Curious of the advantages and disadvantages of the aluminum cases and if there worth buying for a naturally aspirated engine or if there better for boost?

Thanks

The case debate goes as deep as the Chaindrive versus CV/axel drive and the even as deep as the debate between water cooled versus air cooled. This topic is covered in depth on thesamba.com forum. Look in the engine section. I believe its a Sticky. I personally built my last engine with an aluminum engine and will say I was not that impressed with the quality of it over a mag AS41 case.

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Water cooled Dry Sumped Subaru Powered Turbo Charged Fuel Injected 2500CC Tank. Oh Rah! He who dies with the most Toys not only wins, He also wears them out!

I have only built two motors with the aluminum case. There are quite a few brands out there now a days. I used some of the earliest ones offered. I am sure the quality has improved some. I am also sure the quality will vary greatly from brand to brand. I had some minor problems with the ones I used but was able to solve them. My personal car has a Mag case in it.

Pros of the aluminum case:
1: They should dissipate heat better.
2: you can buy them clearance for what ever crank you want.
3: you can get them already machined so you do not have to use barrel spacers
4: they are solid behind #3


Cons:
1: they are much heavier than a mag. Case any where from 18lb to 30lb
2. The aluminum is more brittle, so if a motor mount comes loose you can break the case.
3: They can cost a lot more

I have one of each and like the Aluminum case a lot if it was not so heavy. I am running a CB race high top race case it has extra dowel pins, and case savers. It seams to be a very good case. It was a little high, ($700.00) but everything pretty much bolted right in.

Hope this help a little, I would call CB Performance and ask them about them.

my latest motor has an alum. case, and other than the weight, i can't complain. it was close to $200 dollars cheaper than a new mag. case

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Maybe you should chug on over to mamby pamby land....

Aluminum cases are sand cast.
Mag cases are die cast forged.

CB is the only aluminum case I would even consider.

Until you get past about an 86 stroke, stick with mag. IMHO.

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Gary

Turbo VW Sand Racer
Polaris Ranger



"If you don't run into the Devil every once in awhile, you must be going in the same direction!"

Davis Motorsports FaceBook Page

i say a mag.iv broke my alu. and had to helacoil a lot of holes.

I've went to the aluminum because i riped a head stud right out of the mag. and it's easier for me to weld if i do any damage. Speaking of that does any1
know someone that can fix that?

[quote='jacobnhra']I've went to the aluminum because i riped a head stud right out of the mag. and it's easier for me to weld if i do any damage. Speaking of that does any1
know someone that can fix that?[/quote]

RIMCO

Ive built a couple of aluminum case motors and the only thing i didnt like was the finish on the inside. There was alot of burs that came lose very easy. I took alot of time makeing sure to get all of that cleaned up. Other than that it went together smooth.

Alum or mag I allways take a zizwheel and pritty much polish the inside of my motor's the oil moves better

If you allready have a good original German VW Mag. case, I would use it. If you have to buy a case, I would get an Aluminum one. The Aluminum cases are actually cheaper than the Mag cases. Stock 1600 dimension cases are quite a bit cheaper in Aluminum. The performance cases are fairly close in price. Since CB Performance was mentioned, you can use their site as an example for the performance cases. Their $599 Mag "Super Case" has the welded plate, is clearenced for large stoke cranks, and is machined for whatever cylinder size. There is an extra $20 charge for full flow oiling, and a $100 charge for 10mm stud inserts. Their $599 Performance Aluminum Case has all the similar features of the Mag case. On the Alumium case the full flow oiling is allready done, and 10mm stud inserts are available at no extra charge. The base case is the same price, but you would have $120 more with a full flowed 10mm stud Mag case. The only con I see with the Aluminum case is the extra weight. They are fairly stonger than the Mag cases. Any new Mexican, or Brasilian Mag case will have problems in the lifter bores wearing out fairly quickly. If you have a fairly aggressive cam, an original German VW Mag case will have the lifter bores wear out. The Aluminum cases don't have wear problems in the lifter bores. I see no problem in running a properly line bored Mag case. If you have a well balanced crank/assembly, you shouldn't have problems with your Mag case needing line bored that often. Although the Aluminum cases haven't been around as long as the Mag ones, I don't know of one yet that needs to be linebored. The aluminum cases, reguardless of what company you get them from, are all made by the same foundry called Auto Linea. CB is the only company that has them made differently with a taller deck so you don't need cylinder shims on long rod/stroke engines. Bugpack, EMPI, and CB's standard deck case are all the exact same case with the exception of each company has their logo cast on the side of the oil sump. Hope this helps.