engine conversion help please :)

Hi

I am new to this conversion stuff and have couple questions,

Firstly I would like to change my current engine 1.3 so upgrading would require more wiring in the engine bay i think and would like to give it to a garage to upgrade as I am not clued up this subject area, I would like to upgrade to something abit more reliable and would like to know what to go for less expensive in terms of the conversion and if there are any good engine conversion garages around.

Thanks

To determine the work needed you need to decide what engine you want in there.

Do you want a small block still or a big block?

Where are you based, what sort of budget do you have to pay somebody?

Persoannly, id keep it small block and throw maybe an AFH 1.4 16v in or a GT/G40 1.3  

Brad. said

To determine the work needed you need to decide what engine you want in there.

Do you want a small block still or a big block?

Where are you based, what sort of budget do you have to pay somebody?

Persoannly, id keep it small block and throw maybe an AFH 1.4 16v in or a GT/G40 1.3  

Hi

Thanks for your reply, im based in north west london .. and for the engine i was looking 8v 1.8 but i assume its going to cost a fair bit, 1.4 16v sounds good just wanting some reliable and simple.

In regaurds to budget im not sure what I should be looking at I would like some oppinons on this.

Thanks

Also i have a quote from TSR for 8v 1.8 conversion around £3000!

Its not much work but going big block is more work for your car, one engine mount needs moving on it.

small block can be just as reliable as big block.

£3000 is alot but tsr are reputable, maybe someone local can help out more on who is near you.

A bigger engine will also increase your road tax, you can get plenty of go with a supercharged engine from a polo and it won't affect your car tax.

TSR are not cheap and I'm not sure of there workman ship as last time I used (about 10 years ago) the work carried out was not good and I've never been back as customer service is not there strong point….

mark1gls said

A bigger engine will also increase your road tax, you can get plenty of go with a supercharged engine from a polo and it won't affect your car tax.

TSR are not cheap and I'm not sure of there workman ship as last time I used (about 10 years ago) the work carried out was not good and I've never been back as customer service is not there strong point….

Thanks for the reply, i just googled engine conversions and they came up alot, yh i thoought its expensive but is there anyway of keeping the original engine but making it more efficent and reliable?
Thanks

If you want to convert to a big block engine,either standard gti 1.8 or something different then you need to think about fueling as well as wiring.

I'm currently going from 1.3 to 2.0 16v.
I have had the wiring done by John newman/rubjonny from here.

Everything else I have done myself to keep cost down, but you will need to buy a lot.

Fuelling will need gti fuel tank, punk, accumulator and new lines installed.the welded engine mount on drivers side will have to be cut off moved and re welded.

Brakes will have to be upgrading 

1.3 doesn't have anti roll bars, so you may want to buy these as well.

It's a lot of work to do by yourself if your confident enough.

Jonny16V said

If you want to convert to a big block engine,either standard gti 1.8 or something different then you need to think about fueling as well as wiring.

I'm currently going from 1.3 to 2.0 16v.
I have had the wiring done by John newman/rubjonny from here.

Everything else I have done myself to keep cost down, but you will need to buy a lot.

Fuelling will need gti fuel tank, punk, accumulator and new lines installed.the welded engine mount on drivers side will have to be cut off moved and re welded.

Brakes will have to be upgrading 

1.3 doesn't have anti roll bars, so you may want to buy these as well.

It's a lot of work to do by yourself if your confident enough.

Thanks for the reply mate,

Yh i understand its going to require alot of work but i dont feel confident at all of under going it myself id rather pay a garage to fit the stuff i dont mind supplying this is proberly why the cost going to be high, im nowere near technical minded to change an engine lol.. i will have to keep searching garges to fit i think .

But what engine do yoy guys think would be cheaper to run and reliable keeping insurance low and tax .im currently paying 400£ insurance.

In terms of wiring its going to need ecu and alot of wiring.. puttinf a gti engine would it be easier as it would come from another mk1 golf? And the looms are widely avilable.



Thanks

Thanks

If you out a gti engine in, you will still need to do all of the above apart from the wiring.

To stay with cheap insurance and tax you will need to stay under a 1.6. 

Garages will charge a fair amount to do a complete conversion, if it's just to save on tax and insurance I'd probably keep the engine you have now.

Then when you have enough saved go for a bigger engine conversion in a couple of years when insurance is lower.

