2 questions - engine rebuilding

[the edmundator]

As many of you probably know, I'm building a racing mk.2 from a GTL auto shell. I'm currently searching for an engine donor and my main problem is that car I find are either too good to break, or too rough to be useful. My questions are:

1) Is a high-mileage engine going to be a problem; could I have a 200k+ engine rebuilt to be essentially good as new?

2) Where do I find someone to rebuild the engine for me? (I'm not confident enough to be doing this kind of thing myself just yet).

[MikeH]

It really depends on the individual engine. A 200k miler could be fine, or a 60k miler could be wrecked.

If you're prepared to pay someone to build an engine for you, you could try Ian Carvell maybe? Or David Knight if you want someone to do all the machining as well as build it up. Or you could just buy a ready built one from C&R / TSR, but then that'll cost. I'd think Ian might be your best bet if you're on a tight budget.

What spec of engine are you looking to build? 8v or 16v? Do you have capacity limits?

I've got a 1900 8 valve block, crank and pistons sat in my shed, which I'm supposed to be building to go in the daily. I had 0.75mm decked off the block to bring it up to 11.5ish:1 CR. The bores are pretty good, but you could go for new rings and a hone if you want it to be perfect. I wasn't going to bother. PM me if you want to know more.

[MikeH]

Just skim-read your project thread. If you're still looking for an ABF, I've got a spare one of those too. I just need to take the head off and check if the bores are any good.

[the edmundator]

Thanks for the replies. I'm after a complete car to break because I'm going to need the wiring loom and all of the ancillaries, gearbox etc. because I'm converting from auto/carb to manual/fuel injected.

I've got a couple of leads at the moment on suitable possible donors, one of which has a 9A with >200k, but is a complete, running car; the other has an ABF with 60k on the clock, but no gearbox fitted so I can't hear it running. I'm also considering a runner with a KR that's done around 200k.

I need to keep the engine swap as simple as possible as it's my first time doing anything like this (I don't think changing a 2CV engine really counts).

[MikeH]

If it's a racing car, and won't get much road mileage, then I'd suggest you should run it on carbs, rather than standard injection, especially if you're planning to go for lumpy cams, as the standard management won't cope with it well.

Or is the plan to freshen up an ABF and just throw it in?

[the edmundator]

I'm not planning on doing much (or really any) modification to the engine to start with. Ideally I just want to take the stuff out of the donor car and install it straight into the GTL's engine bay.

Cheapness and simplicity are the order of the day at present. When I've reached the limits of a fairly standard set-up, I'll consider going for more power. But really I think the speed is to be found in sorting out the chassis and brakes to start with, then spending money on the engine when horsepower becomes the limiting factor.

[Storm]

i know of a rebuild 1.8 kr 16v done 1500 in corrado in local scrappy to me think they wanted around the 600 mark for engine and gearbox
plus they got some 8v 20l in there plus a vr6 golfs and a passat 20vt
and a golf 16v mk2

i may have a g60 corrado for breaking soon so if you need something



i be up for rebuilding a engine
i go 16v on carbs on track car Had that in my mk1. nice easy to do and easy to repair plus you get about 30-40 bhp on a 16v kr engine dcoe 45s and good exhaust etc

[the edmundator]

Thanks, I'll bear it in mind. I might have found a nice ABF, though...

[MikeH]

I'm not planning on doing much (or really any) modification to the engine to start with. Ideally I just want to take the stuff out of the donor car and install it straight into the GTL's engine bay.

Cheapness and simplicity are the order of the day at present. When I've reached the limits of a fairly standard set-up, I'll consider going for more power. But really I think the speed is to be found in sorting out the chassis and brakes to start with, then spending money on the engine when horsepower becomes the limiting factor.

There's no doubt that you can have a lot of fun, and go pretty quickly, with a stock ABF in a light car. At the end of the day, I'm not sure how big your budget is, so that may be a factor, but there are some disadvantages to going with a complete setup from a Mk3 golf or similar, compared to finding the engine and the other parts separately....

If you go for an 02A box, the flywheel is about twice as heavy, which will impact performance. I think the box is heavier too, but I'm not 100% on that. I think you need a custom gearbox mount too, which is extra spend for no real benefit. Next up, one of the best places you can spend money on the car is on a lower ratio diff, so if you could find an 020 box with a 3.9 diff, this will be a big improvement over the 02A ratios.

On the engine side, it's less clear cut, but if you run the ABF digi management, you'll need a remap to make the same power you'd get on Kjet. On the other hand, with a remap, it'll probably make slightly more. The ABF engine loom won't fit in the scirocco fuse box either, so you'll need to do some serious splicing, or fit the whole Mk3 loom and fusebox.

If it was mine, I'd buy an engine separately, and then you need to find two breakers - one mk2 16v golf with CE1 wiring, and the other a manual injection scirocco. There are plenty of breakers about. If you can get hold of a 3.9 or 4.25 box and a lightened flywheel, even better.

