205 GTi 1.9 Engine Conversion
Discussion
Hi all,
Quick question for the GTI beards out there if I may.
Considering a 1.6 GTI with a Skip Brown 1.9 conversion, J-plate IRO £2,000.
Seems a fairly good deal to me, i'd be looking to restore and keep, or would I be advised to steer clear of this? 1.9 GTI's are of course more desirable.
Quick question for the GTI beards out there if I may.
Considering a 1.6 GTI with a Skip Brown 1.9 conversion, J-plate IRO £2,000.
Seems a fairly good deal to me, i'd be looking to restore and keep, or would I be advised to steer clear of this? 1.9 GTI's are of course more desirable.
I had a Skip Brown conversion after looking at absolute dog rough 1.9's for two weeks, B59ARN where are you now. They're really easy to DIY convert, just pistons, and liners off a 405 or the likes basically.
Mine was really torquey but ran out of steam after 4k rpm. Turns out they used the old 1.6 head, the cam duration and valve sizes just are not suitable so make sure the conversion included a cam and valve upgrade. I bought a 1.9 head complete and changed it. What a difference that made, a proper pocket rocket after that. Loved it but sold it to buy my 1st 1/2 decent bike.
Cars of that age check the bottom of the 1/4's where they join the sill behind the doors, they always seem to go there 1st. As for values, I'd rather a nicely looked after 1.6 conversion than the average 1.9. Having a receipt with Skip Brown on it will help a bit with resale I would think but it will never be worth as much as a proper 1.9.
Mine was really torquey but ran out of steam after 4k rpm. Turns out they used the old 1.6 head, the cam duration and valve sizes just are not suitable so make sure the conversion included a cam and valve upgrade. I bought a 1.9 head complete and changed it. What a difference that made, a proper pocket rocket after that. Loved it but sold it to buy my 1st 1/2 decent bike.
Cars of that age check the bottom of the 1/4's where they join the sill behind the doors, they always seem to go there 1st. As for values, I'd rather a nicely looked after 1.6 conversion than the average 1.9. Having a receipt with Skip Brown on it will help a bit with resale I would think but it will never be worth as much as a proper 1.9.
Thanks for all the help.
The car is Cat D, which was just body work rather than anything chassis or suspension related.
The engine has uprated valves, verier pully, gas flowed head, uprated pistons etc It's sat mostly for 4 years in a garage, but has just passed an MOT.
The vendor has been very open and said the tappets need adjusting and the dhla throttle bodies tuning, but runs very well.
It's a 300 mile drive back hoping she makes it, collecting on Friday
The car is Cat D, which was just body work rather than anything chassis or suspension related.
The engine has uprated valves, verier pully, gas flowed head, uprated pistons etc It's sat mostly for 4 years in a garage, but has just passed an MOT.
The vendor has been very open and said the tappets need adjusting and the dhla throttle bodies tuning, but runs very well.
It's a 300 mile drive back hoping she makes it, collecting on Friday
What a mission!
Kent to Manchester and back in a day, home at 2:00am after Highways agency decided to close the M1 southbound 18-16, m1/m25 junction, m25/m20 junction.
Anyway, she is mine!
Jobs include, raising the rear back to OEM, restoring the interior, cleaning up the engine bay, tuning the carbs (running very rich), tappets, upgrade the brakes, fix a little rust and respray the roof, put in a red carpet etc etc
Came with a a ton of parts, and a mighty induction roar. Can't wait to get home and play with it.
The car too.
Kent to Manchester and back in a day, home at 2:00am after Highways agency decided to close the M1 southbound 18-16, m1/m25 junction, m25/m20 junction.
Anyway, she is mine!
Jobs include, raising the rear back to OEM, restoring the interior, cleaning up the engine bay, tuning the carbs (running very rich), tappets, upgrade the brakes, fix a little rust and respray the roof, put in a red carpet etc etc
Came with a a ton of parts, and a mighty induction roar. Can't wait to get home and play with it.
The car too.
crossy67 said:
I had a Skip Brown conversion after looking at absolute dog rough 1.9's for two weeks, B59ARN where are you now. They're really easy to DIY convert, just pistons, and liners off a 405 or the likes basically.
