tuning a 1300

iv got a little 1300driver but wanting to just keep it sweet n make it look nice under the bonnet but not any parts on the market for it,iv managed to fit a chrome top k&n air filter,chrome oil breather off my mini,painted cam belt cover and its fairly clean but wantin maybe a decent exhaust system thats not too loud?possible any advantages from port and polish,is it worth it?iv also got electronic ignition on my mini and was wondering if can get same thing for golf for decent spark,any help much appriciated

also carb replacement?im running a solex but is a weber better?? also the 4speed is abit pants and was wondering if its true u can fit a 5speed from a diesel and if so which one too use

Think you want the later 5 speed Polo box ? Can't go wrong with a weber carb . Electronic ignition is easy now thanks to technology search Ebay for a kit .

Weber carbs are obsolete now - we do a dellorto carb to fit the MK1

Cheers

Rich

Plenty can be done to the 1300's. Pop over to Clubpolo and have a read. I would consider starting with the Polo GT engine or the mk3 Golf 1.4 with some of the GT parts.

I had a polo coupe s with a 1272cc engine. If its the same engine, you can get a Weber DTML carb for it and it makes quite a big difference.
More power and better fuel economy.

i used the electronic ignition off of a mk2 golf on my old 1300 go down the scrappys and get the disributor, coil and ignition module and the small bit of wiring there are only 2 wires you need to connect one to the coil power supply and one to a good earth its cheap as chips whilst your down the scrappys a lot of vauxhalls where converted to webber carbs thats how i got mine there are some 4 branch manifolds on the market but they are listed as polo ones but with a little tinkering they do fit

Sean seems we share the same pain. I too have a Driver 1300cc and it can be a little tedious to drive at times to say the least, especially with it having a 4 speed box. Great for driving through the town but it screams it's ass off over 60 on the motorway.

Not too much you can do to it really other than what you have already suggested. Like yourself i upgraded the air filter and fitted a Single Weber DTML Carb. A weber will certainly pick it up somewhat, and makes the engine sound better too.

The only other way to go is to do an engine transplant but it's a bit more difficult to do on non-GTI models as you have to replace and upgrade more parts depending on the engine you choose.

So my advice to you is to throw a Weber in there

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1983 Driver 1300cc Euro Style

if the normal 4 speed is getting you down try and find a formel e box for it, still a 4 speed and fits straight on but it does motorways fine, the look on peoples faces when you fly past them in a 25 year old car is fantastic

cheers guys,scrap yards are few up here and only full of later scrappers,mondeos citreons all the mundane pap,golfs n decent vauxhalls are few n far between but im keeping on the hunt.

definatly look for one of the gearbox's,iv got a spare 32/34 dtml weber in my garage for my mini,would that work if i can find a manifold to suit?
iv done porting a polishing before so what about getting a second hand cylinder head would it release some more ponys??

cheers for all the help and im excited about the n.e.c tomorrow just hope wheel bearing makes it there and back!!

gt it!
http://www.clubpolo.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=122343

same mate got a 83 driver and am 17, jus feel a need a little bit more, response and accel is fine up to 40 - 50 then after kinda lacks , ano its not gunn be any rocketship, jus need to source parts, intake manifolds and relevant carbs, and exhaust without sounding like the worlds gunna end. james

If you have the PVW mag Jan 07. There was a mk1 polo in there with a 1300 engine which had 170bhp. It was on carbs aswell
So if you know how to port and polish a cylinder head you could probably gain quite a lot of power.

think it would be nigh on impossible to get those sorts of figures if it's a gf engine code like mine. they start at 60 bhp so more than doubling the power is unlikely. i'd get the carb, electric ignition and do the 5 speed box will be enough to see an improvement and make it more enjoyable on the motorway. good luck mate!

I've never even touched a 1300 so I'm probably talking out of my arse, but methinks Russ is right.
I suspect there might be quite a bit more to it than just a p&p job on the head, though if I'm correct it is a crossflow so it's probably not the worst starting point.

yeah it is a crossflow but to get 100 and odd break from it would prob cost more than doin an 1.8t conversion lol!

Agree with Rus there but then they have to worry about insurance costs.  Why can't we all be on business insurance and be paying ?400 ish for any mk1.