Steve,

That's a sweet engine build. Where on earth did you find brand new manifold bolts?! Seriously, where can I get some of those good-looking .040 over pistons?

The stock JH made 90 HP with the solid head and 92 HP with the '88-'89 JH hydraulic head. They took away our compression ratio but NOT our head (since Bentley and VW both confirm later JH engines came w/ the hydro head). The orig. stock exhaust manifold was terrible, so I can't imagine any well-built LEGAL JH with a good header or Techtonics downpipe making less than about 99 BHP, IMHO. Sure, the 10:1 C.R. was worth a few more (my guess is 3-5) HP, but NOT 15!!!

As some know, my pro-built 0.020 over JH only lasted one race plus half of another warm-up this year. Frankly, it did feel slow compared to last year's HT, but it was also a nightmare inside, as attested to by the sloppy aux shaft bearing which had the timing chattering, and which may have led to a lack of oil pressure to #1 rod. It also had some of the most mismatched ports I've seen in years. I still can't believe I paid money for that piece of junk.

If I ever get around to building a new LEGAL JH, I think it can still be competitive. In the meantime, I'm going to try the old 0.040 over 1.7 that's been gathering dust for a few years... At 160lbs lighter (must be the smaller valves), it just might be OK

Eric