Well, as for me I try to be as stock as possible, getting the whole car back to 100% of what the company R&D intended it to be, before attempting any 'tuning'. Actually I think each aspiring 'tuner' should do read up before even considering tuning their car.
I learnt a lot from Bill Fisher's "How to Hotrod VW Engines" and David Vizards "How to Modify Your Mini" and his A-Series tuning book. First practical jobs, I can't really remember, as my father always did a lot of DIY stuff on the Corolla back in the 80s, and later we worked on more difficult jobs on the VW like cleaning carbs, brake pad replacement, bleeding, new hoses, new headlight switch, flasher relays (the old ones had separate electrolytic caps which would leak, replacing these would allow the flasher relay module to work as new once again!).
Later we did our first engine drop (VW/Porsche engines have to be removed from underneath after the vehicle has been jacked up, unlike our Mini and other cars where a chain block is required). We changed the clutch on that first job, ordering a clutch alignment tool & service manual from Gene Berg (
www.geneberg.com).
2nd 'Big Job' was a 1600 engine rebuild, and later a top end overhaul on a 1200. We learnt how to disassemble and assemble an engine, minor blueprinting on the oil pump, honed cylinders (not crosshatch pattern). Made a few mistakes here and there but learnt quite a bit. My bro lapped the valves into the head properly, with Chemico lapping paste. We learnt that there is a horrible quality imitation paste called Cheemaco in similar packaging, which would probably ruin the seating surface with its irregular 'pebbles in grease' paste! Aside from the angles, lapping, then assembling heads and pouring petrol or similar low surface tension liquid in the ports to check for leaks. Resulting compression was very good (you need the Snap-On compression test gauge kit, leakdown, etc.) and you could hear a PSST! sound when the valves opened while turning the engine over with a spanner attached to the pulley. Also, the engine was harder to turn by hand.
Also, careful assembly of conrods and attempting to turn them on the crank revealed one was a bit tight. We disassembled despite torquing ever so carefully in gradual steps to reach final torque, with LOCTITE, but it was worth it as we spotted a tiny sliver on the bottom half of the rod due to indentation (must have hit something) pushing the bearing shell up JUST a bit, making the rod too tight on the crank. We scraped it and reassembled, and then checked to see that all rods moved with the same 'tightness'.
Working on a VW engine, or a Porsche aircooled version for that matter, albeit simple in design concept gives you a fantastic amount of knowledge and appreciation for coefficient of thermal expansion, materials, etc. The crank itself is forged (!) steel with crossdrilling, and oil troughs at the holes (!!!), crankcase is AS41 magnesium alloy, cylinders are cast steel (finned), and the head is aluminium. Torque anything the wrong way and it will pull a stud for sure. 'Mechanics' who think they can work by 'feel' and are too smart to follow a service manual will invariably fail.
Lately 'tuning' has become something of a trend, with many little girls and boys trying to pimp out their ride and pose as hardcore tuner car owners in their lowered, stickered out, big shiny exhaust, dark tinted, potong shop bucket seat equipped, multiple blue-light gauged, fibreglass aero kitted, etc. ride. They merely scratch the surface but know little about the meat INSIDE the burger. Just check out any forum online and you'll see hundreds of this legion of ricers. I hope we can aspire to be a step above them. I myself know very little and every single day is a learning experience. There is just so much to learn about cars. Then again everyone has their taste, so we can't really condemn or judge a person's direction or aim in customising their car, but you have to admit that there are some seriously ugly, badly 'modified' cars out there! The thrill of a cheap deal lasts a while, but the satisfaction of having quality parts, fitted properly lasts much much longer.
I hope I don't make anyone angry but I'm just repeating what my father and some other inspirational old timers (heard of Charlie Nge of PJ?) told me .... 'Understand the basics first'. Lots ot learn, lots to learn ...
Anyone have a good all-in-one centre to recommend?
