[Bazooker]

Have an option on a 1.3 as per above. Cost wise it will be nothing but a bit of freight prrevious owner tells me that the computer is gone in it and the rest is fine. The bower bird in me tells me to get it anyway but I thought I would ask to see if there were any thoughts on it. I would keep it as a spare for the old girl if the current 1.3 dies.

How do they stack up against the standard 1.3? Apparently the firewall needs mods to get it in as well right?

Appreciate any thought you may have.

[Gwagensteve]

Depending on how much hassle you want to go through, you will want to know which model of GTi the motor came from. Type 1 GTi's can accept a right angle distributor drive, making the engine a bolt in. (no firewall mods)

I think the mark 2's can accept a Mazda Familia GT-X distributor cap, which does allow the engine to bolt in with no firewall mods, but I think it might be very difficult/ impossible to remove the cap with the engine in situ

I believe there is no alternative for mark 3 GTi engines - the firewall must be chopped (or the engine converted to coil packs/distributor moved etc) The problem isn't chopping the firewall, it's that you need to remove the blower fan for the interior as a result, because it's right behind where the firewall needs to be chopped. I believe this will result in your car being illegal everywhere in Australia because the windscreen demist function is lost.

I'm sure the GTi experts will weigh in with more accurate tech, but in my opinion, if you don't have a mark 1 or mark 2 (or don't know which it is), and don't have the loom and computer, I think it could be more hassle than its worth.

Just my 2C on whether that motor is a good candidate.

As for the performance - the #1 gain is that they are EFI. They do make lots of power - ~100hp vs ~67hp stock, but it's way up in the rev range, so if you have less-than-optimal gearing, you might find the car feels a bit soft down low, and you have to drive it harder to make it move. This can be fun and all, but it's low end torque that makes a 4WD motor work, not high end power. I think you need to gear the car with a GTi in mind. (as in, you'd gear a GTi car shorter for the same tyre size than say a 1.6litre car) Remember too that GTi motors are all getting very old now, and while they are tough, they have typically all been owned by young drivers and driven very hard. There's more than one tale of rebuild woe around too - a cheap motor than needs an expensive rebuild might not be as good a buy as a lower KM baleno/vitara/swift 1.6 thats been driven by a nanna.

[masterA]

Gwagensteve wrote:

Depending on how much hassle you want to go through, you will want to know which model of GTi the motor came from. Type 1 GTi's can accept a right angle distributor drive, making the engine a bolt in. (no firewall mods)

Correct

Gwagensteve wrote:

I think the mark 2's can accept a Mazda Familia GT-X distributor cap, which does allow the engine to bolt in with no firewall mods, but I think it might be very difficult/ impossible to remove the cap with the engine in situ

Alot of people struggle so they loosen the engine mounts etc etc to get to the cap but you can remove the actual dizzy (with the cap in place) without moving the engine just by unbolting the top cover and lifting it up that way

Gwagensteve wrote:

I believe there is no alternative for mark 3 GTi engines - the firewall must be chopped (or the engine converted to coil packs/distributor moved etc) The problem isn't chopping the firewall, it's that you need to remove the blower fan for the interior as a result, because it's right behind where the firewall needs to be chopped. I believe this will result in your car being illegal everywhere in Australia because the windscreen demist function is lost.

You do not need to chope the firewall if you used the Mazda dizzy
Mark 2 and mark 3 engines are exactly the same (well.....the mark 2 engines use a 128k computer while mark 3 use a 256k but they are pretty much identical)

Gwagensteve wrote:

I'm sure the GTi experts will weigh in with more accurate tech, but in my opinion, if you don't have a mark 1 or mark 2 (or don't know which it is), and don't have the loom and computer, I think it could be more hassle than its worth.

Im not expert but it's a pretty simple conversion and if you get stuck i think i've got a couple of computers still at home somewhere

Gwagensteve wrote:

Just my 2C on whether that motor is a good candidate.

As for the performance - the #1 gain is that they are EFI. They do make lots of power - ~100hp vs ~67hp stock, but it's way up in the rev range, so if you have less-than-optimal gearing, you might find the car feels a bit soft down low, and you have to drive it harder to make it move. This can be fun and all, but it's low end torque that makes a 4WD motor work, not high end power. I think you need to gear the car with a GTi in mind. (as in, you'd gear a GTi car shorter for the same tyre size than say a 1.6litre car) Remember too that GTi motors are all getting very old now, and while they are tough, they have typically all been owned by young drivers and driven very hard. There's more than one tale of rebuild woe around too - a cheap motor than needs an expensive rebuild might not be as good a buy as a lower KM baleno/vitara/swift 1.6 thats been driven by a nanna.

Totally agree with Steve on above
I had 4.9 gears in mine and found that it was FANTASTIC in the sand but for more technical work i needed more reduction and now i've got 6.5s
It all depends on the terrain you're going to drive and what you're going to use the car for

Also....have a read of this
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=36242&hilit=gti

[Bazooker]

Thanks for the feedback, it is appreciated guys. I went out and had a look at this engine over the weekend. It looked a little worse for wear on inspection. I did take some pictures of it which I will email rather than post if anyone is interested. PM me if so.

The thing had a few oil leaks that were apparent and quite a bit of corrosion in the pipes from what I can see. I wasn't inspired anyway. If I was on the mainland I would take it home but as per some of the advice I would be better of sourcing an engine from elsewhere I think. Not worth the hassle or the $$$.

Cheers

[Daleyzooker]

How hard is it to rebuild these engines??? Buying gti motor on weekend will do a compression test and see what's happening but just in case how hard and how costly is it to rebuild the mark 3 motor and thanks for the dizzy info and how do I go with adding powersteering after I do this because I have the vitara setup but haven't done it yet because I haven't bought the benT adaptor if you could put a link for me that would be awesome and yes I understand I need 6.5 gears for this will buy those before the engine goes in mates gonna do the wiring for me so yeah any input will be nice

[TweakV2]

Just finished mine, power increase is unreal! Plus the noise it makes. I have a Mazda 323 1.6 turbo dizzy cap and rotor button. I "massaged" the fire wall and all I have to do is pry the motor forward 10mm and the dizzy comes out no worries.

[Daleyzooker]

How much did it cost u to rebuild

[TweakV2]

I paid about 350 dollars for a full gasket, piston and bearings kit from the states. Rebuilt it myself.

[Daleyzooker]

Thanks what was the website you bought off?

[TweakV2]

eBay mate.