What Engine to Convert to ?

[Burkey 10]

Hi All,

 

I have a 1993 2.0 16v and at 185k - it's starting to give up the ghost.

 

It's over pressuring, loosing oil from the sump and is generally - knackered, I bought it reasonably cheaply - 1400 quid, whilst my Mk1 is finished at the garage / body shop - I have spent about £500 on it due to previous neglect, but.....The car itself is in pretty good nick and has a leather interior so I'm of a mind to save it - particularly with less than 100 thousand Corrado's ever produced.

 

So, with all that in mind, my options are;

 

1. The engine is rebuilt (a bit tricky as I need the car off the road as short a time as possible)

2. I get a repalcement 9a engine and get it reconditioned and fitted ( I have found one, second hand for £900 so including the rebuild, still not massive BHP and pretty expensive IMO)

3. I convert to a modern powerful engine -

 

But what engine? - I would really appreciate opinions on this, I'm don't want to spend stupid amounts as my Mk1 golf is a VR6 so I don't need huge power, 200 would be good though

Edited August 6, 2016 by Burkey

[seanl82 23]

You should be able to source a replacement 9A very cheaply. Unless its had both bottom and top end rebuild, £900 is an awful lot of money!

Your other option and done loads of time is a 20vT from a mk4 Golf, Seat Leon, Audi TT, etc etc........

A much more refined engine and if you go for the Leon CR or TT with a K04 Turbo, your at 225bhp already. Bear in mind that the newest of these is more than 12 years old now too, so if you go this route then choose wisely. Personally, and if you're thinking of resale value further down the line, I'd stick with a 9a, and it should be the most economical repair too.

[Rado87 10]

I love the vr6 lump personally, but seeing as you've got a golf with that engine how about a g60? Maybe quite hard to get hold of though. Also, i wonder if you could supercharge your 2.0?

 

 

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[Rado87 10]

Along with a rebuild that is!!

 

 

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[Will.I.Dub 11]

That sounds like a hell of a lot for a 9a. I have one 135k miles on it with gearbox, ecu and engine loom sitting on a pallet and I haven't had any success selling it for €700(I'm in Ireland)

[seanl82 23]

You could probably get a bare block R32 for that kind of money too. You could buy a mk4 Golf 20vT with reasonable mileage but shot bodywork for less than a grand, then part out interior and other bits

I know of plenty of people that have done this, and ended up in profit with a free engine transplant. Bear in mind you'll need the looms, Ecu, etc etc. Have a look here fore more info on what you'd need.

 

http://the-corrado.net/showthread.php?36117-The-Forced-Induction-20V-Thread

[swiftkid 1]

My advice for conversions is if it's 4 pot stay 4 pot, if it's 6 pot stay 6 pot. It's more work and more hassle to put an r32 in a valver as you first need to convert to vr6 (subframe etc).

 

If you don't want it as a project I'd maybe consider an abf, 9a's fetch crazy money these days but 900 is just stupid. I've rebuilt a valver before and it's not a massive job but I'm betting you could pick up a mk3 golf for fairly cheap and either transplant full engine management or just run it off 9a stuff

 

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[joby 0]

I would go Rebuilt 9a, easy to do, a gas flowed head, and that gives 160 to 170 bhp and makes for a nice torquey engine with plenty of power and keeps the car original, A nicely built better breathing valver engine is a joy to rev and sounds great imo

[seanl82 23]

You'd need KR or ABF Cams too to achieve those sort of figures.

[joby 0]

You'd need KR or ABF Cams too to achieve those sort of figures.

 

Yes i should of said, KR cams

[VW_OwneR_85 1]

i'dd get hold of another second hand direct replacement , do the bare minimum to it {maybe do the clutch} , you could have it back on the roads over a weekend for well under £400 , done, enjoy it!, otherwise mk4 1.8T swap , loads of them about ...

[Burkey 10]

Looking at the price of the TT 225bhp models on Ebay, I am tempted to take that route - and put the leather interior in the Golf and sell the rest for spares which may make the project cost neutral if i'm lucky.

[joby 0]

remember to factor in for a cambelt water pump and hydraulic tensioner change on the engine and check for shaft play on the turbo as most of these engines have high mileage now and belts get neglected and do snap

[Kevin Bacon 5]

One of the K04 TFSI engines! Serious grunt.

[lesarcsneil 0]

Having rebuilt a 9A a couple of years ago, it wasn't exactly cheap. It's not the cost of the bottom end rebuild, but all the other little things that really add up. You'd be mad not to replace the clutch, and you really need a new oil pump in a rebuilt engine. When I got it back together I simply couldn't get the 20 year old water hoses to seal so ended up getting a set of Samco hoses.

 

Once it was holding coolant it started to leak oil from the new (pattern) rear main oil seal. Genuine ones used to be 80 pounds but by the time I got the engine back out they'd magically become 130 pounds. I can share the google spreadsheet that I've got of the rebuild cost if you want the details.

 

In hindsight I'd find an ABF from a reputable source and swap it in. They're known to produce more than the standard figures and aren't too difficult to fit.

[Burkey 10]

Sourced a 110k 9A engine for £150 - yay, now for the rebuild !!

[Jim 1]

Would love to have a 2.0 TFSI engine in a Corrado with about 250BHP. That engine is a real peach and would give a Corrado a perfect level of performance and driveability!

[Rocket Ron 1]

I've got a few questions while on the subject of Engines and my 94 VR keeping it standard (no power increase).

1. Engine rebuild.(heard some nasty stories).

2. Best company for a rebuild & rough cost

2. New Engine.

3. Best company for a new engine & rough cost.

4. Is the ABV VR Engine still available from VW & rough cost.

 

Cheers

[seanl82 23]

VEGE do reconditioned standard ABV engines Ron, and also both bottom end and Head seperately. Have a look on their website as it depends what they have in, but they also sometimes have them on special offer. I know a couple of years ago they had reconditioned heads for about £135 delivered! Gutted I didn't get one now, but the missus vetoed it as it was in December and I wasn't allowed to spend on the car over the Christmas period!

 

The AAA code 2.8 VR6 is also a possibility if you haven't thought of that. The bottom end obviously has less displacement, but the heads are exactly the same as the ones on the ABV, but just rememeber there are both distributor and coilpack varients which differ slightly, but you can easily change the parts over with what you have on your existing head.

[Rocket Ron 1]

Oh dear soon as I mentioned engine I was over in Germany at the weekend at the Dissen 30th Anniversary with 3 UK CCGB Corrados and a UK Scirocco great turnout of Sciroccos and Corrados convoyed to the Karmann Factory for a visit to the museum and a tour of the production line where they put together the Porsche Cayenne all very interesting. Whilst on the convoy complaints from behind of the blue smoke I was producing 124k on the clock. Looks like top end needs doing or something else. What checks to do and any advise welcome.