CB Performance vs MOFOCO Engines

Help I am trying to determine where to purchase my engine from for my Spyder. I have heard stories of brand new engines put in the car and they do not run. I have heard CB and MOFOCO names time and time again. But it looks like CB runs about $2,000 more for the same engine.

CB has a very good reputation in the VW engine community, not perfect but far better than most. I have had 2 of their engines and I had no CB caused engine problems at all. They may be more expensive than some, but there is a good reason why they are....has to do with the quality of parts used, the expertise of the builder (Pat Downs has an excellent rep in the business, he is the primary builder at CB), as well as the support they provide. I would take a CB engine at more $$$ over a Mofoco, or GEM, or any number of so called volume builders. Search thesamba.com for builders and threads regarding issues....and I have no interest in CB or any of the other builders either...

CB offers a variety of "build it yourself" engine packages ranging from 1776cc to 2332cc. All the parts are top quality and matched to each engine for compatability. Prices are reasonable and you can specify some options, i.e. H-beam rods in lieu of I-beams. If you have the ability and time, I think it best to assemble your own engine.

Thanks all, I know you get what you pay for. Cheers

i got a very good education by meeting ralph, rick, goofy, tom mcburnie, carey and kevin hines, visiting thunder ranch, special edition, and cb performance - and by talking to/e mailing jake raby.

with the words of wisdom from these fine folks - and others - you'll know where to go - and where not to go.

well went ahead a bought a used 550, built in 2005 by special edition with a CB Performance motor. so far so good. lol

A little late to the post, but the CB 2110 engine I have in my I.M built by Pat Downs is one of the best Boxer engines I've ever owned, & that includes about 36 Porsche 356 engines from factory Supers, S90's, SC's, 912's & some Rally engines built by the best in the industry. This engine built by Pat is awesome, smooth, cool running & flawless after 37k miles.

A fellow forum member, Felix Bircher, once let me drive his CB Performance engine equipped IM Convertible D and it was smooth, powerful and so responsive you'd think you were driving a FI equipped car. The car barely vibrated at idle. You get what you pay for, definitely.

Sometimes it's a crap shoot.  I had my 2276 built by a shop that I thought was capable, but the engine had serious overheating problems and is coming apart after only 3,000 miles.

That sucks royally!

For members living in the Michigan area, I had Petrucci Racing Engines build me a 2332 back in 1992! That's when it was unheard of to run that big a motor on the street. I've had it in a couple of different cars over the years and it still runs strong today in my speedster and all I've ever done to that motor is valve adjustments and tune-ups. Primo is his first name, he's a machinist by trade, also has an in-house flow bench and dyno. Does all his own work, very meticulas!  Super nice guy, I beleive he's still in buiseness in Farmington Heights just out side of Detroit. 

He's still there.  I buy my Brad Penn through him.

jesse do you live in the detroit area? bill

Bill, he's in London, ON.

Jesse- Do you know the motor specs? Valve sizes and porting, cam, exhaust, compression ratio, carbs? How high does it rev with power before it peaks in 3rd or 4th gear?

now you are asking a skill testing question;it's been over twenty years ago since I had the motor built. I'll have to do some digging to find the paperwork for specs. . It's a low compression motor  2332,  7.5-1 ,  scat forged crank, 044 heads with 10 or 12 hours of pot/flowbench work,scat 1.5 ratio rockers 48IDF weber carbs. Primo wanted to run a dual ramp Crower cam @ the time but it wasn't available so he used an Engle with some serious specs. but don't remember the lift and duration on the cam or the valve sizes. I've had this motor up to 6500 rpm in third gear a number of times and 6000rpm in forth @ well over 100mph. 

I have mofoco heads & cb heads, Ive bought a lot form cb, a little from mofoco, there both great companys, cb is more power oriented than mofoco, mofoco heads are street heads.cb has heads for street&strip.if I wasasent building my own I would probably go with cb. but they both have good reps.cb builda a lot more performance motors than roy does.

As Jesse says; I believe the key to longevity with these motors is a lower compression ratio. Sure you lose some power but the motor will run cooler, live longer and you are able to use lower octane gas. It's the Gene Berg school of thought.

genes school wasent always right, and lower cr? whats that? lower than 12:1?11:1?10:1? I would not go lower than 9:1 on any, but most importaint is to make sure you have proper quench. .040" quench +- .005 , my 2028 has 10.4 cr. ( so it is kinda low)cools just fine, runs great. but the entire package needs to work togeather.engine,acm,heads,cooling,oil,induction,exhaust,tins&sourounding aeras,shroud, distributor, state of tune,all of it, not just shiney ****.