MK2 Golf Engine swap and full restoration

[Tr1cky]

Hi there I am hoping for some help and recommendations for reliable companies that can carry out a full project from start to finish. I live in the Guildford area and have just bought a 1990 Mk 2 1.6 driver (manual) with 60k miles.

Looking at 20v turbo engine swap and full interior overhaul coupled with a more purposeful suspension set up and externally bringing it back to it's best.

Any help much appreciated.

[blue_haddock]

How deep are your pockets?

Something like that won't be cheap so presumably you have easily 10k or more ready to pay for it.

Unless your doing some of the work yourself it's going to be an epic money pit.

[Old_Skool_Fool]

Maybe try The Phirm, they seem to have a long history of modifying, not sure if they do full projects but they probably know many people within the trade.

They're not too far from you. Have a look at mags, see who else has had full projects done for them.

[aka_kerrly]

Tr1cky said:

live in the Guildford area and have just bought a 1990 Mk 2 1.6 driver (manual) with 60k miles.

Looking at 20v turbo engine swap and full interior overhaul coupled with a more purposeful suspension set up and externally bringing it back to it's best.

Any help much appreciated.

Good choice getting a 1990 car for a conversion, the later CE2 wiring loom is a lot easier to integrate with a 20vt loom.

The 20v swap has been going on for over 20years now so there are millions of useful resources out there, my friends guide here is one of the best


https://www.vwgolfmk2.co.uk/clubforum/index.php?to...

In terms of drive in drive out conversions, there are garages who will do that, Stealth Racing, Storm Developments, The Phirm, TSR are all worth a phone call.

the best way is to provide an entire donor car eg MK4 golf, ibiza/Leon cupra/Octavia vrs and Passat are the easiest options and you can make money back selling all the bits you don't need

[Tr1cky]

blue_haddock said:

How deep are your pockets?

Something like that won't be cheap so presumably you have easily 10k or more ready to pay for it.

Unless your doing some of the work yourself it's going to be an epic money pit.

Many thanks for for coming back, it will be a daily alongside another car, so more than happy to put an appropriate budget to it.

[Tr1cky]

Old_Skool_Fool said:

Maybe try The Phirm, they seem to have a long history of modifying, not sure if they do full projects but they probably know many people within the trade.

They're not too far from you. Have a look at mags, see who else has had full projects done for them.

That's really helpful, many thanks will take a look. Wasn't really a planned purchase, just sort of happened so am now trying to formulate a plan!

[Tr1cky]

aka_kerrly said:

Good choice getting a 1990 car for a conversion, the later CE2 wiring loom is a lot easier to integrate with a 20vt loom.

The 20v swap has been going on for over 20years now so there are millions of useful resources out there, my friends guide here is one of the best


https://www.vwgolfmk2.co.uk/clubforum/index.php?to...

In terms of drive in drive out conversions, there are garages who will do that, Stealth Racing, Storm Developments, The Phirm, TSR are all worth a phone call.

the best way is to provide an entire donor car eg MK4 golf, ibiza/Leon cupra/Octavia vrs and Passat are the easiest options and you can make money back selling all the bits you don't need

Many thanks will take a look, it's a pretty solid car with 60k miles so hopefully a good starting point.

[WPA]

Why not go old school and run a 2.0 16v lump on ITB's

20v turbo is old now and things have moved on, later TSFI lump would be another choice.

[blue_haddock]

WPA said:

Why not go old school and run a 2.0 16v lump on ITB's

20v turbo is old now and things have moved on, later TSFI lump would be another choice.

I'd definitely agree a TFSi is a better option

[GhostWKD]

blue_haddock said:

I'd definitely agree a TFSi is a better option

Just to third this one

I've had numerous S3's and a Mk6 Golf GTi, the 20vt is one of the most soulless engines I've ever had the misfortune of driving. TFSI by comparison is an absolute peach.

