Digifant engine?? what isit, (mk2 golf rebuild)

[darrren]

Well im looking into doing a mk2 golf restoration but before i buy the car im stripping down the engine and fully rebuilding it like new. A question though, all the old engines i have found on the internet are "digifant", im not sure what this means. My concern is when i buy the car in a few months to fit the engine,then it wont be compatible with it. Its a 1.8 8valve engine im getting,and my plan is to buy the car once its done and after rebuilding the car itself,simply swapping the engines over,sort of plug and play. Im wondering if all mk2 8v gtis hae this "digifant" engine. It would be no good rebuilding one,then buying a car which i cant just simply swap the engine over as i dont want to be messing with looms etc as im no good with that. If anybody can help that would be great. (the car i buy will be a mk2 8v golf gti aswell). To put it in simple terms,are there different types of the mk2 1.8 8 valve engine?? and if so can i still just simply swap engines without chopping wires etc or will it all plug in,thanks.

[tony_ack]

Yep, there were two 1.8 8v NA GTI engines. K-jet 87 or earlier, Digifant 87 or later. If it's on the crossover it could have either but you can tell them apart as the injection system is different (braided fuel lines from a fuel distributor on the airbox on the k-jet, single fuel rail on digifant)

[darrren]

whats different about these engines?? The engine im looking into buying is the digifant version so im guessing it would be easier buying a golf with that engine in?? My main concern was if the wiring etc is different as im not too good with that and would rather be able to take the engine out and put my refurbished one straight back in. Thanks for the reply also mate

[rob.043]

The difference between the earlier 8 valve k-jet and later 8 valve digifant is the fuel injection system.

The k-jet is a mechanical system, and the digifant is electronic. So wiring and components in the engine bay do vary a bit between the two, and so you need to make sure you get a later spec (after 1987) digifant engined car to make things as straight forward as possible.

[rob.043]

Check this out:
http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=46505.0

[Wayne]

Digifant is a much better bet to be honest.

[tech1889]

sorry to hijack but i love your sig Wayne !! 

[darrren]

The Engine i have found is out of a vehicle that was registered in 1989 so isit safe to say it is a digifant engine? The engine number in the service book is kw82 and on the v5 it says pb122803.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150543603359&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:GB:1123
This is a photo of it

[Mk2Kezza]

Looks like a digifant to me, a PB as stated on the v5.

[darrren]

ok thanks for your help guys. Im into fords mainly but ive been considering one of these for a long time and i thought if i dont do it now i probably never will,so as soon as ive got the engine no turning back. I dont know what to do though,ill be buying new valves and piston rings etc if anybody knows any good places? but i dont know whether to use the standard bits or just uprate the cams and valves with somthing like a kent cam?? How do these engine react to this type of tuning?? Then im looking at getting the car this time next year as ill be coming back from 6months in canada and should have some money laying around. Thanks for all the help everybody.