8v crossflow head??

Hello everyone, forgive my innocence but i am a newbie to this forum. I have just acquired a nice solid 1990 clipper running the standard 1.8 on carb. I wanted to put a gti cam in and twin webbers but am not too happy about the postion of the rear facing carbs spitting fuel all over the exhaust manifold  . Can anyone please tell me if i can fit a 16v head to my 8v or if there is another easy way to get a crossflow head from another engine to fit. i read somewhere about later mk4 heads being fitted but if the fitting is going to be major ball ache i would rather just swap in a 16v engine complete and wack the carbs on. I have done a search relating to the 16v conversions which is very helpful but i really want an easier way to get my carbs facing forwards. cheers

8V crossflow head would probably cost as much, and be as much hassle as, fitting a whole 16V engine (which is crossflow too) but yield less power (its plainly obvious through geometry that 2 valves per cylinder can't flow as well as 4 valves per cylinder). The 16V head doesn't fit onto the 8V block without a number of mods which make it economically unviable compared to simply fitting the 16V engine whole.

16V engine conversion is the easiest way of getting front facing carbs, etc.

Many thanks i guess i knew that already really just did not want to admit it to myself as i thought it might be a nightmare to swap engines. Could you help me out on the 16v conversion? i think i can use my existing gearbox, flywheel clutch etc bolt onto the 16v engine? the mounts are the same and its just the exhaust manifold thats different? apart from that it is all the same? Or am i being extremely naive in thinking me a couple of mates could do this in a weekend? cheers jez

You'd be lucky to do it with 2 mates in a weekend - well, you could, by cutting corners etc. There's a few threads on here with people who have done them and it took longer than 1 weekend.

Check out the FAQ on Fastgolf:

http://www.fastgolf.or…ontent&pa=showpage&pid=30

it should answer your questions re gearboxes, clutch, manifold, etc. Its not a daunting conversion but there's enough to swap over, and a bit of adapting/fabricating, involved.

Okay cheers for the advice, will check the link out. Maybe i will have to go with rear facing webers if its too much hassle.  

Two engine codes I know of are AFT and AKS. Both are 8v heads with crossflow and will bolt up to a newer style block (two oil return holes in front). There are other codes which I don't have off-hand. These are 1.6L engines but the heads have the same combustion chamber size you your engine will be just the same.

Wow thansk for that, i have been scratching my head over this as i really want to keep the 8v and just change the head to put my webers on. I know i wont get the same power as a 16v but the induction noise more than makes up for it  cheers

I belive that the 8v cross flow heads can be found on new style beetles...

you could do it in a weekend with lots of prior preperation, i.e. rebuild the engine in the weeks beforehand, source a decent gearbox and fit it along with new clutch, get all the injection system laid out ready, make up the engine loom etc.
need someone who has done a few swaps beforehand though to help you plan out the best way to get things done.

main thing is experience, and luck that non of the fixing bolts/exhaust will give you any trouble. if you can get the front end high enough you can drop the engine out the bottom with the complete exhaust system attached, then wheel in the replacement. while your mates are busy lining it up, rip off the fuel lines and chuck in the replacements, drop the lifter pump into the tank etc.

To give you an idea, I converted a MK2 8v digifant GTI into a 16v GTI by myself in 4 days. This involved swapping the entire exhaust, fuel system, engine loom, dropping the subframe as downpipe wouldnt fit thru the gap and a few other bits n pieces along the way. Plus wasn't workin on it flat out the whole time thanks to the weather being against me.

Have to add I've done a couple of conversions in the past, plus pretty much every single bolt i needed to undo was no problem as I'd already swapped the original engine for a 2.0 8v, changed fuel pump, zaust in the past.  You might get hung up on a particular rusted fixing for a while which could send your schedule all to pot!  Id advise booking friday and monday either side of the big weekend so you can get as much done before you need your mates help beforehand, and you have an extra days worth opf tinkering after.  Then pull sickys if you get stuck  

i have a 8v crossflow head that im not using

?90?

The other two 8v codes I know of - AQY and AZJ, can be found in 2.0l GTI mk4 Golfs, and new Beetles.

Been reading into this for a while now and I don't think it would be too difficult to fit the 8v head though I've never actually done it so take that with a pinch of salt or two, I'm just going by what I've read elsewhere.

All VW 8v exhaust and inlet manifolds will fit which means you can get any old manifold off the shelf for your carbs, and your current exhaust manifold should fit. The TSR book says that the 8v heads will retrofit all previous 8v blocks, you only need to block an oilway in the head.

I believe you need to use the head gasket to fit the cylinder head iirc.

Stop. All 8v intakes do not fit the crossflow heads. It seems that all crossflow intakes can be used on any crossflow head as the gaskets are the same, but you can not install a counter flow intake on a crossflow head.

Perhaps I put it badly, I meant to say that all 8v carb manifolds fit, as far as I know.

Again, if you mean carb manifolds from counterflow and crossflow the answer is also no. A side from the front and rear mounting positions, the centre to centre position of the ports are different as are the mounting bolt holes. You have to purchase a manifold made for the crossflow head.

Well there you are then, I stand corrected.