1.3 tuning

i have a 1.3 mk1 (1st car) and cant afford an engine transplant or the insurance for a gti    
im sick of bellends in clios etc leaving me at the traffic lights  :evil:  
its a 1272cc 8v with a single pierburg carb.
so i was just wondering  if any one knew of ways of getting more power frm the engine :?:  and/or to make it accelerate alot quicker all replys would be greatly appreciated.  

Iain. :wink:

Loosing weight from the car is a good start as its free, give it a good service and get it properly set up by someone that knows what they are doing, will have a think and see what else i can come up with

Losing weight, as Storm says, is the best way to go. You can put on a Weber carburettor, but I found (my first car was also a 1.3 Mk1) that it used more fuel, and cold starts on winter mornings were a bit trickier.

The 1272cc (GF) engine is actually an enlarged version of the smaller Golf and Polo engines  - it stared life as an 845cc (!) engine in the Polo in 1974, so  getting it up to 1272cc and 60BHP is about all VW could really do - I've seen people getting over 80BHP by spending thousands, but it's bad value for money…

You could look at getting the supercharged 1272 engine from a Polo G40, but the engines are rare, and expensive to buy, and your insurance co. will not be happy with you…

I know I sound like your dad or something, but look on the bright side - having a car that isn't very fast is really good for developing your driving skills - you learn to look ahead more, anticpating things that are going to slow you down, learn to change lanes before the guy in front puts on his right-hand indicator, etc. When you do get a GTI, you'll be able to drive it better than if you had a fast car from the moment you passed your test.

Let the Clio tw4ts go, they're not worth it, and if you are a better driver in the long run, you'll be passing them in the other lane, as they get stuck behind the person turning  :wink:

Agree with you Type 17. Ideally I like to drive my GTI, but when that's off the road (like now) I drive a 1100 Golf C. This has even less power than 1300, but certainly gets you thinking a lot more about using the speed wisely and trying to keep corner speeds up.

If you want more overall speed trying modding suspension i.e lower, anti roll bar and fatter tyres.  K&N filter might be worth a try - anyone tried one in a small block engine. If nothing else might give a bit more of a induction roar.

The traffic light grand prix can be fun, but anyone can boot a car through the gears and there will always be someone who turns up with a more powerful car. Cornering, braking, driving lines, car angle and poise etc requires much more skill. Many drivers will race away from the lights, but can't drive through a corner to save their life.

Cheers

markwon said

If you want more overall speed trying modding suspension i.e lower, anti roll bar and fatter tyres.  

Now that you mention it, I put GTI anti-roll bars onto my 1.3 and it transformed it on roundabouts - nothing coming, drive in and go around at 40-45mph  :wink:

Also fitted 185 x 60 x 14 tyres on a set of steel rims that came on the Golf Mk2 Driver - helped handling a bit more, but above all, made the car look a lot better, but without looking "all mouth and no trousers", by putting alloys on a 1.3

Haven't modded mine at all as still pretty original. Will be having a new set of Pirelli 165s fitted at the weeknd - should be an improvemnt over current mismatched 145s. Was tempted to go wider, but I hope this will give a balance between better grip and retaining the incredibly light flicky streeing. Probably get some lowering springs later on this year.

Type17 said

Now that you mention it, I put GTI anti-roll bars onto my 1.3 and it transformed it on roundabouts - nothing coming, drive in and go around at 40-45mph  :wink:

Did you do this by drilling holes in your wishbones and fitting brackets off a mk1 ? This is the method Al_mk1 used, i wondered if there's an easier way (ie. less margin for error for the likes of my handywork) .

thanks alot guys my car started off life as a 1.1c but due to a blown headgasket and many other problems we decided to change engines a friend of my dads was scrapping a 1.3 polo which had half the miles of the 1.1 (although the engines bigger is only putting out 5bhp more thn the original engine). so over a LONG!!! weekend we did the engine swap. the car was already lowered when i got it and ive put 14" a think there called teardrop alloys (dont quote me on that tho) they're 185/55 and the car handles like a dream it sticks to the road like sh*t to a blanket. i've bn drivin it for a year now and know the car and its limits so i am a lot better at driving at most of my peers, thanks again for all ur advice, if anyone has any other ideas then it would also be appreciated
                                               Iain.

