Polo GT Engine into mk1 Golf

Just wandering how easy it is to fit a gt engine into my golf. from what i understand the engine slots straight in, but what do i need from the gt engine? I'm assuming i'll need the fuel pump right? any help is appreciated. cheers, conor

You'll need both the fuel pumps (in-tank and in-line), engine wiring loom and ECU, everything which bolts to the engine itself.  You don't need any of the radiator fan or wiring from the polo as you can just use your original Golf one, although it is probably less complicated if you do use the polo rad and expansion tank etc as you won't have to work out which rad pipes go where.

The most difficult thing to do is the wiring but I can help you out with that as I've recently done this to my mk1, so drop me a PM if you need any info


Its really worthwhile putting it on the injection 8) Nice smooth idle, starts up on the button in the freezing cold, nice smooth power, miles more reliable etc etc. I'll never go back to carbs! :mrgreen:

Cheers so much for your help dude. Was it fairly easy to do overall then? And one more question…how would i go about fitting the in tank pump,my mate told me it may not currently have one if its a carbed engine? i don't know whether he's right or not, we're both unsure to be honest. I don't think we're gonna struggle with it, he managed to put a 1.9 tar engine in his caddy and put it on twi 45s without any help and without touching an engine before.

And yeah I'm not liking the carbs in the winter. I don't trust it haha. plus the current engine is only a 1.1 and is losing coolant and the oil pressure light i constantly on so I'm using it til i do the gt conversion. is it relatively quick with the gt engine? i eventually wanna do a g40 conversion but the gt is purely because i can't be arced with the hassle of fixing the current crappy engine and still need a small engine due to insurance.

Thanks,
Conor

Yes it is fairly easy Like I said before, the most difficult part is getting your head around the wiring! Carb engines are very good for getting started in this engine swap game as they are much more simple 8) But being more simple also means they aren't as efficient or reliable from what I have experienced.


The in-tank lift pump from the polo GT fits straight into your original mk1 fuel tank, in place of the original level sensor.  It has an integrated level sensor within the lift pump so you just connect your old positive wire to one of the connectors on that, and the other connectors on the lift pump are wired into the Polo GT ECU loom.

I haven't actually used the Polo GT engine myself, I only fitted the injection onto my early mk1 engine, so it was a little more complicated. But the same principals apply And yeah, I was very impressed with how quick mine was, considering it doesn't have the polo GT cam, high compression bottom end, gearbox etc etc! So with all that I would imagine its very good!  One thing I would suggest is, don't buy an engine you haven't seen running well beforehand. Polo GT engines are very overpriced and parts for them are difficult and expensive to get hold of, as I found out for mine a while back when I did have a GT engine fitted (which turned out to be a lemon). So make sure you find someone who still has the engine fitted in their car, so you can see it running before you buy it.

Another option would be to find an ABD engine from a mk3 golf. They are an identical engine to the polo GT, but they are a 1.4 litre. They are much cheaper to buy, and have the same power and more torque than the polo GT when they are fitted with the polo GT injection

You'll need a lambda sensor boss welding onto whatever exhaust you plan on using because the polo GT downpipe needs to be modified to fit into a mk1 golf, involving cutting the original lambda boss off. But thats very easy 8)

Ah ok then, that all sounds good to me. Definitely up for doing this conversion, probably with the ABD engine now though. And then the GT injection can come later on, once i have the car running properly. The only thing I'm worried about now is the whole lambda thing. I can weld but i haven't got a MIG welder at home. I don't think i would know what I'm doing when it comes to that to be honest haha. I'll speak to my mate about it as he's gonna be helping me with it and he's done conversions before.

 Are there any other smaller engines that you could suggest putting in the golf by any chance?

Thanks again for your help with all of this mate, been really useful to know all of this.

The lambda sensor is integrated into the Polo GT ECU loom, so it isn't complicated once you see it in person.  You can buy lambda bosses on ebay for a few quid, then its only a case of drilling a hole on the exhaust downpipe somewhere where it won't be interfering with anything else in the engine bay (usually down the back of the engine in between the steering rack and engine) and welding the boss over the hole! A boss with M18x1.5 thread is what you need


There are loads of engines from the polo range which could be fitted, but the most worthwhile ones are the GT engine and the ABD from the mk3 Golf. I wouldn't bother researching the rest of them

I'm gonna be doing this very soon, how difficult is the wiring?

I'm personally not gonna bother with the wiring. You can buy bike carbs off club polo all the time, and if the don't come with manifolds Bogg Brothers can do them, the most popular ones that people seem to use are cbr 600 carbs and i know for a fact that virtually all the people that use them go to Bogg Brothers for their manifolds, so getting one made up won't be any hassle really. Not only will it be easier but carbs are just awesome in general.

Aye I know all about the bike carb route, have done it on a previous polo.
I'm going for the full injection route as I would prefer the easy running, cold starting, better efficiency etc. Will be cheaper for me aswell as I'm getting a full conversion so don't need to spend out on manifold and carbs.

