transplant 1.4 to gti

thesoulfulldude

i remember there was a question posted bout this before but there was no clear answer!

I have a vw golf mk3 97 1.4.... my question is if in a year or two i want to change to a golf gti but ive already made modifications to the golf i have now, can i have a gti engine fitted? what sort of problems would there be?

Neilw

Sell your mk3 golf and buy a proper gti, a nice standard 16v mk3 would be a good buy.

I don't know what mods you have done but you would need to upgrade suspension and brakes on the 1.4 golf after fitting the gti engine. Standard 1.4 brakes are rubbish.

WHITE_P

Sell it and buy the real deal.

Your 1.4 would require alot of extra work (brakes, suspension etc.) to cope with the extra power.
Brakes and suspension work should be done before the engine transplant.

It would probably be dearer to insure than a proper GTI afterwards, if you declared it to your insurer, which you are required to do when you modify a car.

Ferris

The only engine that I would transplant into a MK3 is the 20v 1.8T engine out of the MK4. Its been done in the UK, serious job tho and you'll never recover your costs.

If you want a mk3 just buy a good gti, its far superior to your current car in every way.

Other than that its probably more cost effective to buy a mk4 1.8t and chip it, my mate has one like this and it's very quick, probably the best 'bang for your buck' hot hatch out there imo.

Flyer1

Don't bother with a Mk3 8v whatever you do, they're horribly slow and they burn silly amounts of juice for what they do.

As said above the mk4 20v 1.8t would be the engine for you to transplant, but be prepared it's a lot of work. Myself and a friend are transplanting a mk3 8v into a mk2 shell for track use. The mk2 shell is much lighter then the mk3 shell and it's stripped out now to weigh only a few hundred KG. But any transplant can be done at all.

Slig

Just let go, a Mk3 golf isnt special enough to be worth the expense and effort. sell the old car and buy a new one. I transplanted an engine into my first car when the old one went and stupid things happened (rev counter didnt work etc.) Its cheaper and easier to buy newer and at least you get something for your money.
You could spend a couple of grand carrying out the transplant, money that you'll never see again and for all intents and purposes it will be the same car. It will handle worse, drink more petrol and you probably wont be able to sell it again, plus there will be a load of hassle with tax, NCT, insurance etc..
Spend the same money trading up and at least there will be a different car on your driveway for it.

WHITE_P

Ferris wrote: »

Other than that its probably more cost effective to buy a mk4 1.8t and chip it, my mate has one like this and it's very quick, probably the best 'bang for your buck' hot hatch out there imo.

That 1.8 turbo engine is the same unit as used in the orginal Audi TT and is good for 225BHP, probably more, but that is what Audi and Seat were getting out of it from the factory.

He should consider a Seat Leon Cupra also as they are quite cheap to buy and like the Golf Turbo fairly rare, although parts and servicing are easly available.

Ferris

It really depends on the car the engine was in. The stock 150hp (passats, early A4's. GTi's) has no intercooler for instance so its limited, still good for 180hp tho. The 180hp (later a4's, leon cupra, octavia RS etc)version was intercooled afaik and the 225hp (TT and S3) had stronger internals etc.

VW don't really tune their petrol turbo's that high so there's always room for improvement.