1.8 8v nom nom nomming oil

[ericcs]

i think if you've lost that much oil from leaks, it would be everywhere. weeping seals and gaskets wouldn't account for any significant oil loss
me thinks rings!

[Mk1DUB]

annnnnnd the fuel pump just died hahaha.

I'll be ordering oring/gaskets for the fuel pump, oil filter bracket and distributor, along with a new fuel pump I won't be putting them on until January, and I'll monitor the oil catch can once it's driving again

[Mk1DUB]

I got my hands on the haynes manual and it's made me more concerned. Excessive oil consumption could be caused by worn/broken rings or requiring reconditioning/replacement of the head...

Once the fuel pump is on and the car is running, I'll check the catch can and report if it's filling up. If it is, what would you recommend to be the first step of troubleshooting? is it worth reconditioning if the block or head is worn enough to cause this much oil consumption? or should I be considering a swap?

[MarcusAurelius]

Too much work in doing a reco, might as well go mk3 1.8.. heaps less work too

[Mk1DUB]

What would the simplest swap be? Anything that I could do in a day with 3 people working on it. I guess I'll need to know what parts I'll need and I can work it out from there.

[ericcs]

What would the simplest swap be? Anything that I could do in a day with 3 people working on it. I guess I'll need to know what parts I'll need and I can work it out from there.

a like for like engine swap is about all you'll get away with in a day.
i have done "economy" rebuilds in a day before, where you leave the engine in and just take the head and sump off and pull the pistons out. this is assuming all you need is a hone of the bores and a quick lap of the valves and new stem seals, and that you know what your doing!

[sports racer]

You've already got a 1.8 so any 8v will go in easy. Why not go for a 2.0? The MK3 2.0 is a slow engine but replace the head with a 1.8 one and it's a really good engine for a daily driver. That's what I've got in my MK2 and it goes well.

Doing the swap in a day is pretty easy as long as you've got someone who knows what they are doing.

[Mk1DUB]

I can't seem to find any 1.8 or 2.0 8v's for sale anyone know of any locations? I'm in melbourne but shipping could be viable.

[Petska84]

George had a 1.8 up for grabs, think he still might have it as he only recently removed it to do the 20v swap?

[Mk1DUB]

After further investigation, I'm fairly certain that the gasket for the oil filter bracket is blown. running a finger around it after a short drive returned significant wet oil on my finger, and all of the fresh wet spots were on locations directly below it. After replacing the fuel pump, it is completely dry around this area. I have gaskets and will replace the dizzy and oil filter ones when I can and report back on the oil consumption.

This is supported by my fitting of the oil catch can and having no liquid oil in the can after roughly 100+ km's... so I'm confident that I don't have excess blow-by.

cheers for the input thus far, every digit and extremity has been crossed in anticipation of the results :p