[MikeH]

This cropped up on ClubGTI - might be a whole car being broken.


hi here for sale is my 2.0 16v abf engine, gearbox, wiring, ecu, cable linkage, can be heard running, i am selling it has fll conversion, engine is real quick and good runner, its came out of a seat ibiza, breaking fll car, looking for £500 for the fll engine conversion thanks 07896415421

[the edmundator]

If you go for an 02A box, the flywheel is about twice as heavy, which will impact performance. I think the box is heavier too, but I'm not 100% on that. I think you need a custom gearbox mount too, which is extra spend for no real benefit. Next up, one of the best places you can spend money on the car is on a lower ratio diff, so if you could find an 020 box with a 3.9 diff, this will be a big improvement over the 02A ratios.

Yes, I was reading this thread http://www.vwgolfmk1.org.uk/modules.php ... ic&t=16575 yesterday and got the impression I'd be better off using an 020 'box. I might end up buying two donor cars.

On the engine side, it's less clear cut, but if you run the ABF digi management, you'll need a remap to make the same power you'd get on Kjet. On the other hand, with a remap, it'll probably make slightly more. The ABF engine loom won't fit in the scirocco fuse box either, so you'll need to do some serious splicing, or fit the whole Mk3 loom and fusebox.

I was intending to transfer the whole loom and fusebox, using the engine management from the original ABF setup. Then a remap would be a realatively simple modification in the future, if necessary.

If it was mine, I'd buy an engine separately, and then you need to find two breakers - one mk2 16v golf with CE1 wiring, and the other a manual injection scirocco. There are plenty of breakers about. If you can get hold of a 3.9 or 4.25 box and a lightened flywheel, even better.

For the prices I see engines being sold at, it doesn't make sense not to buy a whole car. Given that I've no experience with these engines, I'd like to disassemble everything myself (and take lots of pictures) so that installation will hopefully be more straightforward.

[Jay4424]

A mate of mine has just fully rebuilt a 1.8L 16v/v GTI Mk2 golf engine

everything thing has been refurbished/replaced, the engine needs running in again as if from new!

the only thing not done is the clutch, it still works and so was not replaced!

new injecters, new electrics, new rings, pistons (I believe), honed boars, you name it, its prob new!

I was going to fit this to my scala 4*4 project, but I know i shouldn't as I haven't the time, money or space!

comes complete with full wiring loom... right down to the fuse board!!

No gear box as hes alread sold that on... I wanted that too!



...the reason this enegine hasn't gone back in to his Mk2 golf GTI is that he got offered a VR6 engine for stupid money ... so hes now redoing that!


offers around the £800 mark, but try him, you never know ..hes not on hee, I work with him so can pass messagaes on!


Jay.

[Jay4424]

...might be worth looking at this! http://www.sciroccoregisterforum.co.uk/ ... f=5&t=4353

[MikeH]

It's up to you - it's your project.

I didn't want to turn this into a hawking session, because the views I have are genuine about which way I'd go in your situation, but in case you're interested, I've got the following bits, which have just become spare. I collected them to convert a mate's golf 8v to 2L16v, but he can't find the time to do it for several months, due to him moving house, changing job, getting divorced, etc.

I picked this stuff up fairly cheap, so I'd be happy to move it on cheaply 'for a good cause'. I've got too many engines and gearboxes kicking around at the minute.

ABF Engine - needs a top end rebuild due to a slipped cam belt. I'll pull the head off and check the bores are OK, so you can inspect it a bit.
Mk2 16v Golf Fuel system, engine loom, ECU, airbox, manifolds, ISV, ancillaries, etc - from a car that I broke. I drove it before I broke it too, so I know it ran (it didn't have the above ABF lump in it). It was a 1989 car, so It would plug straight into your 'Rocco Fuse box.

I've got a spare 2Y (golf Mk2)16v gearbox that I've never driven, but it was given to me as 'a good box' that someone didn't need. I swapped it for some other bits I had. It's not the ideal diff ratio for you, but it should get you rolling.

I've also got a mildly ported ABF head (By Bill Blydenstein) and Schrick 260 cams, that came from the golf I broke. I'm not sure if I want to sell that though, or if it would fit in your budget.

If you're interested in any of that lot, please let me know by PM. I don't want to talk prices in public. I'd do you a deal, because I like the fact that you're building a scirocco racer, and because it'll clear a lot of stuff that's currently stored at my mate's place (and he's moving in a couple of months). Most of this stuff is located close to Silverstone, and the rest could be brought there for a meet.

That would leave you needing:
Scirocco Gear Linkage and pedal box
Clutch
Downpipe and exhaust system
100mm shafts
... and anything I've forgotten.

and all the other stuff you should think about (brake upgrades, suspension, etc.). I have got some uprated brake bits kicking around, that I'll probably never get around to fitting.