best engine conversion for my 16v?

[wil0]

Hi, ive got a 16v oak green gti, im considering doing a engine conversion over the summer, basically i want a bit more power, reliability and hopefully fuel economy. Im at uni down in plymouth and its a 300 mile trip from hertfordshire. At the moment i can maybe do 32mpg if im really careful, this makes it too expensive to bring up and down to plymouth really. Ive got a bit of a second gear crunch, and generally the engine needs a few bits done to it, so i thought i might put in a 16v abf in it instead? ive heard that some people have got 40mpg+ out of their mk3 16v engines...
Ive been looking for abf engines from seat toledos, ibizas, vw passats and mk3 gtis but they are pretty hard to find for under £250 and 100,000 miles...
is this the best way to go for performance but still decent fuel economy?
cheers.

[OakeyDoak16v]

Mate, in a nut shell yes, it is. A 2l bottom end will be a peach in your car, nuff said. It's all about the TORQUE!

Question now of course is how much?

[Wayne]

As above, 2.0 is your best bet.

[Mew]

Just a guess, but i think he is on about putting the complete setup in with digi management etc, not just the bottom end

[Ant]

Just a guess, but i think he is on about putting the complete setup in with digi management etc, not just the bottom end

Maybe he doesn't realise that you can just swap the bottom end.

[Mew]

Maybe he's saying he wants better economy too, which he is pretty much guaranteed from the full abf conversion

[Mk2George]

Im thinking along these lines too, is the 2.0 bottom end from the mk3 16v the only one that fits or will the 8v bottom end do too? Im on the verge of getting my 16v head refurbished and if its got to come off then ill be wanting to fit 2.0 as hopefully I will get more low end grunt. Does the head just bolt straight onto one of these without having to modify things??

Any more info/links on this subject would be great!

Thanks Tim

[wil0]

Yeah, sorry im thinking of doing a full abf conversion with the abf ecu too.
I thought about a 2L bottom end, but id still have the did kr ecu and feuling system, which would make it less economical...
ABF and 2L bottom end are the only two easy(ish) conversions arnt they?
I realise that if i do an ABF conversion im going to have to deal with the nightmare of rewiring alot of things. but i think it will be worth it...
Whats the best way to source a low milage engine cheaply though? ive seen them go for over £350!

[oakgreengolf]

Go for the abf you won't regret it. Took me about a 4 weeks on and off. Definatly get a car you can break yourself as your have all the bits + its loads cheaper in the long run. 

[...joe]

Your car is a '91 (According to your sig) so an ABF will drop straight in, and you can just plug the loom into the fusebox... easy peasy!

unfortunately £350-ish seems to be the going rate for ABF's nowadays. looked for one for ages for a mates mk1 and thats just what they seem to go for.