Converting to efi for £150

Hi, 
I have found somebody willing to sell me all the parts to convert a 1.3 to multi point injection. They want 150 quid posted to me. 
At the moment I have a solex carb which I got from crazy quiffs. The carb could do with a bit of a tune, as it stalls at junctions despite the idle being at 1000 revs on the driveway. Since I am no expert I would probably need to pay someone to get it perfect. 

However, even then, let's be honest, it will not be as reliable, and fuel efficient as multi point injection. I am going to be driving about 250-300 miles a week in her next year. So far since putting the solex on, I have done about 75 miles of mixed driving and the gauge reads just over half way. So that equates to around 15-20 mpg. Not great? Admittedly it is on 13's and low profiles, which meant the speedo was reading 80 and was Revving 4500 to go about 65… Putting 15's on when I have refurbed and balanced them. 

So any opinions? I would ideally like 40mpg on dual carriageway! I can't afford to be filling up every few days…  To me the mpi sounds like the best route,  150 quid plus some spares to sell. An engine conversion is not an option just yet.. As it is, the insurance still think that it is a 1.1…

Cheers
Rob 

So effectively you are not insured then ?

What is the EFI off ? What is the ECU and does it come with a map that works for your engine ? If not you would need to budget a rolling road setup in the cost 

Sorry should have said, all the bits are off a polo gt so 1.3 bits, same bore and stroke as far as I know, main differences are compression ratio, head and cam (and all the injection stuff which I plan to use.) 

Do insurers actually check engine codes, because both small blocks are externally visually identical. 

unless you change the block as well its not going to work well, a 1.4 ABD bottom end would go well with that setup, you wouldnt need the head either just the gt cam.

but yes, please do tell the insurance about any modifications you have done

Thanks for the reply. I am planning on notifying the insurance, and spoke to them today about my back box and coil overs. They said it shouldn't add much, I'll see. But sure, I understand totally, it is not worth not declaring! 

1.4abd? From a MK4 golf? I would need the top end too though, no? What is the advantage of this over my lump apart from the electronics? 

Should I rewrite my original question-what is the easiest and cheapest way of increasing the economy and still end up with something that the insurance are not going to cane me for, as I am 17? (please don't say new car haha) 

I think if you mention fuel injection the insurers will probably not insure you - worth a check before you spend your hard earned cash.

I would concentrate on getting it set up properly. That mpg is way too low. The fact that it stalls probably means you have an air leak, which will play havoc with the fuel consumption.

I assume that the carb is jetted correctly for the 1.3 ? Does it have electronic ignition or points ? Does the exhaust have a good back pressure. Make sure the carb mount is not leaking, in fact check all the seals and the vacuum pipes. Are you using the original airbox ? Is the filter clean? Are you getting a nice fat spark, ie all the electrical side working well.

 

r_chez_08 said

Do insurers actually check engine codes, because both small blocks are externally visually identical. 

The answer to that bit is…..yes they do. Insurance assessors are experts at knowing what parts are what, in an engine bay, or anywhere else on a car in fact. Remember, they have a vested interest - if you were involved in a costly accident, and they were looking at eg an injury payout for the other party, then yes they'd be very keen to save some money. And forget about swapping parts back etc - the car might be in an inaccessible pound (their pound) or you might be in hospital, etc etc.

Yeah sure, makes sense! Thanks for that, just wasn't sure if they would simply pop the bonnet and have a quick scan around

lhasadreams said

I think if you mention fuel injection the insurers will probably not insure you - worth a check before you spend your hard earned cash.

I spoke to the rep today in person, he is looking into it for me. Also checking the few other mods. 

lhasadreams said

I would concentrate on getting it set up properly. That mpg is way too low. The fact that it stalls probably means you have an air leak, which will play havoc with the fuel consumption.
 

May do, couldn't find anything with a can of wd40

lhasadreams said

 I assume that the carb is jetted correctly for the 1.3 ?  
 

