You name it, HAM Inc. can perform that service on your Type 4 heads. Here a Type 4 head is being flycut.

While Ham Inc. specializes in VW, Porsche, and BMW cylinderhead restoration and high-performance, it is our Type IV development that we are most widely known for, and for good reason. When I opened the doors of Ham Inc. in 1996 I had tucked in the back of my mind a belief that the Type IV had a tremendous amount of untapped potential. Since this engine was standard equipment in the beautifully balanced 914, I knew the performance improvements could really be put to use. With that in mind, I turned my attention to the 2.0 914 head. I applied restoration techniques developed over the previous decade on a multitude of different heads. At the same time I brought in better valve seat materials and improved installation methods, along with longer lasting valve guides. I determined which areas of the casting were weak and made improvements. I developed a very impressive assortment of fixtures and tooling as well as proprietary cutter profiles and machining methods. At this point there is no Type IV machining operation out of reach for Ham Inc. After fine-tuning my casting repair & upgrade techniques, I turned my focus to improving performance.

This is the process I go through to ensure no angle change at the intake to head connection. The intake is leveled with a dial indicator (left) then bored through the alignment plate (right). The head gets the same treatment and the alignment is maintained with pins ensuring that the transition from manifold to head is straight and seamless. Another advantage of this method is that a customer can decide to try a different set of manifolds after the engine is installed and get them port matched with out removing the heads. This is possible because the pin location and bores are set using the fixture. This affords perfect repeatablilty and allows experimentation without big headaches.

Over the years I have had numerous race and street customers rave about the performance and reliability of their engines with my cylinder heads. I have never advertised, yet my reputation has grown steadlily from word of mouth. In 2004 Jake Raby, of Raby's Aircooled Technology, began dyno-testing my heads on a variety of his engine combinations and has pronounced them the best torque producers he's ever seen, with impressive Brake Specific Fuel Consumption numbers to boot. Jakes testing has also found that my heads consistently require less ignition timing to produce peak torque. Jake's commitment to R&D has allowed me accelerate my own R&D program as his control methods are very scientific and I get very timely feedback.

Like him or not, Jake's commitment to the Type IV is unlike any I've ever seen. He makes no bones about telling it like he sees it. If any component he tests doesn't make the grade, he throws it on the scrap pile and then tells the world. After testing my various port and chamber combos, Jake now uses HAM heads on all of his high- performance Type IV engines.

Whether it's a bone stock restoration or a fully developed E-production with titanium components, DLC's (Diamond Like Coatings), and highly developed port and chamber shapes, HamInc. has you covered. We're not just blowing smoke when we say that the most powerful, and reliable Type IV heads come from Hoffman Automotive Machine Inc.

This started out as a Type 4 1.7L cyinder head, #021-101-371Q. These photos show the changes that we did to this cylinder head to make it a 914 2.0L, #039-101-371A (3 stud). This labor intensive process can turn any standard Type 4 cylinder head into the high performing 3 stud cylinder head. Contact us if you're interested in this procedure for your next Type 4 barnstormer.