16v KR blown up!

[carlosiw]

Hi all!

Well my poor car (GTX with 16v conversion, including Scirocco 16v inlet manifold) chugged to a death just before Christmas. Oiled up plugs and plenty of oil everywhere made me think blown head gasket. Towed it to a garage (a local VW lover but more into T25s etc.) Did a compression test which was very, very low across the board. (40PSI ish I think) So am looking into swapping the whole engine over, or possibly just the bottom end. What I'm wondering is: would it be worth going for a 9a block at this point? (depending on what's around/available here on the Isle of Wight!) What exactly is involved, in terms of ancillaries, injection components etc. I won't be having a lot to do with the job and will be paying by the hour so if there would be much extra faffing/bodging stuff to fit then it may well not be worth the headache. Would appreciate any thoughts here please.

Thanks, Carl

[BlackGTX]

People use 2l bottoms with 8v heads so you should be able to replace the 1.8 with the 2l block

The abf is 15mm taller so make sure you get a 9a so it all fits.

Or do a stealth 2.1 kr

[carlosiw]

Thanks mate. Yes that's what I was thinking; 9a rather than an ABF for that very reason. My worries are how everything connects.

[BlackGTX]

Ive got a kr and as far as i could tell it look pretty much the same

Look up 7zap.com for exploded diagrams of your exploded engine. You should be able to view a corrado 9a and golf kr blocks to compare

[Blueshark]

I have an 9A engine with the 16V KR head on it and works great.
Everything you have on your block now is a switch over.

Joost

[carlosiw]

Cool cool. Thanks guys. I'll forward the info on to the guy who's going to do the work. Just depends on what I can get hold of really I guess..

[carlosiw]

Been offered a complete 9a for £300. I'd rather it was just the block but hey ho. If I went 2L would my existing exhaust be ok? It's got a fourbranch (mk1 16v conversion) going into a custom built stainless system, which is, I think 1 and 3/4'' diameter. I'm def not going to be swapping that over as it was pretty expensive! Thoughts, as ever, much appreciated.

[james butler]

4 branch wont fit if you use abf head as its taller but if you use 9A you should be fine

[james butler]

the only thing that makes me wonder though is if the 9a is a 2 litre and the gtx is a 1.8 wont the metering head be all wrong?
wont you need to change that too?
last time i spoke to timR about this topic he said the injectors on the 2l engine were diferent too so the braided hose ends were all different but if your using your origenal head i suppose it wont be a problem but the metering head issue would still remain along with the hoses?

[blakey]

Yep, KR and 9A bolt pattern and port spacing is the same. I used to have a 9A Corrado and fitted a KR manifold to it.

Sent from my ZTE BLADE A512 using Tapatalk

[BlackGTX]

Abf 15mm height is in the block, longer stroke to reduce sidewall resistance

All your kr will go kn your 9a. My 2l 26v build is an 2l block and head with kr injection and rocco 16v inlet imduction

You may need to use the 1.8 fly and clutch if you dont have a 2l gearbox

[BlackGTX]

Are we sure that the origial engine cant be saved?

Hg and a skim?

[james butler]

oil everywhere sounds like broken or very worn rings, agreed a strip down to see how bad it is first may be a good idea.
could even bore out to 1.9 but £300 for a complete 9a sounds good too

[carlosiw]

Thanks for your thoughts everyone.

Okay so we're going to pop out a piston and have a look, to see if we could get away with just a new set of rings, but it's looking likely I'm going to have to go with the 9a/KR head combo, as the cheapest option. If I had mine bored out we're looking at loadsa money. Still looking at a total cost of the better part of a grand which is not good at this time of year! So to be clear; for a 9a swap, everything will fit okay, right? My existing metering unit/Kjet system is up to the job? 4 branch will fit, and the existing gearbox is cool? What about the cylinder head gasket; do we need to order one to fit the block or the head?

Cheers, Carl

[BlackGTX]

Hg for the block so it has the right bore but check the water and oil channels match

You may have to use ur 1.8 fly and clutch for your gearbox