Bigpower

Having stripped out and cageing my golf ready for the track i felt it needed a bit more power so i opted for the fairly cheap 2.0 16v ABF conversion, i picked up a decent lump and box about 2 months ago and have only now had the time to try and fit it

Day 1 (sat)

So first of all i took the front panels and bumpers off which is straight forward enough..





I then took all the wireing and plumbing off the engine so it was nearly ready to remove
Then Matt arrived to help..
So we undid the drive shafts and the exhaust manifold (only snapped 2 bolts )
Then Damo arrived just in time to help lift out engine..

We jacked the car up in the air and lowered it back onto its wheels with a trolly jack under the engine/box, we then undid the 3 mounts and carefully rolled the car backwards and the engine was out...







I decided to keep the 8 valve box as it it easier than converting to a hydrolic clutch and cable shifter..

we seperated the engine/box and decided it would be a good idea to use a brand new clutch,

Next we started to untangle the loom which was fairly easy and we seperated the bits which needed to be changed

We also decided to remove the dash as it is heavy, it was hard to do with the cage in place and we managed to break the windscreen :roll: but never mind..

It was getting dark so we called it a day..

Day 2 (sun)

Today Matt and Jenkins where here to help (thanks guys) and we set about removing the loom and any other bits of electrics i dont need, we decided to remove the entire heater system and the electric windows have gone.
We cleaned up the interior and engine bay and then wired in the new loom, it is quite easy, just unplug 3 conectors from the fuse box, remove old loom, then the new one connects the same way







in the bay we routed some of the loom throught he chassis legs to keep it tidy..
Then we took the 16v clutch off the new engine ready to fit a new 8v

It got dark again so we cleared up......

to be continued.......

Bloody hell, that looks a bit technical! I suppose once you're in there it's not too bad, but I'd still say rather you than me

It will be interesting to see how much difference you feel the swap makes once it's up and running.

Were you guys that stoned when you did it, or is that just the photos :lol:

golfs are quite easy to work on as they are basic.... we erent stoned just had a lot of coffee

The new engine is about 50bhp more than the old so should make a difference, i am gonna use 50bhp nos kit too so will be interesting...

anyway i wanna have it running today so best get on ...

Today i finished tidying the bay and sorting the loom, then got a new clutch and fitted it to the engine... unfortunately rain stopped play so hope tomorrow is nicer!!.....

Right......

So Day 4 (tuesday)

Matt and i started on the car at about midday...

we moved the engine near the car and finished fiting the clutch, we had to make an allignment tool using small sockets, basic but it worked



we then thought it would be a good idea to change cam belt and alternator belts, afetr inspection we reckoned the cam belt was vertually brand new as was the tensionr so we didnt change it. we still did the others though...



Next we fitted the old 8v gearbox and starer motor to the engine, it all lined u great and we were happy ...

At this point it was starting to get late but we made the decision to get it done tonight ..

We got the engine lined up infront of the car and between the 2 of us lifted it onto a trolley jack, (it was bloody heavy!)

Matt hld the engine on the jack and I pshed the car forward until the engine was roughly in place, this took a bit of work as its tight in there.

Next we lowered the engine onto its mounts and got a couple of bolts in



After this it was plain sailing, just doing up bolts and wire etc.... We had to guess alot of the loom as it was not labled but it was nearly all obvious, this took us quite late into the evening then at 9pm we were ready to fire her up...

It started with the first turn of the key which was amazing!!!!

So we put the front back on and took it for a spin, it drove fine but the idle is a bit lumpy.. It did feel fast though....

Anyway i took these pics today as it was too dark last night...









Thanks to Matt, Damo and Jenkins for helping me......

Just got to get new screen fitted now and sort out the rev counter which isnt working and the rough idle.......

Wow hats off to you for doing it by yourself. I guess the beers were on you for your mates help???