davidwort

seriously, just fix the standard 16v system, valvers weren't designed to run at 80 deg oil all the time so an air/oil cooler is just overkill for road cars. Most 16v's have dodgy heater bypass valves, heat exchangers and old radiators, add to that dubious radiator temp switches an fans and often missing or broken underbonnet temp switches (front left of cam cover) it's not surprising they run hot in traffic. I went from 1.8 to 2L and increased the timing advance, not to mention the headwork and it doesn't run any hotter than it did as a bog standard 1.8, that's a 10% capacity and 20% power increase. I've got a IR point and shoot thermometer, very handy for checking temps around the engine bay, if the water coming out of the rad is cool enough when the fan runs when the car is idling then that's fine, I've not really found any particular oils to make any difference and very strong coolant additive can perhaps make a couple of degrees difference, but not much.

eh? :scratch: the 2L 9A has the same exhaust cam as the KR anyway and the inlet cam on the 9A is flat by comparison, gives a nice flat torque curve but runs out of puff at high revs, it's the KR inlet that's better for the top end. I'd imagine a 9A inlet cam in a 1.8 KR would be pretty dismal.

you can get away with a bit more base setting of ignition advance at idle by turning the distributor, as long as you use super unleaded fuel. Mine is set at about 7.5-8 degrees whereas factory setting is 6. I've not yet seen a 9A Corrado with an ABF type head from the factory, but engine number wise there are apparently some, they still have 9A cams in though as the Corrado never had anything but K-jet or KE-jet fuelling. All you will get though are the slightly revised valves and combustion chamber, I'd imagine it makes next to no difference on the KE-jet fuelling and ignition though. All 9A engines use the same part number as the KR for the exhaust cam.

what i would be interested to know is whether the ABF cams are any better in a KR/9A head with K-jet injection than the KR cams, or whether they need the ABF head and mk3 16v injection system to keep the torque curve up. If I ever come across some cheap I might just try a set of ABF cams just to see. ABF engines are certainly the peak of development of the 16v engine.

I'll check the part number against the ones I have, if it's a VDO one with the same connector and pipe connections in roughly the same place it should be OK, the bodies of the 8v ones are slightly thicker at the pipe end, but fit in the mounting rubber fine. It's prefereable to have the correct KR/audi 100 one though as the digifant ones do have a permanent air bleed like I said, they'll do as a temporary fix though.

Like I said before, one of a digifant mk2/3 golf (as long as it's the same electrical connector) will work, it might idle a tiny bit higher due to the permanent bleed they have but it will otherwise operate just as the KR one and will at least rule out your old one. I really mentioned this because they are so easy to come by compared to the 16v ones as they're fitted to so many cars, passats etc, so I thought you might know someone with one you could borrow off their car for 5 mins just to rule it in/out.

It might still be the old ISV, mine has been cleaned, soaked in petrol, you name it, but it still hangs on to revs, you really need to swap it with another one to rule it out.

There's little difference between to KR and 9A heads, there's minor variations in castings over the years and 9A heads have extra water galleries that help keep heat from the inlet ports. The KR inlet cam gives the KR engine the 'pull' over 4000 rpm and the peaky power band compard to the flat 9A. It's the ignition module on the KR that sets the rev limit to 7,200 rpm, and the fuel/ignition ECU on the 9A. The injection system is purely mechanical on the KR, whereas the 9A has an electronic module to adjust the fuel control pressure and lambda feedback, all to help it meet emissions and to run with a catalyst, this tends to hold back the 9A as you can't set them up 'rich' to get that bit of extra power that you can for the plain K-Jet injection off the 1.8 KR. My inlet manifold was done with the head, a long time back, but you should be able to get equivalent work done for around 500 quid. Exhaust manifold was done by TSR for around 70 quid. 16v tuning certainly isn't cheap for the power you get back and a VR lump will get you more torque and instantly the same or more power than a tuned 16v, but then it makes for a totally different car and one that's heavier and with more of the weight further forward in the engine bay. Swompy, you're more than welcome to have a drive :)

try using the search... see this thread and the pic of the VAG hoses against the golf mk2 16v samco set

