LOL! thanks! i have learnt an awfull lot over the years but sadly its cost me a few cars and engines so im only too happy to advise where i can, unfortunately i know maybe 3% of what the guy who has been teaching me recently does (matt @ tour-de-force power engineering) which as it turns out is plenty enough to make a 2litre 8v go very nicely, if not actually hugely quickly..... but 165lb/ft, 152bhp and a trio of 14.9sec passes at the pod are pretty damn good for home brew, especially as one of my earlier efforts was a 2litre pinto (capri four pot roughly equivalent in age/type to the vw motor) which had a mental big valved head, wild cam, expensive mechanical distributor, nice manifold, blah blah blah and it drove like a pig stuck in another pig, really, it was awfull, less power/torque everywhere, about 9 to the gallon, pain to start, total guff. It doesnt have to be expensive to get a usefull gain from a road engine without compromising reliability, and to be honest they are all much of a muchness in that the same principals apply- find the restriction, remove it without weakening anything, calibrate to suit. obviously a true race engine will cost true race money and as power rises the usefull life of the engine will get shorter but it isnt a problem as long as you play it safe, 140-150 hp out of a 2litre 8v is pretty tame when you consider the 16v equivalent is doing that as standard, likewise 180 or more out of a valver is commonplace for some makers too, as you aproach the magical 100bhp/litre the long term durability will fall if you use it constantly but really that wont happen on the road will it? much more than that and some form of supercharging will be more cost effective unless you are in a race class that wont allow it... and so on.
while i'm in the mood the best way to make an engine last is to ALWAYS warm it up before you drive it hard (twin chokes make this sooooo easy too), keep the filters clean, do preventative checks and maintenance rather than spoiling things and being hit with a big bill and crucially use good oil and dont let it get dirty- a good engine is like a good woman, cleanliness is next to godliness but proper lubrication will save a lot of red faced swearing!
