1.4 to 2ltr 16v conversion

[Red Ibiza VR6]

How different do you want them to be???

Put it this way - a solid 1.3 mk1 Golf is relatively easy to come by, but people don't generally use them as donor shells when the tin worm attacks their GTI. Why? Because the engine and gearbox mounts are in the wrong place... Sure, this is a slightly different issue, as mk1 Golf (and their various derivatives) have no subframe, meaning you need to weld new mounts to the shell rather than "just" swap the subframe, but even so...

Sorry mate you dont know what you are on about. The Mk1 Golf has 4 points on the chassis to which the engine bolts. The only difference is that the different size engines have different mounts and sit differently as a result of this. They all however, mount onto the same four points.

It is the same story with the Ibiza. The 1.4 engines are mounted at a tipped forward angle whilst the 1.8s are tipped back. They mount to the same points ion the back subframe, but have different mounts attached to the motors. Provided you get the replacement motor with the engine mounts attached, should be no worries bolting it in.

I still think the front subframes are the same, but would love you to show me differences MORK? Anyone?

The reason people dont generally use a 1.3 Golf shell as a donor for a GTI is that you need to swop fuel tanks, pumps, fuel lines and brakes, making it a long and complex process. I kow, as I am converting a 1.6 carby Golf to 16v fuel injected at the moment and its an involved process.

 

[bizaman]

My god does anyone actually listen to what we have to say.

FFS i give up if you wanna be F***ING IDIOTS then go ahead fine do that. All of us speak from this funny thing called "experience" if none of you have it then what have you got to base it on??????/?

Exactly NOTHING

so dont listen to our advice when you asked for it and tell us we are wrong. If you dont like it then dont ask for it simple.

As for someones remark earlier if i want to be a gimp why dont you F*CK off to another forum where they mother you and tell you how big your manhood is. We aint here to massage peoples ego's we are in the the Model Specific info area to hand out advise on just that.

Go ahead do your conversions ignore us by all mean but dont come on here asking for advise when it all goes wrong as all you will get is i told you so and you'll get assed off with that and put another post in calling someone a gimp. But guess what they wont care as they were right in the first F**king place. JESUS CHRIST

 

[m0rk]

dude - mk1 golf has no subframe - I sat there looking at GLyn's old one pondering why they didn't

The subframes are different. I'm looking at the SEAT parts catalogue. There are 3 types.

 

[bizaman]

m0rk is right.

I used to work for a company called gedas. For those of you who dont know they are VW's IT systems provider. I used to deal with several Dealer systems including ETKA and ELSA. I have seen the differences i used to look up parts for mine all the time and look at the range alot and guess what they are different.

 

[WeeJase]

My god does anyone actually listen to what we have to say.

FFS i give up if you wanna be F***ING IDIOTS then go ahead fine do that. All of us speak from this funny thing called "experience" if none of you have it then what have you got to base it on??????/?

Exactly NOTHING

so dont listen to our advice when you asked for it and tell us we are wrong. If you dont like it then dont ask for it simple.

As for someones remark earlier if i want to be a gimp why dont you F*CK off to another forum where they mother you and tell you how big your manhood is. We aint here to massage peoples ego's we are in the the Model Specific info area to hand out advise on just that.

Go ahead do your conversions ignore us by all mean but dont come on here asking for advise when it all goes wrong as all you will get is i told you so and you'll get assed off with that and put another post in calling someone a gimp. But guess what they wont care as they were right in the first F**king place. JESUS CHRIST

and now breath
advice is always well given on cupra net,if they don't get the nice fluffy answers they want then thats there look out
chill

 

[bizaman]

and now breath
advice is always well given on cupra net,if they don't get the nice fluffy answers they want then thats there look out
chill

Sorry apologies. Just gets my back up. Asked for advice from experienced people who deal with the brand and then goes and ignores it for some Vauxhall mecanic who actually has never worked on anything VAG. Then has the nerve to call me a gimp and tell me that i dont know what i am talking about. He asked for advice we gave nice answers pionting to dont do it and then ignored us and started telling us we were wrong etc etc just annoys me!!

 

[WeeJase]

i "personally"think my advice was best. why spend a huge amount of cash on a car that will be a bitch to do,and cost a wedge of money to insure and sell on at a loss,rather than ship it all onto a 3k car and bolt some new skirts to it?
or why not just sell the thing and start a new project on a car with the engine of choice,the guy doesn't even like the front bumper he has,so thats cash into the wind.

 

[bizaman]

Exactly. Ok i may not have said it in quiet as easy to read as that but i did echo all the pionts you just made in a couple of posts i even said body wise there isnt anything you cant transfer if you want to.!! Oh well just getting all excited over nothing i guess. Just annoys me when ................ ah forget it let him get on with being a chav and move on

 

[Red Ibiza VR6]

Hey beezaman thanks for the info. Nice to know that the front subframe is different. Will do some research into which one I need for my conversion. I appreciate the difficulties involved and dont wanna start until I have all the bits. I`m only doing it cos this is Australia and all SEAT and VAG bits are thin on the ground and very expensive. $2000 for a 5 speed for a 1.4 car which cost me $300 seems excessive. In Blighty, I would have paid my 40squid for a box and been done with it.

 

[bizaman]

Sorry if i seem OTT its just i dont get it when people tell me i am worng when i know i am right. If i wasnt sure then i would have said so or kept my mouth shut.