I'm not convinced you need to do much to the cooling on a valver unless it's going to be a track car. I've run mine with the original VW radiator, a pattern cheapo GSF one and now a new VAG one and TBH they don't need any more. My car is a 2L lump but with a P&P KR head and the original 1.8 KR injection, so it rev limits at 7,200 and with the flowed head pulls strongly to the red line, with something around 165-175bhp I've never had overheating issues, oil or water, no oil cooler on mine, just the original heat exchanger. I've also got the original 42mm inlet manifold, also ported and polished and so is the original cast iron exhaust manifold, there's no restrcition on the inlet or exhaust side really and I'm loathed to try a 50mm inlet manifold or tubular manifold as I've currently got around 150lb/ft at 5,500 rpm and 130 over most of the rest of the rev range, last thing I want to do is drop the low end torque, especially when it revs so smoothly and strongly to the red line anyway. (just a panel K&N type filer BTW) If you look at cars like GVK's old mk2 16v (club GTI) it's pretty clear that unless you have a very light car (stripped out mk2) then aiming to get a few more peak hp at the top end (wild cams etc) isn't going to make the car any quicker or more pleasant to drive. If you're ever at any of the meets this year, inters etc. you're more than welcome to a ride in my motor, if you work the revs it's not far off the pace of a standard VR, I've had a few forum members follow me before that will back me up on that :)

blue95 has a TT BAM engine on Qpeng IIRC, nice to have the switchable maps.

great, cheers :salute: this might explain why very occasionally the light goes mental and the gauge rises right to the top very quickly, then will either drop of it's own accord or resets when you turn the ignition off/on. from what I understand if it was the voltage regulator then other instruments would be affected, and I've changed/checked just about everything else apart from the actual gauge unit.

now you mention that! couple of years ago I asked you about a random light flashing thing and you just went :shrug: :lol:

Warm Up Regulator unit on RHS of head (under Idle valve) with a 2 wire plug and 2 fuel lines to it it alters the control pressure to the metering head on warm up to richen mixture see: here

yep, the usual... even a brand new seal doesn't always cure it, sometimes some gasket sealant or silicone can help,, but they are buggers, a new one should be better, but make sure you get a new inlet manifold gasket too as the old one will probably break up when you take the inlet off to get at the cam cover.

it usually does.

:lol: if you have checked the condition of the plugs, leads, distributor cap etc. and have checked all of the vacuum lines and rubber intake boots for splits and leaks then there a number of other things to check depending on the symptoms. Does it idle OK?, does it rev freely? cold/warm? Any more info on exactly what it's behaviour is like would help, before deciding to change fuel filters, check fuel delivery and pressures etc. which is all a lot more involved. I've got most of the testing info gathered over the years so might be able to point you in the right direction.

do you mean timing inspection hole for the flywheel or the 17mm hex plug on the side and bottom of the box, don't put gearbox oil down the inspection hole! :shock:

shouldn't think 250bhp will be much of a problem, 16v turbos can be built to run very high power, probably more than a 20VT as they can rev so high.

it don't do nuffin though, KR has no diagnostics, it only has an ignition ECU, ABS versions might have a port for the ABS controller, not sure.

have a look at Toyotec's turboed ABF on Club GTI, seems like if it's a turbo 16v you are after the ABF block is the best and he seems to have a pretty good setup on Megasquirt. K-jet turbos were never great, especially on a 1.8 KR (Kev Hayward had a mk2), think you'll find they needed extra injectors and ECU to stop them running too lean and were pretty peaky. For all the cost and hassle you can see why a 1.8T is such a common transplant, all easy to source, relatively cheap parts. Having said that I'm sure a 2L ABF 16vT has much more character :D

sounds more like a manifold vacuum leak.

a new or recon ABV (2.9 VR6) engine is going to set someone back a few quid so if the engine source/receipts stack up then it's not a bad thing at all to have been done on a car of that age, potentially thousands could have been spent on it, could give the car another 150K+

Weren't all the 'Beetle Cup' cars RSi's? Bit of a pointless car TBH, mainly a marketing thing to help shift the standard beetles I think.

yep, it will, in fact most VR's came with the smaller one on anyway.