleaded petrol? i heard vn heads are the go...but if i can help it i want to keep the old heads...and i also wanted to get a tunnell ram manifold with holley double pumper carbs but im not sure what type of carbs 600 or 750?...and if my combo is correct would i be able to run the same trimatic off this combo?....please give me a hand i would so appreciate it....my old girl VK berlina needs to be back on the road....i absolutely love the VK...thank you

[ari666]

sigh, ok to start with there are a million and one posts about doing the 6 to 8 conversions, and 2 million posts about the valve saver, so do a quick search and have a read.

VN heads are much better than cast heads, due to the port shape and configuration. personally i am still chasing ponies out of my cast heads cos i am a sucker for punishment. if you want high horsepower, then save yourself the headaches and go VN heads before you do anything else.

tunnel ram manifolds are COMPLETELY unnecessary, unless you make your engine a 8k rpm screamer.

and holley 600 double pumpers are too much for 308's bolting on the 600 is easy, its easy to tune it/jet it and get it running with loads of power, but you will waste tonnes of fuel. you will get more power and better performance from your quaddy, but itll take more research. i spent months setting up my quaddy. its running really nice atm, but when i figure out where to get a correct primary metering rod return spring from, it should open up a lot more.

[VK SL 3800]

With the Brakes, the only difference i can think of is the Booster and master cylinder, booster is larger and V8s have disc/disc where as most 6's have only disc/drum so the master cylinder has a proportioning valve inside. Both of my Vks have 15/16 masters cylinders but if you put a v8 in it go for a 1'' for a better feeling pedal. Both mine have the same Calipers and discs on the front, and both are original brake packages, as 1 i got from a little old lady and the other my own grandmother. But some people say V8s have larger brakes on the front. Front springs are different and i would imagine the sway bar would be larger as well. Vk V8 run an electric pump inside the tank and a fuel return line so just another thing to do......

[veight man]

hey thanks for replying back....thanks for the advice fella....so if i went for the vn heads i heard i have to change the cam, manifold and exhaust...do you know if this is true? so are you running a 308 off the original heads and a quaddy? does she run good? sorry i dont know how to search on here i am learning though...thank you heaps

[veight man]

thanks mate...yeah i kinda figured i had to go disc/disc where as my vk's running on disc/drum....was thinking of going big anyway just for a bit more safety but i wasnt too sure if i really needed to go bigger discs front and back....yeah i was told to get springs larger springs...i was told to not waste my time and just buy a vk calais instead...but alot of us just cant say goodbye to the vks we love.....thanks for the advice fella

[ari666]

hey thanks for replying back....thanks for the advice fella....so if i went for the vn heads i heard i have to change the cam, manifold and exhaust...do you know if this is true? so are you running a 308 off the original heads and a quaddy? does she run good? sorry i dont know how to search on here i am learning though...thank you heaps

good place to learn

yeah VN heads hve the valves are setup up in a different config so that means inlet/exhaust/cam is different. i am sticking to the cast heads cos' i was stupid and didnt go VN heads straight away and now i am looking at wasting about 2 grand worth of stuff to change over. not gonna happen. the car made 147kw at the wheels, which was shy of my 160kw target (300HP at the fly) but it turns out the dyno guy was full retard and didnt do anything correctly to get that reading.

300HP isnt that hard to achieve, cam, head work, bump up the compression a bit, well setup inlet and exhaust system should get you there no probs. and 300HP in a 1250kg car is loads of fun

[veight man]

300 horses is plenty of power....and yes that would be loads of fun i know i would definately have alot of drifting fun , does she have a nice note to it? thats what im about is having that nice note and thats what i love about the carbs is that the efi motors today just dont have that beautiful note..a shame really cos efi motors can produce so much power but have a quiet note.

[ari666]

300 horses is plenty of power....and yes that would be loads of fun i know i would definately have alot of drifting fun , does she have a nice note to it? thats what im about is having that nice note and thats what i love about the carbs is that the efi motors today just dont have that beautiful note..a shame really cos efi motors can produce so much power but have a quiet note.

THANK GOD!!!! someone finally agrees with me! carby have a TOTALLY different note to efi and personally i LOVE it. every other mofo on here is all "oooh efi sounds so tough" pffft. whatever.

a crane 286 cam, good 2500-3000 high stall and a 2.5 or twin system with a quaddy sounds AWESOME. i love my engine. i drive with the windows down everywhere just to hear the note. love pulling up in traffic and just hearing 'lope-lope-lope-lope"

and dont listen to anyone, you can get as much power out of a carb as you can efi, but it takes a lot more precise tuning an patience. i wouldve done a lot more to mine but have been distracted with my project for the last year. once i am finished i will be working towards trying to get 400HP out of her

[veight man]

shit yeah bro...carbs all the way...nothing will ever defeat the lumpy notes you get from carbs,my brother purchased a cross 8 a few years ago and he didnt like the fact it had a low note and he even put twin 2.5 exhaust system on it and it made it a little louder but not that much LOL bloody 3 grand later and still didnt get much of a note.....kool combo man...thats something i would have in mind for my engine when i get around to it....your gonna have to let us know the updates when you get your engine up to 400 horses