"Easiest" Engine Swap Out

[Funky Diver]

So... just mulling over the current situation. Bog standard 1.8 8v EX engine is currently fitted.

OK, so I appreciate that the swapping of an engine is a decent enough job to be getting on with, but I'm still contemplating it should the opportunity occur.

The FAQ states

AGU 1.8l 20v Turbo 150Bhp as stock.
late 90’s and early 00’s Audi A3, Golf and Boras
These are the preferred option due to the abundance and internal specs.

Would be a suitable swap out. I take it that beyond those elements (engine, gearbox and electrics for engine) there would need to be other "stuff" required?

Exhaust manifold only or whole new exhaust?
Engine mount - only the Cambelt side mount need fabricating?
Radiator? Existing one suffice?

What are the pitfalls / benefits (besides the obvious)?
Does this system need a cat fitting?

I suppose I'm asking for a more indepth answerr than "it can be done" :D

[Nate]

how much work do you want to do?

iirc EX engine means you've currently got a carb. fitting a 2E bottom end with your current head and an appropriately jetted webber carb will give you a very driveable engine with no worrying about engine management wiring.

whilst you don't "need" to fit a cat (it will pass the mot without one as it will go thru the old carb test no problem) some engine management requires them as they have inbuilt sensors

another pitfall is insurance / registration. most insurance companys won't like it (flux/hic etc should be ok though) and it is sometimes hard to get the dvla to correctly register the new engine. they don't seem to be able to cope wit the idea that it'll just bolt straight in.

[Funky Diver]

how much work do you want to do?

iirc EX engine means you've currently got a carb.

The how much work doesn't phase me as such, it's more the "How much grief do I NOT want" that I'm more concerned with.

and yep, currently have a Weber fitted to my EX.

[Mr Funk]

Valver on carbs? No messy injection to worry about. Obviously it's not quite that simple bug I seriously considered it on the old green car.

[monzajake]

less ball ache job imo would be the 2e bottom end, have the head worked for good / better flow, uprated cam or a mk1 golf or rocco injection cam nice exhaust manifold and system to exspell the gasses job done.
I would of thought around the 130-140 bhp mark, a good increase for very little work. Oh and there's the cheapness set aside around 600 quid and do some hunting..

Failing that as Mr funk says a valver on carbs. Then your talking abit more of your hard earned cash..

[Mr Funk]

Bloody good point Jake and exactly what I'm heading for.
2l bottom end, shiny shiny head, high lift cam, vernier pulleys and a four branch. 130 is perfectly achievable and makes it fly

[MikeH]

What are you aiming to get out of this? Will it be a road car or a track toy, or a bit of both?

What's your budget, and your level of mechanical knowledge?

What age are you - insuring modified cars is expensive if you're young.

- a 2.0 or 1.8 8v with head work and a 270 ish cam would be a good daily driver, and it's not all that obvious to the insurance man. Budget £700-1000 for parts. Expect 120-140 bhp
- 16v on twin carbs would be thirsty for road use. Cost varies a lot, depending on whether you find 2nd hand carbs and manifolds (£1000-1500?) Expect 160-180 bhp
- Turbo conversion would be the most challenging route, but can make big power. Price and power varies massively.

If it's not a daily driver, there's a pretty good argument for spending money on things other than the engine. A lower ratio gearbox will make a big difference to acceleration. Uprated suspension will save more seconds on a track than 20-30% more power. Removing weight from a car makes a big difference too, and is free or cheap for the first 50-100 kilos, depending on what you're prepared to live without.

[RoccoGuy]

you could turn to the dark side... 1.6 mk2 golf td engine, bolts straight in and only needs the black wire for the coil connecting to the fuel pump and its running. then tuning wise, 3" diameter straight through exhaust, fit boost gauge and boost controller then turn it up to about 26 psi, tune the pump up to suit the new set up and remove the governor (there are guides for this on http://www.wvdiesel.com).

you'll pushing 120bhp by this point and massive amounts of torque, and is mostly achieved by using what is already there. the engines can be picked up for as little as 100, then it's just the boost gauge, controller and exhaust (when i did this in my jetta this cost me under 200 with every thing but i fabbed up my own exhaust).

i'm going with this set up in my mk1 although i'll be going a little further, using metal head gasket, front mount intercooler, bigger nozzles, Cosworth head studs, more boost ect. 16v's will be no problem lol

[eefy]

Interesting stuff on this thread, just to add to the mix, which engines will bolt straight onto the existing mounts? or whats needed say to get a 2ltr 16v to sit on the existing engine mounts?

you'll have to excuse me if this sounds daft but new to the whole engine replacement thing, although serioulsy considering it next year as a project :)

[Ryan]