Other way around it and easier to do and cheaper than paying a garage is buy a Gti… Mk1 cabriolet Gti are cheaper than a tin top and you still have all the Gti bits and no roof in the summer…..

Dont know how old you are for where you live but insurance should go down as long as you don't claim.

Thanks for the repiles, think best option is to just wait till i have enough money to get a garage to do it as i cant buy another car ive invested too much into my current golf i just have an engine conversion left to make it a reliable car , thanks for the advice guys best option to wait till i can afford a conversion.

Thanks 

some pictures for you!

gearbox mount



front engine mount



drivers side engine mount (with alternator)

harshalkumar240 said

Thanks for the repiles, think best option is to just wait till i have enough money to get a garage to do it as i cant buy another car ive invested too much into my current golf i just have an engine conversion left to make it a reliable car , thanks for the advice guys best option to wait till i can afford a conversion.

Thanks 

Why isn't it reliable with its current engine? Surely a reasonable route would be to address the issues with the engine you have, then it will be reliable. You can do an awful lot of fixing with £3000 + the money saved in not having increased tax/insurance etc!

Or do you actually secretly want more engine power……?

PS I don't know about small blocks but 1.4 16V and 1.6 16V from Mk3 Polo and (Mk4???) Polo/Golf are both small blocks aren't they? I'd personally stay below 1549cc so you get the cheaper car tax too.

Hi 

Thanks for your reply guys, the current engine is reliable but im not sure when it going to go its currently on 120K and still running but yes more power is what im after , people are saying small block engine are better I am thinking about it but ive got some quotes and its very expensive so im just going to hold on for abit and keep saving! Lol

I've done the "I want more power" route and did a 2.0 16V engine conversion, I still have the trophy on the mantlepiece for the car being the fastest in its class at Retro Car Show 2008 (class was up to 2000cc non-forced induction). So I understand you want more power - and you want to keep the existing car too.

If that's so, then an engine conversion is realistically the only way to go, but if you need to pay people to do it it will cost a lot. I don't know how much free time you have but personally I invested the time and money I had in buying tools (like an engine crane…and a wideband lambda probe….), gathering a collection of what should be the best-matched parts to achieve a desired performance level, and trying myself/learning how to do it myself. Paying garages to work on older cars is dead money.

I think you need to decide a performance level that sits nicely with your budget and skill level (ie do you stick with a slightly more powerful smallblock or is it worth making a leap to bigblock for example 1.8T to give 200bhp or thereabouts?)

Hopefully someone who's actually done a smallblock 1.4 16V or 1.6 16V will see the thread and comment too.

harshalkumar240 said

Hi

Thanks for your reply guys, the current engine is reliable but im not sure when it going to go its currently on 120K and still running but yes more power is what im after ,

120,000 miles is not a lot, plenty more left in old VW engines, as long as they have regular oil and filter changes and don't thrash the engine (keep it below 3,000 rpm till the oil is at 80 degrees.)

I know mines a big block but mines starting to show wear and burning oil now it's at 265,000 miles but is still reliable as my daily drive.
 

paul_c said

I've done the "I want more power" route and did a 2.0 16V engine conversion, I still have the trophy on the mantlepiece for the car being the fastest in its class at Retro Car Show 2008 (class was up to 2000cc non-forced induction). So I understand you want more power - and you want to keep the existing car too.

If that's so, then an engine conversion is realistically the only way to go, but if you need to pay people to do it it will cost a lot. I don't know how much free time you have but personally I invested the time and money I had in buying tools (like an engine crane…and a wideband lambda probe….), gathering a collection of what should be the best-matched parts to achieve a desired performance level, and trying myself/learning how to do it myself. Paying garages to work on older cars is dead money.

I think you need to decide a performance level that sits nicely with your budget and skill level (ie do you stick with a slightly more powerful smallblock or is it worth making a leap to bigblock for example 1.8T to give 200bhp or thereabouts?)

Hopefully someone who's actually done a smallblock 1.4 16V or 1.6 16V will see the thread and comment too.

Thanks mate, yh option to do conversion and save money by doing it myself its going to be tricky as im not soo clued up when it comes to engines i dont want to mess anything up tbh thats why im trying to find a garage that will be able to do the conversion, and yes you are right rather then paying them to put in a small block engine might aswell upgrade it to what i want as I wont be able to afford changing the engine again and again. i will just think about it before i do anything and use my current engine untill i saved up enough. 

Thanks guys