8v engine mods

hi ya,im planing to do some engine mods to my standard 8v.as im new to the golf seen,i dont know much.
i've just heard about 2ltr bottomends???…cams,head??…
what to do please?..like can i just drop in a cam etc?? :dontknow:

thanks

(i have a 4 branch exhaust allready)

2 litre bottom end obviously adds approx 11% more power/torque, because its bigger.

Head work, including larger valves, will increase performance so long as its accompanied by other things such as larger throttle body, exhaust, etc so that the bottleneck doesn't just move somewhere else.

A hotter cam will similarly have a percentage increase becuase its longer duration/lift will allow more gas to flow at high rpm. Bear in mind you'd need to have head work/larger valves/intake/exhaust mods to make best use of the gains. Also, better performance at high rpm is usually accompanied by lower torque at lower rpm and poorer idle. So too hot a cam would cause poorer driveability in day-to-day use. So long as you purchase/fit a cam intended for your exact engine, then issues like valve-to-piston clearance should already have been thought of and not be a problem for you.

The other thing you can do to get higher power, is to make it rev higher (obviously, the higher the rpm, the higher potential power). So, 'balancing' or 'blueprinting' the bottom end, beefing up valve springs to eliminate the effects of valve bounce, making sure the ignition and fuel system can still function effectively at higher rpm (obvious one being to remove the rev limiter and replace it with one allowing higher rpm) is the way to go here.

The other mod you might want to consider is lightening the flywheel. While not increasing power, this has a positive effect on acceleration because the engine can 'spin up' easier.

Other modifications would centre around improving other items such as braking, suspension, tyres, lightening, strengthening, so the car doesn't fall to bits and can put the power down properly.

Beware, there is a lot of myth about what works and doesn't, out there (particularly on CGTI forum!). Good luck!

thanks for that,a lot of help full stuff.im doing the brakes at the mo and have a full suspension set up and just got a set of rims with f1 tyres.what do you have to to for the bottom end and whats the best place to start off at for engine mods??..

MRBLONDE said

thanks for that,a lot of help full stuff.im doing the brakes at the mo and have a full suspension set up and just got a set of rims with f1 tyres.what do you have to to for the bottom end and whats the best place to start off at for engine mods??..

Well…..I'd say they go in increasing complexity/cost of parts like this:

2.0 8V
1.8 16V
2.0 16V
G60
1.8 20vT
VR6*
VR6T

* Note, there is no advantage in fitting a VR6 over a 1.8T for power, but there is for torque/sound, but that's just an opinion!

i would love to turbo or super charge i!!!..you know much about this??.

MRBLONDE said

i would love to turbo or super charge i!!!..you know much about this??.

Only that its expensive, compared to other engine mods. For example, fitting a turbo/supercharged engine from another VAG will mean 1.8 20vT or G60, both of which are costly. The other option is off-the-shelf turbo kits, they are available from the states for 8V and VR6 (strangely, not 16V) but they tend to be in the $1800+ price range. No doubt a lot of fettling would be required to shoehorn stuff into the Mk1, too. People have turbocharged the 16V and other motors, its not the normal route though and would probably need a lot of custom fabrication stuff.

has anyone ever fitted a yb engine to a mk1?
that could be fun probably a lot of work though

I dare say, its probably too wide to fit, once you've come up with some kind of adapter for the transmission/bellhousing.