6A, 9A and ABF all fit on existing mounts

[Funky Diver]

What are you aiming to get out of this? Road Car
What's your budget, and your level of mechanical knowledge? I'd consider it to be adequate, rebuilt MGB's, Mini's (bored to 1340 with aftermarket cams, etc) and done most of my own maintainence on most of my own cars since I was 18. Budget...??? I don't have one, it'll get what it needs if it's "right"

What age are you? Unfortunately I'm near to the summit of the hill... I can see the Mid-life Crisis sign at the top perfectly clearly from here :D (aka 40 this year )
- a 2.0 or 1.8 8v with head work and a 270 ish cam would be a good daily driver, and it's not all that obvious to the insurance man. Budget £700-1000 for parts. Expect 120-140 bhp <<<< out of the 3, probably I fit into this category.
- 16v on twin carbs would be thirsty for road use. Cost varies a lot, depending on whether you find 2nd hand carbs and manifolds (£1000-1500?) Expect 160-180 bhp
- Turbo conversion would be the most challenging route, but can make big power. Price and power varies massively. <<< the only appeal would be to have turbo whine ;)

If it's not a daily driver, there's a pretty good argument for spending money on things other than the engine. It's not a daily driver, but I want it to be a nice all round car, including making the right noises, having the right pull (for something that'll both make pace nicely and also sit on a motorway at *cough* 70 *cough* without too much grief.

Ultimately the car is my "toy", but my passion too... it's a nice motor that I wanna have a bit of self respect and obviously it already has kerb appeal. I've averaged an AGU engine out to cost around the £500 mark for tranny, engine and ECU shizzle... so that in itself has a lot of appeal. Add to that head skim if required, etc, etc. The other big appeal is the tunability of te engine itself, and bringing the car more "up to date"... so once it's in, the option is there in the future to add mapping, etc etc. This appeals to me, along with my long term plans of built in carputer (IN A ROCCO!!! :O)

And sorry RoccoGuy... diesel is out. All my other cars are diesel and to be perfectly honest.... I love the sound a "normal" car makes... it sounds less "wife and kids at home, I'm Mr Practical driving my cost effective diesel", if that makes sense... this NEEDS to stay on the right octane scale for me

[Funky Diver]

and then I went and found this

[RoccoGuy]

- a 2.0 or 1.8 8v with head work and a 270 ish cam would be a good daily driver, and it's not all that obvious to the insurance man. Budget £700-1000 for parts. Expect 120-140 bhp <<<< out of the 3, probably I fit into this category.

if that's the case then i'd just go for a 16v running the standard k-jet, you can pick the engine conversions up for around 200, new 4 branches are about 3-400 iirc although if you keep your eyes pealed they do pop up second hand cheap (i payed 60 for mine) then there's just really fuel pumps to buy, again cheap enough second hand. they are pretty much 140bhp as standard so if in the future you want more you have the scope to take it further.


20vt's are all well and good, but they are far from a straight forward swap into a scirocco

[Funky Diver]

... 2e bottom end ...head worked for good / better flow ... uprated cam or a mk1 golf or rocco injection cam ... nice exhaust manifold and system ... a valver on carbs.

2l bottom end, shiny shiny head, high lift cam, vernier pulleys and a four branch

So, as I'm a simpleton (well I'm not, but there's a bit of Rocco-Swahili going on in there )

1. 2e bottom end, use existing Tranny or will a "new" one be required too?

2. Worked and ported head (shiney shiney ... obviously ;) ) - I'm guessing the standard 8v that I have will be sufficient? I also guess the "valver on carbs" means swapping out to a 16v, and again have the head worked in much the same way?

3. Highlift cam, self explanatory really, however, I'm guessing an injection cam will drop straight in? If that's the case, then option 2 kicks straight in and would mean just getting a complete 16v head along

4. Exhaust - it was always my intention to replace the manifold with a stainless and wrapped manifold and a sexy new zorst, so least budgeting for that was already identified. 2.5 inch all the way through I'm guessing? What options are there apart from Jetex? I don't particularly want a real throaty zorst, a nice burbler would be far more preferable, especially as I'm sound proofing the cabin to within an inch of it's life so it'd be pretty pointless!! (I'm also nearly 40 so don't really count towards being a boy racer, haha)

I already have a Weber, and would prefer to stick with carbs for the simple reason being is that I understand them, and am happy with hte way my brain knows how they work.

Thank you for the suggestions for far, however, this option sounds to me like the "easiest" upgrade route for a power figure I'd be happy with for a road only car :)

[Funky Diver]

when doing 2E swap... which tranny is going back on? The standard 1.8? If so, does it need an uprated/bigger clutch?

Currently doing shopping list