I'd expect the TFSI conversion to be pricier than a basic 20vt though, so comes back to budget I guess

[Tr1cky]

GhostWKD said:

Just to third this one

I've had numerous S3's and a Mk6 Golf GTi, the 20vt is one of the most soulless engines I've ever had the misfortune of driving. TFSI by comparison is an absolute peach.

I'd expect the TFSI conversion to be pricier than a basic 20vt though, so comes back to budget I guess

I hadn't even thought of that and very much appreciate the advice.

Budget will be a factor in the consideration unfortunately but if I can go for the better option then I guess I'd be daft not to.

[Tr1cky]

WPA said:

Why not go old school and run a 2.0 16v lump on ITB's

20v turbo is old now and things have moved on, later TSFI lump would be another choice.

Hmm will have a look at this as well as the other options, it would certainly make sense and quite like the idea of a NA engine.

[Krikkit]

ITB NA would be a lot of fun, certainly a better solution than the usual 20V faff imho.

[the-norseman]

I used to own a MK2 with 1.9TDI in it. A guy round the corner had a MK1 with TFSI and DSG.

[blue_haddock]

Tr1cky said:

GhostWKD said:

Just to third this one

I've had numerous S3's and a Mk6 Golf GTi, the 20vt is one of the most soulless engines I've ever had the misfortune of driving. TFSI by comparison is an absolute peach.

I'd expect the TFSI conversion to be pricier than a basic 20vt though, so comes back to budget I guess

I hadn't even thought of that and very much appreciate the advice.

Budget will be a factor in the consideration unfortunately but if I can go for the better option then I guess I'd be daft not to.

One thing to think about is the fact that most 20v's will be 15 years old as a minimum really so the engine may need a full strip down and rebuild whereas a TFSi will be newer so you could just strip it from the donor and not need to do much to it before transplanting it.

[HiAsAKite]

I can echo what others have said - if you are in the Guildford area, speak to Tim at the Phirm about options..

[tomsugden]

I agree with speaking to Tim at the Phirm, he really knows his stuff and does do project cars. When I lived in the area and he maintained my car I saw one of his project cars, an Audi S3 still with its 2.0 4 cylinder engine making ~650bhp!!

[Dr.Hellno]

J-Tech Automotive near Reading are also worth speaking to.

[Tr1cky]

Many thanks to you all have made contact with a couple of the recommendations and adjusted my view on engine type for replacement.

Time for man maths to justify the whole thing!

[aka_kerrly]

GhostWKD said:

blue_haddock said:

I'd definitely agree a TFSi is a better option

Just to third this one

I've had numerous S3's and a Mk6 Golf GTi, the 20vt is one of the most soulless engines I've ever had the misfortune of driving. TFSI by comparison is an absolute peach.

I'd expect the TFSI conversion to be pricier than a basic 20vt though, so comes back to budget I guess

Agree, Im really not a lover of the 20vt especially ones with K03/4 turbos which seem to behave like diesels with no real power gains over 5500rpm. At around the 200hp mark I had far far more pleasure from 2.0 16v , a VR6 or G60 powered Golfs.

The TFSI swap is indeed a better choice if you get a entire donor car, ( cheap mk5 golf gti/octavia or Audi A3) its often not cost effective to buy an engine an source all the accessories around it. As with 20vT conversions, for the first few years yes they were a bit pricey, the donor car & wiring being the biggest costs, then companies like QPeng started doing off the shelf conversion kits and people started documenting what is involved in the swap.

There are a lot of common parts required for the swap, things like a Corrado pedal box for hydraulic clutch swap makes life a lot easier but these are getting a lot more expensive now. Engine mounts and subframes arent an issue, Im aware of a few mk2 owners who have ditched 20VTs and gone TFSI or VR6 with forced induction.

I don't have his details to hand but there is a chap in the Forest of Dean area who produces wiring harness kits to allow a mk2 CE2 fusebox to accept the TFSI loom which is trimmed down to just the bare essentials + diagnostics. This is assuming you run a factory ECU from the donor car, with standalone management an entire loom can be made to suit, .