As far as I know! It's a 1.3 carb model. 

lhasadreams said

 Does it have electronic ignition or points ?

pertronix electronic ignition. 
 

lhasadreams said

Does the exhaust have a good back pressure.

how can I check this? 
 

lhasadreams said

Make sure the carb mount is not leaking, in fact check all the seals and the vacuum pipes.

vacuum pipes are fine, carb mounting may well be shot, but I may have put a weber on if I can find the right jets as I have two in bits sitting in an ice cream tub! So didn't want to spend if I didn't have to as there were no splits all the way through. 

lhasadreams said

 Are you using the original airbox ? Is the filter clean?

yes and yes. 

lhasadreams said

 Are you getting a nice fat spark, ie all the electrical side working well.
I should hope so! Replaced pretty much everything on it because I thought I had a ht leak. New gapped plugs cap rotor arm coil (then changed it back)  leads (then changed them back) I'll double check the spark colour. 

Many thanks for everyone's help, much appreciated! 

the abd lump is early mk3 and seat, possibly 6n polo as well. its basically the same as the 1.3 polo gt lump but with more cc, hence why you can leave the head on. cam is lame so fit the gt cam

trouble with yours is its lower compression so the gt injection isnt going to work so well, and after all the effort you put in you really wont see much benefit, this is why i would recommend going with a 1.4 lump, or a polo gt lump even! some of the mk3 1.4 use mpi same as the polo too, so if you found a later one could just swap whole thing over without messing. easier to declare that on insurance too just tell them its totally standard 1.4 mk3 lump. prob be cheap to insure as a result. try later 6n polo as well, they're prob in lower insurance group so even cheaper!

generally the insurance companies base the quote on the group of the car the engine came from, then add extra on top if you increase the bhp. if you went with say polo 1.3 SPI injection (or later mpi if you can find one!!) rather than going polo gt you could fit that straight to your engine as is, tell them it wont increase the power at all and thus, no extra premium

this is how HIC do it anyway, give them a try. I'm with Highways (HIC are a broker) this also gives me 3rd party cover to drive other peoples cars. so ask for that too when quoting its well worth having if you can get it!

The good thing about keeping the original engine though, is the fact that insurers usually just class fitment of fuel injection as a 'carb change' .  Thats how my policy with HIC is.  I asked them to specify that it was fuel injection that was recorded on the certicate, and they just said they can only record it as a carb change.  Same goes for bike carbs etc.


The ABD was never in the 6n polo, but the later mk3 golf with the MPi was an AEX which is shared with the 6n polo.  These are slightly more hassle to fit as I'm lead to believe because the whole running system is different.  Different inlets, exhausts, mounts, cooling system etc.

I've had an ABD in my mk1 and it was amazing!  Cheap to buy, easy to fit as Rubjonny says, ancillaries from the mk1 engine are interchangeable.  But the work to fit the fuel injection is the same as fitting it to your mk1 engine.  You still have to wire it in, fit a lambda into your exhaust etc.  

The only issue is plugging the exhaust heating ports on the mk1 head if using the mk1 engine.  

Thanks for the replies. Is there any way to increase the compression in my engine? Like a milled head? Or will the valves hit the pistons? 
I will look into the other engine choices and ask the insurance company! 
Thanks
Rob

if you can get an engine from a car in a lower group than yours though, your policy will go down thats the advantage. there must be an abd type lump in the polo im sure, just different code due to slightly different bits bolted in. will have a shufti...

apparently not!
6n polo engine would still go in on same mounts, but main issue is the exhaust, will be ways and means as they say.

I'd assume a mk3 golf 1.4 is same group as a mk1 golf, if so the isnurance shouldn't really change so much.

I know putting a mk3 golf gti lump in mine made no difference as mk3 gti is same group as mk2 gti!

Hi,
If you find you have trouble with insurance then please feel to drop me a line if you need any assistance.
Regards,
Dan.

I would buy it in a heartbeat and throw the ECU on some shelf and instead replace it with a Megasquirt. If you're not buying it, i might be interested in it.

Even a fuel injected engine is going to be thirsty doing 4500 revs at 60 mph  ,suggest you fit some proper sized wheels first and check the engine is in tiptop condition. How you are going to get fairly priced modified insurance at 17 I don't know. Then when you have some no claims bonus look at fitting a complete newer fuel injected engine.

OK still looking into doing this. Found that vw did a 1.0mpi found on lupos, makes the same power (49hp) as the 1.1 mk1 engine. Could this be a possibility?
Or even is other a way of increasing the compression of my 1.3 to install the polo gt mpi?

Lupo engine is a possibility but given its such a similar power output, it would not really gain you anything.

What is the reason you want to do an engine conversion?

Economy mainly, and reliability.
Thanks for your reply