Which engine?

I have a 1.6 gti tin top. Unfortunately it is looking like it needs another engine   I originally thought I would get the current engine rebuilt but have had conflicting advice about this. The head is cracked through to the water jacket
I am not mechanically minded at all so need advice about what to do. I have contacted lots of places about exchange reconditioned engines but nowhere seems to have them. There do seem to be more 1.8 dx engines about but not sure how easily it goes in or how many other parts would have to be changed with it?
My boyfriends Dad is a mechanic and will take the engine in and out for me, but he doesn't know which engines will go in mine easily. I keep getting conflicting advice. One minute someone says 'just drop a dx in' then another person says 'that will be a ball ache, you need an EG engine'! Or can the early (or later) mk2 engines go in?  :dontknow:
I just want the car back on the road Got bloody 11 month MOT aswell!

Swapping a DX in is pretty easy, its pretty much a straight swap so whoever's said it will be a ball ache is giving you poor advice.

There's a wide range of other engines from VWs of around the same time which are very similar, and would work just as well with 1 or 2 more parts swapped from your existing engine eg early mk2 Golf if you swapped the inlet and exhaust manifolds and engine mount; DZ from Audi 80 with similar swaps, etc etc Rubjonny would probably be able to compile a list for you and give cars they're from.

There's probably 1 or 2 in the classifieds now, which would sort you out, in fact.

1.8 gti lump is more or less a direct swap, the only difference really is the front flange which is on the opposite side of the head so you may have to change the top radiator hose. the 1.6 fueling and wiring will run the 1.8 lump just dandy though the co and idle will need some tweaking

edit: oh and the water pipes may differ, ideally get a block with as many pipes on as possible but you should be able to sort something out with the old bits plus some scrappy hose hunting if required

Thank you both for the advice. I will show them to mechanic.
The other thing is that I won't really know the condition of a used engine until it's in (unless I can find a recon 1). There's a chance it could be just as bad as my current one. Would the best thing be to send a used one of for a rebuild straight away? OH's Dad is being really good about putting a new one in for me, but I doubt he'd want to do it twice!

these engines are pretty bullet proof so as long as they have come from a running car/decent seller you should be okfor the costs involved with a rebuild (using decent quality bits) you're getting on to low milage mk3 golf 2.0 16v abf money

Thanks, rubjonny. I shall begin the hunt for a decent dx engine

Any new or reconditioned engine is going to be £££ Basically, reconditioning is rebuilding an engine, so the 3 options of:

- having your existing engine rebuilt
- buying a used engine and rebuilding it
- buying a reconditioned engine

are all exactly the same, in terms of what the end result is. Given the costs of a rebuild vs the secondhand price of a used engine (about £1000 vs £100) I'd go for the used one and if it goes bad, get another used one. Some scrap dealers give a short warranty (like, 1 month or something) on used engines so might suit your needs.