Club 80-90 Forums

Hi all

a friend and i have just got a pick up which has a 1.8 golf engine(carb) in it, but is knackerd.

we were thinking of putting a 1.8.16v GTI lump in it! the guy he brought it off recons that it will fit straigt in but will need a different engine waring loom in it. i have seen a few of these on the fleabay so no probs with the price or availability, we were just wondering how much it would cost to get some one to wire it up, or would we be able to do it with e wireing diagram and some patience ( i have wierd up bikes but never a car/Van!)

Thanks for your help!

if you get as much wiring as possible with the donor engine it shouldn't be too difficult to merge your two looms, the basic vw front to back loom you are mating to is simple as about 12 connections, 6 of which are the lights which you won't be touching, you'll be able to use the starter wiring you've got already other than that it's a couple of switched feeds and some temp/pressure etc. signals for the dash and things like that.

Some say the 16V isn't as good as the 8V Golf for a heavy van... poor torque?

But that's just what i heard...

HarryMann wrote:Some say the 16V isn't as good as the 8V Golf for a heavy van... poor torque?

But that's just what i heard...

Not as good full stop

Hehe, thanks Andy, must have been you I heard it from

have had both engines in mk2 golfs. 8v is crap compared to 16v. 16v needs to be reved alot more but will out pull an 8v all day long. They are relaible to if well looked after. Not sure what a 16v powered van would drive like but for mk2 golfs, 16v all day long. or as mine is now 12v in vr6 form. (its a beast.)

big red bus wrote:have had both engines in mk2 golfs. 8v is crap compared to 16v. 16v needs to be reved alot more but will out pull an 8v all day long. They are relaible to if well looked after. Not sure what a 16v powered van would drive like but for mk2 golfs, 16v all day long. or as mine is now 12v in vr6 form. (its a beast.)

They can not take neglect anything like what an 8 valve can, on paper 16 valves look much better, in the real world they have an advantge 5000+ revs. The 12v vr6 is very similar and very un reliable and exspensive to fix not to mention the silly weight of them.

used to drive my 16v like i stole it every where, never any real problems. had three 8v and very reliable engines but all suffered same problem of knackered valve stem seals and then no oil pressure. Did put up with some abuse but would go 16v over 8v every time. vr6 is very expensive to repair but apart from head gasket and timing chains have no problems at all. Mine has done 180,000 and will still outpull most new cars. If the question of 8v or 16v was to be raised on another golf gti forum, I am sure I know what the answer would be. Of course this is only my opinion.