hi everyone, just wondered if someone can give me some useful info as to which is the best route to take ?? I have a 1.6 carbed driver at the minute and wish to give it a few more horses. I have purchased a mk3 gti 2.0 engine ( agg i think ) with gearbox, ecu, ignition barrel and transponder. I also have 2 k-jet engines with gearbox and all wiring, injection system etc to go with the k-jet ( this was my initial intention ). Now i am not sure whether to swap everything over eg looms, fuel lines etc to make it fuel injected or whether i would be better off just using the 2.0 bottom end and running gear with the k-jet gti head and blanked injector holes and re-jetting the DTML carb that i am already using on the original set up?? I still need the car to be useable though as it is our main car , but want something abit different and fun to drive . If anyone can shed some light on my dilemma that would be great, i think i have several options but not sure which is the best way to go . cheers steve ps .... thought I had better add that I am already uprating the braking system, before everyone gets horrified at the thought of more power and no mention of other mods
although there's nothing wrong with k jet (when it's correctly set up), you may find that for the hassle involved in getting it running nicely you might as well either go for full EFI straightaway, or just keep it simple and run on carbs. 2 litre block is a good strategy for more low-rev grunt, which can be improved upon with some work to improve gas flow through the engine (better exhaust manifold, cam, head porting etc..).
thanks Alexis, so do you think the mk3 EFI would be a good bet or am i better off sticking to carbs ( atleast to start with ) ? If I was to just kep it simple for starters what would be the best head to use ? Will the fuel lines and mechanical fuel pump be ok for fuel delivery ? cheers steve
As its a daily driver i would initially build a 2.0 bottom end with gti head and exhaust system and use your carb. Also as you are using an agg bottom end you will need to source a 2E dizzy to get it to run. If you want to upgrade to efi later on i would use mk2 stuff for simplicity
If you run it with a carb you will need a Dizzy conversion ring to convert your own carb dizzy as the AGG (single window hall) and the 2E (4 window hall) are fixed shaft and will not offer mechanical or vacuum advance curves. The above post from Nealey would be correct if you were going to run digipants though! pm me as I have a dizzy conversion ring spare.
thanks Nealey, thats what I was thinking it maybe easier to start with a carb and then move over to efi at a later date if needs be and it will still keep my rolling project useable too which is a big advantage. cheers steve
thanks Danster, I had read somewhere about this converter ring but I guess it is one of them things that until you start to fiddle you would overlook unless you know so thats a good heads up I have sent you a pm too cheers steve
issue with running it on carbs is you need an electronic fuel pump and pressure reg suitable for your carby, as nowhere to mount the mk2 mechanical fuel pump. where is your hazard switch, dash or column?
hi rubjonny, thats a good point i havnt even had a proper look at the engine yet so wasnt sure about mounting a mechanical fuel pump. I have the hazzard warning switch on the column as it is the later style electrics, which makes the k-jet transfer abit more difficult .... i think ?? So how difficult will it be to do an electric pump and regulator ? where can i get that from and roughly what kind of money we talking ?? any ideas anyone ?? cheers steve
An electric pump will cost about 50 new and it is wired in so that it gets 12v when the ignition is in the engine run position. Trying to retrofit the k jet system will be a tonne of work as your car has the later style wiring.
Yeah thats what i was thinking Danster and was trying to avoid too much swapping wiring back to the old system for the k-jet tbh !! Will I have to wire an electric pump through a relay fed by the ignition switch ? Also would i need to put in some kind of shutoff incase of an accident to stop fuel being pumped everywhere ? Does that 50 quid include the regulator too ?? and where can i get one from ? Any particular type or recomendations ? cheers steve
since you have the later fusebox I'd bin the idea of k-jet & carbs entirely and go with mk3 fuel injection instead. pretty much plug n play. if you really want to run it on carbs you can use a MK2 k-jet fuel pump relay to trigger it, this takes a rev counter feed so will still cut out the fuel pump in case of a crash.
If you fancy having a go at it, and your budget is up to it, maybe a megasquirt conversion is the best way to optimise the power from the engine. The Mk3 injection will certainly work, but modern engine management is set up for economy and emissions more than max power. It depends what result you want to get, really. If you want a 45mpg motorway cruiser then go with the Mk3 management and your driver gearbox. If you want something that goes like an uprated GTI, then megasquirt is a better route, and a close ratio box.
You can get as good fuel economy with the full engine capablity with a standalone. It's all in the mapping.
thanks for all the replies and info on this guys its all appreciated Rubjonny you say the mk3 stuff is basically plug n play, I have the engine with injector rail and ancillaries, g/box, ecu, ignition switch and transponder what else am i going to need to complete the conversion ? Also I keep reading on here that the mk3 engine is cr*p as a complete unit and its best to use a mk2 head...... so would this be the best way forward using all mk3 stuff ?? cheers steve
hi Mike, I am after abit of power but not to the extent that i will need a second mortgage to run the car So kinda inbetween or best of both worlds really, at the end of the day it still has to be a fairly practical, useable car. I have a van for work so i dont really use the car during the week but it is our main transport for weekends I dont know if that helps much really cheers steve
In addition to what you have there, you'll need a complete engine loom but make sure its for the same engine as yours, 3 different MK3 lumps fitted over the years! alternatively if you get a different loom get everything to go with it ecu, inlet, afm/maf, isv etc. If you used a MK2 head you could switch over to MK2 digifant engine managment, which would make the job even easier. I dont think the MK3 head is as bad as some say it is though, unfortunatly we dont have someone like toyotec doing proper testing on these heads exhaust wise get a G60, MK3 2.0 8v or 16v downpipe and a MK3 cat bypass, then mate it up to a mk2 16v exhaust system. This will give you a lambda probe hole for the mk3 managment without doing any modification or welding. For the manifold manifold either G60, or MK2/MK3 GTI 8v. you'll also need a fuel pump setup and the lines to match, either swap the whole tank for a MK3 item with the main pump, or fit a MK2 gti lift & main pump and keep your existing tank. then its a case of adding the wiring for the fuel pump and thats pretty much it.
Cheers John, thanks for all the good info, looks like i got plenty to think about then I will let you all know how it progresses cheers steve