Have been doing some searching and its looking like the wiring isn't that hard. All that's needed is the ECU loom stripped back to what is needed and then just a switched live for the ECU and coil feed which can all come from existing wiring and then just some earths and using the existing wiring for the instrument cluster. Also then just some wiring to the polo fuel pumps which will fit straight in the mk1 tank.

Although if you are using carbs then you can just use a facet style pump which just needs connecting to a switched live and earthing.

I will probably do a how to guide when I fit all mine to help people in the future. All lot of the info I'm finding is all over the place.

Look in my project diary: http://www.vwgolfmk1.org.uk/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=87340&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=30

conor1992 said

I'm personally not gonna bother with the wiring. You can buy bike carbs off club polo all the time, and if the don't come with manifolds Bogg Brothers can do them, the most popular ones that people seem to use are cbr 600 carbs and i know for a fact that virtually all the people that use them go to Bogg Brothers for their manifolds, so getting one made up won't be any hassle really. Not only will it be easier but carbs are just awesome in general.

I can make you a manifold matey :wink: Much cheaper than Bogg Bros too :mrgreen:




Arun

Looks good Zeus. What exhaust system and fuel lines did you use?


Do you fancy making other things aswell Arun? Would quite like one of your rear gearbox mounts  

Custom fuel lines although GTI ones can be used & ashley 4 branch for Polo lambda boss welded & rest of exhaust is custom although it was initially fitted with a supersprint gti system.

gooselogan said

Looks good Zeus. What exhaust system and fuel lines did you use?


Do you fancy making other things aswell Arun? Would quite like one of your rear gearbox mounts  

I've just realised you're the fella who messaged me on Club Polo right? I'm really sorry I didn't reply, I think I read your message when I was drunk one night and by the time I'd sobered up I had forgotten about it Apologies :redfaced:  


I'm a little busy at the moment with a couple of manifolds, but when I am free I will message you if you don't mind? Making a gearbox mount is no problem  8)

Phataz1 said

I've just realised you're the fella who messaged me on Club Polo right? I'm really sorry I didn't reply, I think I read your message when I was drunk one night and by the time I'd sobered up I had forgotten about it Apologies :redfaced:  


I'm a little busy at the moment with a couple of manifolds, but when I am free I will message you if you don't mind? Making a gearbox mount is no problem  8)

Yea that was me, no worries though I've done the same  

Aye that's cool, let me know when you've got some time to do one and we can sort it out, mine can handle some more abuse for a while  8)

Might also be wanting your guidance with raising the wishbones when the time comes, they don't seem to like the road too much either  :redfaced:

Phataz1 said

conor1992 said

I'm personally not gonna bother with the wiring. You can buy bike carbs off club polo all the time, and if the don't come with manifolds Bogg Brothers can do them, the most popular ones that people seem to use are cbr 600 carbs and i know for a fact that virtually all the people that use them go to Bogg Brothers for their manifolds, so getting one made up won't be any hassle really. Not only will it be easier but carbs are just awesome in general.

I can make you a manifold matey :wink: Much cheaper than Bogg Bros too :mrgreen:




Arun

Ah awesome, sounds good to me. What carbs would you suggest using on a gt then? And i assume i will need the rear gearbox mount to make a 5 speed box fit then? Also would you be able to PM me a price for a manifold and gearbox mount?

Cheers, Conor

Hi there,
 I have been doing this conversion on my mk1 golf and have followed this thread plus a few others

 The engine is fitted and had it running, I'm one weekend away from having it MoT'd and back on the road

I have a question that you might be able to help me with - I can't seem to get the rev counter to read anything. The connections are definitley right but I was wondering if you have had any issue with it yourself?

 Thanks,
 Pete

the polo ecu rev counter signal wont run the mk1 clocks, 2 options.

1. convert to mk1/2 electronic ignition coil setup and run rev counter to coil -ve as per factory mk1 (my recommended option as polo coil is pants)

2. open the flap on side of polo coil and run rev counter wire to the -ve terminal inside

rubjonny said

the polo ecu rev counter signal wont run the mk1 clocks, 2 options.

1. convert to mk1/2 electronic ignition coil setup and run rev counter to coil -ve as per factory mk1 (my recommended option as polo coil is pants)

2. open the flap on side of polo coil and run rev counter wire to the -ve terminal inside

Thanks, have gone for a late mk2 golf 8v amp and coil setup alas this thread here. Makes for good reading!

http://derby.polog40.co.uk/oldsite/modification/engineefficiency.html

cool, only thign to add is that it looks liek he has the wire colours switched, black goes to the +ve/15 side of coil and red/black and/or green to the -ve/1 side. though not sure if it really makes a difference but it would offend my wiring ocd if you did it backwards

to simplify, chop the 3 pin polo coil plug off, brown wire you dont need, black wire to coil +ve, black/green to TCI unit pin 6. then the tci pin 4 black goes to coil +, pin 1 red/black or green to coil -ve and pin 2 brown off to battery -ve.

you may have 2 wires spare that used to go to the dizzy those are binned