Hey guys, I'm hoping this is still the place with all the right knowledge! I had a great scirocco storm years ago with a dx engine, Vince at stealth set it up and it made healthy power. I removed the engine the week after and the car went, I only have the bare engine now and I would like to do the crossflow conversion. (I want my dx block to be used) Can anyone recommend a company or shed guy who can do the full job? Any help would be great.
Hi, if you are handy with the spanners its not a difficult job, the biggest question is why go cross flow? I assume its because you want to run Carbs or ITBs? Martin at Gas and Gears might be able to help if you cannot do it.
A little bit of welding to the head to physically fit it on, then your choice of intake and management. Jason Moyles - see JMR section on this forum for contact details - has a lot of knowledge/experience with this. Your first job though, should be to use the Advanced Search button at the top right of the page and search for Crossflow in Titles. There were a LOT of threads on this a few years ago. Out of interest, what car are you planning to put this in?
that depends which head you use. I have an ABA from a mk3 cab, which is supposed to be a direct fit, no welding needed. I haven't tried it though. its sat on the shelf with a couple of mk4 8v heads, a future project.. although, given the same spec head, I haven't seen much evidence to suggest Xflow is any better than counterflow. the Xflow is certainly easier from a induction point of view when using open induction. TonyB has a 220+bhp counter flow engine.. so there isn't too much wrong with them given the right amount of work.
Thank you so much for all of the replies guys!! Not seen activity on a forum like this for years! Okay, The reason I want to do it is because I just want to see the ITB's facing the correct way, If I can make a healthy 130hp I'd be happy. It would be going into a scirocco mk2. I do not care about the extra power, I have a hi spec 1.8t in mk2 rocco already and a Bmw M5 for power. Looking around you don't see many complete engines like you did in the old days so I would like to put my old block to some use just for sentimental reasons! on another note I have seen and emailed the company in brazil who are doing the crossflow heads brand new for 600dollars. If anyone has a head they want to shift let me know, in the meantime I will contact the companies/people mentioned above. Thank you all for your replies, proud to be a paid member again!
SPA in Brazil? I'd be very interested to see that - and also how much you get stung for by HMRC lol I have a mk4 AKL 1.6 crossflow head you can have but it's in West London and it's also not the best option by all accounts. I'd also be very interested in your 1.8 T conversion (complete) as I have a mk1 Scirocco that will need an engine soon.
Spend the money here with the right folk. Hotgolf @ Gas n gears. mrhillclimber @ JMR. 'Man in the Shed' Charlie @ CTM performance. All the above a fully cable to deliver a reworked cylinder head that will induct more air into the engine, to achieve desired power on a dyno shop of your choice.
Hi Mr.Brown (I remember your username from a long time ago) My 1.8t engine will be going nowhere its taken me over 10 years (work here and there) to build it. (its now in rocco jocco's old white shell) do you remember that? Thank you for the offer of the head, shame as I visit W London alot but I'd be looking for the best I can do/get. As for HMRC I'm more than used to getting nasty bills from them!!
Gas n Gears has details on his Facebook page. He is also know as hotgolf on here and in the past has demonstrated how to make your 2.1 rev. He does all engine services, including head work and race engine blueprinting. Get him to look at your gearbox while you are there! Allstage is "Man in the shed", has built many a VW race engine and was the one outsourced to supply some of the big name VW aftermarket companies over the years JMR has contact details on here and is the contributor for how to port your cylinder head, flow rates and so on. CTM performance from Romford with over 40 years experience does pretty much anything, from old classics EG engines to new TSI engines. I, Dubshack, VWE, HPE, some of the Emerald lads, Garage Streamline etc, tend to use him for all work what you are embarking on. A cylinder head does not have to go to only one source. It should be taken to folks who know what they are doing and all of the above can do the job well.
100% agree mate. I've sent messages to everyone accept Allstage as I can't find his contact details yet. I remember hotgolf on here many years ago, Its nice to see he's a fully set up business now. I've already asked him which box to go for so I can send it to him straight away. You've been a great source of help, I really appreciate everyone taking the time to reply.
Would like to hear also about the aftermarket SA crossflow heads, availability, price into uk, quality etc Jon
As the guys above say essentially. If its power you are after, not really worth the hassle as you can get similar power from non crossflow heads, however if you want the carbs/ITB's at the front then go for it. Essentially quite straight forward, same exhaust manifold, cams, pulleys, etc.etc. I'm pretty sure you'll need to weld the oil way up, but maybe an ABA is different - not seen an american one myself, but thought it would be the same? You'll need an inlet manifold, most use Rowland one from South Africa, they make a number of different and interesting variations for Golfs. They are happy to ship. Personally I'd only get a head from someone who had a flow bench and could prove their flow data. However for a fast road car (which isn't my bag of tricks) the basics are all out there and anyone with a decent understanding of engineering and machining should be able to make decent flowing head. I'd suggest 150bhp is a very achievable target with a half decent cam, std valve well ported head, compression and squish sorted, tidy exhaust system and manifold. Carbs or ITB's will only add to that. It's all about getting it matched up and assembled correctly, taking time to get it all right and most importantly set up properly. ITB's and a proper ECU will ultimately make a more drive-able and use friendly daily driver than a carbed car, but both should be perfectly civilised if set up right. Anyway that my tuppence worth
Cheers bud! Jason @ JM Racing has been brilliant with helping me work out a little plan for it. We've found a crossflow head for pennies and hopefully we can start some real progress on it soon. Powerwise I don't think it'll ever give my M5 a run for its money but I would like to build a crossflow engine just for old times sakes. Cheers guys!
I get the same buzz out of driving my mk2 as I do out of my M5..... Just at half the speed and twice the fuel economy! Lol.
