mk2 golf GTI 8 valve G plate Digifant

[veedubmk2golf]

My m8 is thinking of buying a 8v gti digifant, the guy who is selling it recently said the engine was changed due to the following faults:

crack on the cylinder head
Kept over heating
oil light kept flashing

it now has an engine out of another gti which is another digi, i really want the car but thats put me of the fact that its had another engine
in

the cars had a full respray in black
G60 arches
recaro interior (drivers seat is ripped and the bolster in sagging)
16 x 7.5 keskin deep dish wheels
badgless grill
crystal clear headlamps. m3 tail lamps
audi converted door handles
brannd new clifford concept alarm and immobilser
hes uprated the front brakes to 16 valve ones
12 months mot
104,000 miles

he wants £1800, is that too high and is there anything i should look out 4 concerning the engine

[takethefifth]

£1800 seems a bit too much to me.  I might pay £1200/£1500 it i liked it.

With regards to the engine it would be nice to find out how many miles it had on it before it went in, but i guess you'd have to take his word for it. Theres no reason for it to be a bad thing if the engine was good and the swap done well.......  Has the engine been in long? I might worry more if he had just blown it up and whacked another engine just to flog it. You don't tend to take as much care when you are just bodging something up to sell it 

Smoke is obviously bad, oil leaks, excessiving tapping/rattling.  Let it sit and run till the fan kicks in make sure thats all ok. Check the coolant, at worst a rusty brown is acceptable but oil in there is bad. Check the oil fill hole make sure there is no foamy crap in there and the oil on the dipstick.

[s3akr]

too expensive although a lot has been done to it. He's trying to recover his expenditure I reckon!  I wouldn't be put off by the fact that it's had an engine swap but just look out for it being done properly and with an engine that looks and sound OK. With cars the age of ours, you're gonna have a high mileage engine and its probably not going to have history to back up the indicated mileages so you have to go by how it sounds, looking for smoke (ensure its stone cold before you start it so you know it hasn't been warmed up first and look for smoke at high rpm and on the over-run), and looking for leaks. If in doubt have a local garage give it a quick once over.

[golfmk2boy]

Not sure on this one...

You could get a decent valver for that... however if the bodywork and paintjob is good then that may sway my decision.

Before you buy I would look under the car, under the bonnet and check for any rusting... If it is clean then you could make an offer and then upgrade it to a valver or something more meatier.... say a mk4 turbo or 2litre 16v.

I am currently replacing my 8v digifant for a replacement 8v... just to learn the basics of engine removal and refitting.... After the engine change my car should be in fairly good condition.... If it had a respray then I wouldnt let it go for less than 1800.... resprays can be expensive and I would check whether he has any receipts, then follow those up.

Main thing to worry about is rusting... good news is that the mk2's were coated with wax throughout to stop rusting etc....

I wont go on... if it looks clean I would consider it, but again quite expensive for an 8v..... go for a 16, I wish I did.