Greg said

Type17 said

Now that you mention it, I put GTI anti-roll bars onto my 1.3 and it transformed it on roundabouts - nothing coming, drive in and go around at 40-45mph  :wink:

Did you do this by drilling holes in your wishbones and fitting brackets off a mk1 ? This is the method Al_mk1 used, i wondered if there's an easier way (ie. less margin for error for the likes of my handywork) .

The options are:

1. Fit the front wishbone to the car, using the inner brackets only, and lower the car to the (level) ground.
Then, using the (correctly-seated) rubber bushes and the U-shaped brackets as a guide, mark the position of the holes to be drilled on the wishbones and then jack the car up again, and remove them, and do your drilling (note that all MK1 wishbones have a space in the central-spine box-section and on the outer flange lips for the bracket to sit in - you can use this as a backup to your markings).

2. Buy new GTI-spec wishbones from VAG or GSF, which will have the holes in them already.

3. Buy/get the wishbones from the car that you get the anti-roll bars from (if available). If they are too poor to use, you can use them to mark up your original wishbones, as above.

ive bn told tht apparently if i fit a distributer frm a 1.6 it will speed up the timing of the engine therefore increasing the speed of the engine im a bit suspicious of this idea as ive never heard of it been done b4 but this guy is adement tht it will work as he did it to a nova years ago :? dnt take the "micky" if this advice is bull5h*t LoL as im a bit inexperienced when it comes to tuning im more experienced in the electronic side of things  ur advice plz!
                                                Iain.

Iain-Mk1-Golf said

ive bn told tht apparently if i fit a distributer frm a 1.6 it will speed up the timing of the engine therefore increasing the speed of the engine im a bit suspicious of this idea as ive never heard of it been done b4 but this guy is adement tht it will work as he did it to a nova years ago :? dnt take the "micky" if this advice is bull5h*t LoL as im a bit inexperienced when it comes to tuning im more experienced in the electronic side of things  ur advice plz!
                                                Iain.

It might work on a Nova (although I'd be worried about pinking from over-advancement), but there's no hope on a Golf because the 1.1/1.3 engine runs the dizzy from the cam, and on the bigger engines, it's a totally different distributor, run from the intermediate shaft.

thats all i wanted to know thanks alot for the reply.  8)

Type17 said

The options are:

1. Fit the front wishbone to the car, using the inner brackets only, and lower the car to the (level) ground.
Then, using the (correctly-seated) rubber bushes and the U-shaped brackets as a guide, mark the position of the holes to be drilled on the wishbones and then jack the car up again, and remove them, and do your drilling (note that all MK1 wishbones have a space in the central-spine box-section and on the outer flange lips for the bracket to sit in - you can use this as a backup to your markings).

2. Buy new GTI-spec wishbones from VAG or GSF, which will have the holes in them already.

3. Buy/get the wishbones from the car that you get the anti-roll bars from (if available). If they are too poor to use, you can use them to mark up your original wishbones, as above.

Great thanks !
Sorry to hijack your thread Iain .

dnt worry abt it mate my questions have already bn answered :wink:

Look upon my website www.pentagram-motorsport.com and then (if your German is up to scratch) have a look at www.86c.de - the answers to 130bhp from a 1.3 lie there...

Interesting stuff Steve !

im also doin a very simalar conversion to steves apart from im using yamaha r6 bike carbs insted of twin 40's. il let you know how it goes when its up and runnin.

I have a 84' 1272 driver  which i hope to have on the road just shortly   the previous owner put a vw / audi -gti equivelent- brake setup on it  :? so next step is lowering. how low is your golf and how well does it handle?
I got a gti interior for it (not from a real gti though becuase the head liner was white not black) and a set of 15 inch deep dish wheels (to keep some power) Hopeing to get the 1.6 rs engine out my brothers a3 about new year time! so i just hope my end bearin shells will last till then 8O . lol

the 1.6 engine sounds gud mate, i was tempted to go for a bigger engine transplant but decided to stick with the 1.3 because i cudnt be bothered or afford to change the engine mount and steering rack etc.  is it going to be injection or carbed?

injection  it's only got about 100-sh bhp standard so it'll be about gti equivelent, but a mate of mine who worked in a audi skoda garage told me a wea story about the engine and a ecu from a tt :? . (bearing in mined the new audi's , seats , skodas and volkwagens share the similar chassis and the same engines). He seems totally adiment that it would work but warns me about the std geabox. The engine uses a single rod with all the gears on it which is held on by rivets (which have a tendency to go)

Have any of yous heard anything like that being done with a ecu before?