Mine was really torquey but ran out of steam after 4k rpm. Turns out they used the old 1.6 head, the cam duration and valve sizes just are not suitable so make sure the conversion included a cam and valve upgrade. I bought a 1.9 head complete and changed it. What a difference that made, a proper pocket rocket after that. Loved it but sold it to buy my 1st 1/2 decent bike.
Cars of that age check the bottom of the 1/4's where they join the sill behind the doors, they always seem to go there 1st. As for values, I'd rather a nicely looked after 1.6 conversion than the average 1.9. Having a receipt with Skip Brown on it will help a bit with resale I would think but it will never be worth as much as a proper 1.9.
Hi CrossyMine was really torquey but ran out of steam after 4k rpm. Turns out they used the old 1.6 head, the cam duration and valve sizes just are not suitable so make sure the conversion included a cam and valve upgrade. I bought a 1.9 head complete and changed it. What a difference that made, a proper pocket rocket after that. Loved it but sold it to buy my 1st 1/2 decent bike.
Cars of that age check the bottom of the 1/4's where they join the sill behind the doors, they always seem to go there 1st. As for values, I'd rather a nicely looked after 1.6 conversion than the average 1.9. Having a receipt with Skip Brown on it will help a bit with resale I would think but it will never be worth as much as a proper 1.9.
I stumbled across your post today and the ref of your car struck a chord. B59ARN was owned by a good friend of mine in the early 1990s. He had it converted at Skip Brown and had Bilstein tarmac rally suspension fitted by Skip. He was a huge car audio guy too and had a seriously expensive Alpine stereo installed. It was a quick car and great fun.
He traded it for a Cosworth Sierra.
Cheers.
Jeff.
Hi Jeff.
Nice to hear some history about it. It was a stunning car, I went looking for a 1.9 but they were all knackers.That was a spotless example and I was very happy indeed to own it. I only sold it because motorbike.
I was quite into my stereo then too and did a nit of an install. Those Bilsitens were a bit too hard, I used to get stitch when I went over bumpy roads for the first few weeks. I got used to it though, and the rear wheel steering too, my party piece was going round roundabouts properly sideways.
Your friend, he was from Lancs area was he not? I'm sure I bought the car from Preston area. Loved it to bits, thank him for looking after it for me.
Nice to hear some history about it. It was a stunning car, I went looking for a 1.9 but they were all knackers.That was a spotless example and I was very happy indeed to own it. I only sold it because motorbike.
I was quite into my stereo then too and did a nit of an install. Those Bilsitens were a bit too hard, I used to get stitch when I went over bumpy roads for the first few weeks. I got used to it though, and the rear wheel steering too, my party piece was going round roundabouts properly sideways.
Your friend, he was from Lancs area was he not? I'm sure I bought the car from Preston area. Loved it to bits, thank him for looking after it for me.
crossy67 said:
Hi Jeff.
Nice to hear some history about it. It was a stunning car, I went looking for a 1.9 but they were all knackers.That was a spotless example and I was very happy indeed to own it. I only sold it because motorbike.
I was quite into my stereo then too and did a nit of an install. Those Bilsitens were a bit too hard, I used to get stitch when I went over bumpy roads for the first few weeks. I got used to it though, and the rear wheel steering too, my party piece was going round roundabouts properly sideways.
Your friend, he was from Lancs area was he not? I'm sure I bought the car from Preston area. Loved it to bits, thank him for looking after it for me.
Hi Crossy Nice to hear some history about it. It was a stunning car, I went looking for a 1.9 but they were all knackers.That was a spotless example and I was very happy indeed to own it. I only sold it because motorbike.
I was quite into my stereo then too and did a nit of an install. Those Bilsitens were a bit too hard, I used to get stitch when I went over bumpy roads for the first few weeks. I got used to it though, and the rear wheel steering too, my party piece was going round roundabouts properly sideways.
Your friend, he was from Lancs area was he not? I'm sure I bought the car from Preston area. Loved it to bits, thank him for looking after it for me.
It was rock hard. I remember going to a car audio show in Bristol, from Manchester. Got there is 2.5 hrs..........
He lived in Manchester, Chorlton to be exact. His brother had an R5 Turbo !
Sadly he died three years ago. Heart attack out of the blue. I remember great days following the RAC rally in his Cosworth Sierra, and racing an M3 going to the Belgian GP. Great days.
Glad you enjoyed as much as he did !
I looked it up on the gov.uk mot history website. Sadly no longer on the road, last mot in north Wales.
Cheers.
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