mk3 8v Gti tuning/modification help!

[dom]

I said I'm going to buy a donor so probably a cat c or something. I can afford insurance and a donor car, so why do I have to buy a vr6 with all the work done when I want something I can say I've done myself?

Because it's absolutely pointless/costly/time consuming to buy a donor car and transplant the engine considering how cheap VR's are at the moment

[Rachie.V1]

How's it costly when I have a mechanic partner who's going to help me do it? Time consuming yeah, but like I've said repeatedly now it's going to be a project, something I can do myself and learn with. What will I learn from having the engine I want already in the car? It'd be time consuming and pointless doing that as I'd be taking it out to fiddle with for NO reason as it's already there?!

[Rmachines]

If you have ever done an engine conversion... you will know how many other parts you will need,  and how many things should be changed for new parts,  and what may be found to be faulty/break when removing,  otherwise you have a car with a nice engine, but knowing its not done well, or not perfect.    Might just be me but i have to replace everything i come across.

[Rachie.V1]

if that happens, it happens but I'd rather have something I done myself. End of the day I don't need the car yet and it'll be my something to do out of work hours, so I don't see what the big problem is in me wanting to swap the engine over and not just buy the car?

[lemski]

Go for it. These things don't take too long to do. I'm about to swap my engine out my mk2 to put intoi another. I find it enjoyable to do but then am a mechanic so I should enjoy the stress of things going wrong

[tweed]

Fair play to ya You will learn a lot doing it, if you get stuck in and don't leave it to ya partner lol There are vr6 bargains to be had. Buy one with bad rust or something and take everything you need.
We will help you out if you get stuck.

Still going to say sell the 8v and buy a vr6 lol I have both hahaha
I bought a mint gti 8v and then bought a vr6 that just had a engine rebuild to put in the 8v, But I just can't do it, both cars are too nice to break up.

[Rachie.V1]

I'd have 2 cars but paying the insurance for both seems pointless when i know which one i'd rather drive, aha.

I'm gonna get as stuck in as I can and leave less for him to moan about, haha. I have a good few friends who're mechanics so I have a few people to fall back on if he gets fed up of my moaning too haha.

I've found a few around the 300 mark so i'm waiting to hear back on them, i reaaaally like their interiors too so it saves me paying out separately i guess! if anyone see's/hears of any around that price let me know even if the engines need abit of work i'm pretty sure we can get it running again. all in the fun of it eh!

really appreciate the input though guys! now i'm looking at some vr6 bits and bobs, if anyone wants to name some engine improvements, be my guest all help is appreciated

[Wayne]

I said I'm going to buy a donor so probably a cat c or something. I can afford insurance and a donor car, so
why do I have to buy a vr6 with all the work done when I want something I can say I've done myself?

Because it's absolutely pointless/costly/time consuming to buy a donor car and transplant the engine considering how cheap VR's are at the moment

Spot on Dom

[thai-wronghorse]

I'm thinking about sticking a 1.4 lump in my 2.0 16v just so that i can i say I did it all myself. 

[Khare]

Unless the 8v shell is in a very good condition or you have done lots of work to it then I wouldn't break a sweat over it.

It's much easier to give it a nice clean and sell it on, using the money raised to buy a VR6. As Dom said they don't cost much nowadays.

It's not just the engine, box and loom that you'll change. Once the engine is out you'll want to do the clutch, or the headgasket, or this or that. You'll want new engine mounts and any other bits that will be easy to access with engine out (not to mention timing chains, especially important on the VR6).

Trust me it's not just the cost of buying the donor car, it's the cost of buying all the other bits you need.