I appreciate your in an awkward one with being in oz but your situation is different to the one Doug69 is in.

 

[WeeJase]

thing is we have now taken dougy69 out of the thread,third parties have given opinions and now the guy is probably no nearer an answer,calling him a chav has now hurt his feelings(my heart pumps purple piss for him).
if you want to spent 1k on an an engine swap and all that then fine you'll have a 1.4 with a 2ltr engine and thats it,but the brakes and suspension are going to need doing as well which, tbh,aren't brilliant,the anti roll bars could do with a bit of work,i could and probably will go on
YOU'RE ON TO A LOOSER MATE,REALSIE IT

 

[bizaman]

Nah i know. The conversion is too much hassle hence why i sold the 2.0 16v lump i had. Still fiteed the 280mm brakes though People dont learn and will never learn i need to grow up really and stop letting scrotes like that annoy me!!

 

[ibiza_95]

i can now see where your coming from but not on the advise you gave. i just bought a 2l 8v which i intend to neaten and sell on for a bit of wad. driving it home i can see how swapping the engine would be a much bigger bitch to do than swapping everything else over onto it. maybe it needs to be seen to be believed.

i intended to swap the engine in my 1.4 to a 2l 16v but now ive driven the 2l 8v i just thought how much easier and simpler it would be to just swap all the bits ive put on the 1.4.

have to admit that an engine swap probably isnt worth it
oh and dont get me into the argument im just sticking my nose in with my opinion

taaaaaaaaa

 

[hopkinsgm]

...Sorry mate you dont know what you are on about. The Mk1 Golf has 4 points on the chassis to which the engine bolts. The only difference is that the different size engines have different mounts and sit differently as a result of this. They all however, mount onto the same four points...
...The reason people dont generally use a 1.3 Golf shell as a donor for a GTI is that you need to swop fuel tanks, pumps, fuel lines and brakes, making it a long and complex process. I kow, as I am converting a 1.6 carby Golf to 16v fuel injected at the moment and its an involved process...

I'm pretty sure that one of the mounts is welded in a slightly different place - which isn't immediately obvious until you try and put a big engine in your small engined mk1 Golf. This may be of interest... http://www.clubgti.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=53483&PN=1

If it were as simple as just swapping over the fuel system (which is only an afternoon's work if you put your mind to it), everyone would do it. Fortunately, it *is* pretty much that simple in your case, as a 1.6 shell has the mounts in the right place for a 1.8 engine. Good luck with it by the way...

 

[F2 Stu]

Hey beezaman thanks for the info. Nice to know that the front subframe is different. Will do some research into which one I need for my conversion. I appreciate the difficulties involved and dont wanna start until I have all the bits. I`m only doing it cos this is Australia and all SEAT and VAG bits are thin on the ground and very expensive. $2000 for a 5 speed for a 1.4 car which cost me $300 seems excessive. In Blighty, I would have paid my 40squid for a box and been done with it.

Should of bought yourself a Holden Barina then

 

[dougy69]

WTF!!!
Started to get a bit of decent info and now i get this gimp back on the thread ranting on thinkin hes awesome.

and how can u call me a chav wen u hav that shed of a car ur trying to sell.

like mentioned b4 i have thort of selling the car and decided against it.
i have then asked for advice on fitting an engine not for a discusion on weather its gonna be hassle.

wats the point of me selling my car and then starting again from scratch losing more money.

but thank u to the ppl who have been helpful

 

[F2 Stu]

Play nice children.

 

[WeeJase]

or there'll be a time out on the naughty step !!!

 

[hopkinsgm]

...i have then asked for advice on fitting an engine not for a discusion on weather its gonna be hassle...

Doug - I'm going to level with you here. You asked for advice. People have offered their advice - and generally, the advice has been that doing the engine swap is going to entail an awful lot of hassle, and you'll end up with a car that's difficult to insure - if you can even find someone to insure a 1.4 with a 2.0 16v lurking in the engine bay, then chances are you'll either have to bend over and bring your own vaseline or end up with insurance that won't be worth the paper its' written on should you ever need it - and the car will probably be worth peanuts if/when you decide you want to sell it. It's a sad fact of life that when modifying cars you never get back what you put in - from a financial point of view. There are odd occasions when you may find that someone with the right amount of money happens to be in the right place, wanting a car that has been modified in exactly the way you have modified yours, but such cases are rare.

It's rare that swapping to a bigger, higher power engine that was available as a factory option will be financially viable. The only cases I can really think of are with older cars where the vast majority of the sports models are so long in the tooth that they've been ragged to bits or are "pristine examples" that have either seen very little use from new or restored at huge expense and the owner wants to see some of the money invested back. Cars aren't investments, and should never be seen as such. They depreciate. And the more you modify, the more you narrow the appeal of the car to a would-be buyer because what looks good and what doesn't is very subjective.

2.0 16v's are relatively plentiful, and there's some tidy examples in good condition out there for not much cash if you're prepared to take a bit of time and look for them. I really do think that in the long run it would work out far cheaper to sell your current car as is, buy a nice clean 2.0 16v and then do whatever bodywork mods you fancy to that. Sure you'll end up out of pocket, but you'll end up losing cash on it whatever you do.

That's my advice, and I suspect the advice of the majority of people who have posted...

 

[F2 Stu]

Couldent have put that better myself G.

Cars are just money pits at the end of the day, but fun tho.