Suggest some engines for me

I think its because the cable gearbox is hydraulic clutch so you would need a pedal box, the conversion i have for sale has sed gearbox and i did look at swappin it with mine but came to this conclusion.

the problem is you need custom gearbox mounts, these can be bought but a bit pricey. then its a case of mod your pedal box to take a clutch master cylinder (not that hard really if you can weld) or fit SEAT abf/tdi cable conversion kit

Ok so the manifold is actually the easy option?

I'm picking up an abf engine and gearbox on Saturday which is pretty local, will I be better to us the box already on the abf or my existing one (which is nice and smooth etc)

I found the 020 box a bit short for a 16v especially town driving. 

Wouldn't hurt having the gearbox from both to choose between them in time to me…

if you can weld then everything is easy! the 02a gearbox just makes the manifodl easier to make as you dont have to put that kink in it as no linkages to avoid. it still needs to move over a bit to line up mind.

020 gearbox come with all kinds of ratios, so no worries there  if you want taller look at 2.0 8v for sporty but slightly more relaxed over mk2 gti, or a diesel/driver one if you want really tall gearing but it might blunt the feel of it a bit.

Am I right in thinking that the shorter 020 box will mean better acceleration but lower top end? Or am I totally wrong?! 

Yeah. As jonny said there's loads of ratio boxes out there though if you want rod change. I personally prefer my cable change setup. 

But to get cable change can be costly. 

Ok, I'm afraid I'm on the verge of being very confused, so my current 020 box from my kjet uses rod change, I can use this box for the conversion but it will mean I need the manifold welding/bought, or I can use the box already on the abf but that will need a different mount?

no matter what, you have to buy or make a conversion manifold/downpipe to fit a 16v into a mk1. well, unless you find a scirocco 16v manifold and downpipe,. but good luck with that one

the only thing thats easier when using the 02a box is you dont have to kink your custom made downpipe around a gear linkage, because there isnt one the 02a is cable shift, so you can just route the cables to avoid your downpipe.

the trouble is the downpipe fitting on the standard 16v manifold is further over to the passenger side than it is in a mk1, so your downpipe starts too close to the linkages. so you have to kink away from the linkages to avoid them, then kink back a little bit so it lines up in the right place to meet the tunnel.

without the gear linkages, you just have to move the pipe across a bit to the tunnel

Nothing to do with me but I believe someone is selling a 16v scirrocco manifold on e bay

need the downpipe as well though

Seems a bit steep to me that one, £100 delivered for just a manifold, Ashley do one for about £230 by the looks of it. 

I've found someone who has offered to do some welding anyway so I'll probably just make one up

My next question is what should I be doing to the engine/box before I put it in? I'm planning on doing a decent service and clean, but should I be taking it apart and replacing internals?

shouldnt need to do anything bar the usual belts and seals, they're pretty bombproof. its entirely up to you of course

Yea I'll do all the obvious stuff while its on its pallet, I might even give the inlet manifold a lick of paint

Exciting stuff, can't wait to get started now! 

I know that feeling fella. Just got mine running again, been a long 2 month 

Got my engine it's sat in my garage now waiting to be worked on

the first thing I thought though is have I bitten off more than I can chew? Looks very daunting!

how many hours roughly will this take a competent home mechanic?