new engine

What is the best fit new engine for the MK1

This is quite a hard one to answer with very little experience in engine swaps but I'll try and be as informative as possible. A lot of engine swaps have been achieved over the years. 1.8T's, ABF/KR, PD130s, VR6's, R32s… so your options are wide open. (Depending on how "NEW" you mean)

To my own personal experience fitting a 1.8T was quite easy and the parts were affordable. All the information is available to hand due to the number of years its been experimented with, but I can assure you none of the conversions are particularly cheap to do as a whole and it is time consuming. Companies like Epytec, Vagtronics and QPENG all make the entire experience a hell of a lot easier. Spend a long time reading up on your options and base your final decision on time-frame, budget and what you would like to achieve at the end of it all.

Cheers for that, there seems to be some very nice looking upgrades on here with no expense spared. A bit scary for me though.

I had a 1.9 td aaz engine in a tintop and think its the "best", easiest , cheapest, most simple conversion that probably will give you what you want regarding power, they are cheap to modify to around 120 bhp . felt every bit as fast as my kr 16v with added bonus of turbo noises and lots more torque.  

that sounds like a good fit and something i might try my hand at

I'm looking at this too…. I've got a 1.8 GTI Cabby  with a dodgy engine, so I was hoping there would be something more powerful that I could technically bolt in without having to weld in new engine mounts and replace looms    is there such a thing? maybe the 16v engine?

a mk2 16v into a 8v gti wont require any welding or changing the loom as it runs on k jet the same as the 8v. you would need to bolt the drivers side mount to the 16v block and can use your 8v gearbox and mounts on it too. the ecu is needed to run the ignition timing but is only a couple of wires that plug into the fuse box and coil. the idle control system (isv) is a bit more complicated but can be run with the aux air valve off the 8v but might need to set idle a bit higher to stop it stalling. a conversion exhaust manifold is available off the shelf. this is my in my caddy sport 16v. 1.8 is 140bhp but the 2.0 engine fits the same and can be run on the 1.8 injection system to get 150bhp and more torque but not as rev happy as the 1.8   

WOWSER! that is NICE! - exactly what I would like to do, I think it would be better than rebuilding the current knackard 8v lump and then attempting to get 140bhp out of that.    seems to be some kicking round ebay for £200 with gearbox etc.

will take a lot of work to get 140bhp from a 1.8 8v. worth noting the conversion manifold will be £200+ on its own. also its better to take the engine from a running car and take all the bits you need as buying all the little bits individually will cost a lot

I got 2'0 abf. Went in np easy fit mine pushing out 164 bhp

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Ashton09 said

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that's on kr injection so same as 1.8 to fit, did you not connect the isv to the inlet?

No never got it when bought engine but idles touch high 800/900 rpm but smooth
I known yrs ago had 18, kr lump in tiptop that was up down like kangaroo

Forgot say but mine was set up on rolling road  

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Very nice swaps on both those, really hope I can do something similar, I'm still split on the Corrado thing to be honest, plus I wouldn't be able to buy a donor vehicle and take the bits off of it… I would have to buy an eBay engine/gearbox setup and take it from there.

I guess my other thought was a simple 1900 overbore and flow the head on the engine I have….

Anyone fitted a MK4 x-flow head to one of these blocks in a MK1?