Mk1 16v conversion advice

[henryg]

I have a 78 Mk1 2dr and want to make the car a bit more individual and powerful, so with my tax return I'll have a budget of around $4000 to double my valve count.

I obvoiusly want to make as few mistakes as possible having not undertaken a project like this before, so I was after some advice form the experts.

I am pretty keen on an 2.0 ABF but if anybody has found the smaller 16's are easier to find or much cheaper please let me know.

An area I need advice on is gearboxes. I want to keep my 13" ATS classics, so is there a good combo that will give good highway rpm on this size wheel if I ran a little lower profile tyres?

Where are some good places to source these engines from in Australia? Im not particularly happy with the idea of importing an engine, but if its cheaper It would be silly not to.

Im realy just after some of the things I would not have heard about reading these forums that I will need to budget for, so I dont get any nasty suprises.

Any help is appreciated!

[Golf Loon]

I dont reckon $4k is enough mate. How are you gonna fuel this engine????
Kjet is old as the hills and EFI aftermarket setups or Carbs will cost you a couple of grand easy, plus motor, abfs are rare and the earlier engines all need rebuilds by now.
I`d go 2L EFI in a Mk1, cheap, easy, light and reliable.

[jayjay]

I'd have to agree with matt on this one.

the 2.0 8v is such an underrated motor for a whack-it-in-'n'-grin affair. They're cheap to buy, build, and replace. The engine management options can all come from the stock VAG fold which means once again means ease of repair and replacement.

the other upgrade is a 5-speed diesel gearbox. Coupled to a strong petrol motor, the ratios can be wound out and you get nice and tall over drives for cruising and good economy. I could wind out second easily past 120km, but be around 2600rpm in 5th on the motorway.

I dont mean to dishearten you but everyone has dreams of a 16v on independent throttle bodies or a great big angry turbo, but the fun and games are lost when a $500 car becomes a $10000 car. or 20 or 30. Heart first is always fun to start with, but don't narrow your options before you've considered them.

All of the 1.8 16v motors are imported, as are the vast majority of pokey k-jet ones. they can be found and had, but a nicely built 2.0 8v, for me at least, attests to the zippy three-wheeling formula that Golfs are intended to follow.

hope this helps. welcome to the forum too.

[MeeM]

Apologies for the thread hijack. I'm considering a similar project so I thought I'd continue the discussion here.

Some time this year, I plan on buying a Mk1 as a project car. I spoke to a VW mechanic who's been working on VWs for decades and he recommended a 2.0 litre Mk3 engine - I assume he was talking about the ABA engine (8V if I'm not mistaken, yes?). I understand it requires more work than other projects (e.g. more wiring, OBD, etc.) but I have experience with car electrics and besides, I want the challenge. I had almost completely ruled out the 8V option until I came across this thread. I love torque low down and from what I've heard on other forums, the 16V tends to be more problematic.

I'm not looking to build a track car, it's just something I've wanted to build for some years now, a Mk1 Golf with an engine transplanted and modified by myself. Sure, I plan to weld up any rust (gotta learn to use a mig welder now!), respray if necessary, lay new carpeting/sound deadening, exhaust, car audio system, but the main thing is the engine swap.

The following two links suggest the 8V as an easier engine to work with:

A1 Compatible Engine Swaps

VW Ax Platform Engine Swaps

Has anyone used these sites as a guide? Is the info accurate, as far as your experience is concerned?

[revnit]

I run a 2.0 16v with early k-jet none of this technical rubbish added to it i wouldn't have it any other way , if you are going to go 16v you will have to import or buy a car with a 16v in it something like a seat 16v and strip it which will most likely blow the budget $$$, i haven't seen a 16v pop up for sale for a long time on here or anywhere in Australia, i picked mine up by accident really. 2.0l 8v is a good option and a easy one to compared to 16v, plenty of grunt you can always make it go faster

[Peter Jones]

A lot of the motors talked about on overseas forums aren't very available here.

16v motors are very rare here as are the G60 motors.

ABAs do exist but they aren't cheap. Overseas markets got them in the MK3s so there's heaps of them going cheap. We only got them in new Beetles.

Most popular conversions here would have to be

1800 MK3 CL / Seat Cordoba. Great performance at a bargain price. Simple injection system to reuse or works well with carbs. Easiest of all the transplants.

2000 MK3 GL 2E /AEG motors Bit harder to fit in. Not as revvy as the 1800 but more torque. Injection can be brought over or will run happily on carbs although dizzy needs adapting.

1.8 20VT MK 4 More expensive, hardest to do, but very fast with lots of tuning potential.

The 1800 conversion on carbs can be done in a weekend and can cost as little as $500 all up.

2000 motor will cost more to buy and there's a few extra bits to sort out but you should still be under $1000

The 20vt is going to cost thousands, you need to plan carefully and do a lot of research before committing to this conversion.

You might get lucky and find a 16v motor they're roughly the same effort as the 2L to install

[scoob02]

Pete with any of the 1.8 or 2.0l (8v or 16v) what are the options for he gearbox? Maintain the existing 4 speed or.....

What is ur plan for the ex-Toledo 16v engine

Cheers

[Peter Jones]

Most gearboxes will work OK. 4 speed is OK but the later 020 5 speeds are better. Heaps of ratios and final drive ratios to think about.

It's also possible to use the later MK4 Golf gearboxes with a bit of adaption.

The Toledo 16v motor will be rebuilt for racing, exact details of the build are a way off yet. I'm focussing on the bodywork and suspension first.