So, for anyone listening, I've started the process of switching what I can on my CBEA to CJAA but I think I'm startin to overthink things.
Has anyone ever ran a CBEA head with a CJAA bottom end? They should mate the same on the bottom but I know the valve cover is slightly different. Can anyone smarter than me add any details to this? I know the oil pump and one coolant hose are different. I found a pretty comprehensive thread from a few years ago where a brave guy tries to go over all the differences, but there appears to be some fogginess around a couple things. Namely whether or not the cylinder head is fundamentally different in regards to belt tension or deck height or if it just uses a different cam cover. Like how you can use a 1.9L IDI/TDI AAZ cylinder head on a 1.6L IDI vw bottom end
(I built one of these when I was 17) and made a huge 15 page thread about it. I just looked after many years and it has over 30,000 views! That's crazy to me! Beware, I did that build when I was a teenager in my parents garage. It was an enormous learning experience so the thread is largely me asking questions and the posting what I either accomplished or screwed up.
My one huge regret is not posting more when the car was working. I won't make that mistake again.
If my CBEA head is ruined, should I replace it with a CJAA head? I don't have the money (moreso the space) to buy and convert to a PD180 head as previously discussed. Would all my other CBEA parts cross over no problem to both a CJAA or a PD180 cylinder head? Reminder: I don't have the factory exhaust at all - it's a completely fabricated 2.5 inch open exhaust (with a fake DPF) and full egr and exhaust-valve delete and I have a strange turbo swap that seemed to be an easy modification.
I've got a bare CJAA block; so, I found a used chain driven ALH pump "conversion" kit but I'm pretty sure I'll have to drill and tap the block. I also found the t-stat hose for a CJAA from a local retailer - I need to order it. VW wanted something totally crazy like $300 for it - its less than half that for aftermarket. For anyone finding this in a search, the hose is a Gates product:
24674 GATR
Product # 42948674
I'm thinking after ARP head studs the weak point of my build will be the crank... short of having a custom milled crank created for what I would guess would be something like $15,000, I'm not sure what else to do other than to buy a good condition used one. (I'm assuming mine has major damage from the rod throw event).
I'm waiting to see if I need to do a bore before I buy new pistons. Does anyone have anything to say about ceramic coating piston faces? Valves too? The exhaust turbine of the turbo cartridge (lol!)? I'm in a position to do silly things like that but is there a benefit? Curious to see what you all think.
Moving forward - what to expect here - , I live in North Vancouver where (at lower elevations at least) it doesn't really snow, but over the last two days it snowed something like 25cm. I know this sounds piddly to anyone in the interior but it's also hovering between +1c and -1c so everything either looks like its melting and it is, or it's completely frozen and is terrifying to walk/drive/stand on. Think polished ice rink that LOOKS like pavement. I've spent all morning helping my older neighbours leave the building and I had sort of planned on picking up the block today - I knew it was going to snow.
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