Mk2 8 valve engine swap, what will do the Golf justice?

[Skid]

Hi guys,

I've been reading for a while but need to get some direct advice plus some ideas.

Firstly, I have a Mk2 8v I bought as a cheap runaround with the intention of keeping it only 6 months. 6+years and 60k+ miles later I've had a ball of a time with a car that's been driven at 10 tenths everywhere.

For perspective I also own a ZX7R, a 5.7 AC Cobra with Nitrous and I'm trying to build a 944 with a lightweight Lexus V8 for a cheap track day car. Mile per mile the Golf has been the more fun to drive!!!!! The 8v engine has been a joy. Trust me it's not all about banging on a rev limiter at 7000 rpm and only going in a straight line. The joy I've had is in the beautiful little chassis and carrying immense corner speeds and largely keeping in a 3000 to 5000 rev range.

So...

The Golf is a 5 door, done 168k, black with BBS's and in good original condition. She's starting to feel her age and (ahem) my driving style and somethings going to start failing soon. So if she's going to start absorbing some money I'm tempted to upgrade the engine side but most importantly I don't want to upset the dynamics of the car and I want her to be a real sleeper so totally inmodified externally.

Unless I can be convinced otherwise by you guys I think VR6 etc replacements are just going to be too heavy up front and upset the handling??? Is there a link available for all the engine codes that also includes the weight of the engines. I also need a good link to model parts compatibility. Has anyone done a table or chart??? I'm thinking details of drive shafts, hobs, 'boxes, cluthes, engine mounts subframes etc etc.

I'm tempted by a recent advert I saw on ebay which was an 8v bottom, 16v top, (a mix to give lower compression) Megasquirt and a Mini supercharger. It seemed a nice alternative to the standard swaps. I'm toying doing the same but with a 2.0 engine either 16v original, or 8v bottom and 16v head again with an M62 for bigger flow.

I'm guessing and hoping that just the addition of the charger will not be too much of a weight positioning issue compared to other swaps which seem to carry the engine further forward, or is this my misunderstanding?

Also finances are an issue with the other project going on.

So to summarise, engine swaps, sleeper/original looks, minimal upsetting of handling characterisitics by bad positioning of weight.

What would you do.... ??

Hmmmmm..........

[SLIM-DUB]

hello mate,well the list of other projects is giving the golf alot to live up to! a friend of mine on another forum has done a vr6 conversion on his golf and from what ive been told by him that is the way to go! i have a mk2 1.8 16v running twin weber 40's and koni springs and shocks. i have just got rid of my mk3 vr6 to get the mk2 and im glad i did! the vr lump is awesome in a mk3,but as so many debates have said the mk2 is better for handling and overall better in alot of area's,so why not take the best from both and give the mk2 the powerful lump it deserves! mine is good with the carbs and does sound amazing when going,but i reckon i would still rather have the vr6 lump tbh! good luck with the quest and hope this helps! 

[...joe]

to make the best of the handling, get some eibach anti roll bars, koni shocks and either H&R or eibach springs. re-new the bushes with original ones except for the inner wishbone bushes, which are good with poly bushes. although many would disagree, keeping original bushes allows for a certain amount of passive steer, compared to poly bushes, especially on the rear beam.
this will keep it looking standard from the outside, with alot better cornering.
engine wise, choice is yours! if it was me and wanting what you want i'd probably go for a 20vt out of a mk4, a3, s3, TT, cupra r etc etc. this is an easy swap and unlike the eaton supercharged conversion you mentioned, would keep that sleeper thing going on, the eatons are pretty noisy in those conversions.
also using a 20vt lump allows you to use many of the original parts if not parts from the donor car. plus they are very versatile so in the future, if you wanted to upgrade, its easy to do.

[the rokus P.G.A]

I'm thinking of mk4 gttdi engine with a simple remap nye on 200bhp and shed loads of torque!!! should still get 40mpg as well!!! the choice is endless but thats what i would like to do!!

[Skid]

Blimey, 3 instant quality responses, thanks guys.

Reference..

if it was me and wanting what you want i'd probably go for a 20vt out of a mk4, a3, s3, TT, cupra r etc etc. this is an easy swap and unlike the eaton supercharged conversion you mentioned

I'm suprised at the 'easy' swap bit compared to an Eaton! ha ha I like the Eaton idea as it wasn't too bad plus there are loads available on Ebay.

I read a few 20vt swap links and it seemed pretty intense stuff. I appreciate the ultimate is to change the entire set up, but is there an intermediate swap, ie 20vt engine, existing box, atermarket ecu, standard clocks etc???

Thanks again
Mark

[...joe]

if you get the loom, clocks, keys etc its a decent weekends work to get it in and running. but obviously its better to take your time and do it properly.  the blocks use the same engine mounts etc so phsically you can just bolt it up as per the old engine. then use a QPeng wiring loom and down pipe and bobs your uncle instant fast engine!

[Organisys]

Everything Joe said, except I'd also consider:

A 2.0 16V ABF engine from a Mk3 Golf / Seat.
Put a good filter, exhaust, cams on the ABF and you should see 170 ish bhp?

Otherwise a G60 is fun, but look for one with a recently overhauled charger preferably ported, or budget for it to be done, plus then add chip, smaller pully etc.

Refer to www.dubforce.net usefull for 1.8T and G60 info...plus
mk2vr6.com for VR6 lumps in mk2s !

I think the 1.8T is a bit characterless and doesn't fit in with the GTI esscence (If you see what I mean)
Although it depends how much power you want, but there is a limit to how much you can exploit it in an old fwd chassis of course, even a good one !