WOW! i dare say you could win some concours stuff with those pictures. utterly stunning like what most people have said i'd keep it how it is but if your set on an engine swap how about a 1.4 (abd code) bottom end with a polo GT head + gearbox with the standard air intake setup to keep things looking OEM? i'd love you to keep the exterior standard but a slight drop on some decent suspension could see it looking nice
What's the largest engine that can be fitted without moving the drivers side engine mount? Would a 1.4 16v fit, the 100bhp one?
i'm fairly sure you can fit the 16v but you need to fab a mount using a standard one and the 16v one dont quote me on this its just something i seem to remember for some reason. i'll have a look online and see what it says
http://www.clubpolo.co.uk/forum/index.php?showtopic=174544 guide to putting one in a polo, again iirc the procedure for putting it in a mk1 is the same
You have to stick with that engine type to retain the original mount, so 1272cc minimum (60 bhp), poss Polo GT (75 bhp), or G40 (112 IIRC). The 1272cc you'd scarely notice (get in touch if interested ) and you could probably do quite a subtle job of getting the GT engine in too. It's an early Mk1 alright! No servo, chassis no on the driver's turret, early style engine mount (the bracket) onto the OSF innner wing, early exh manifold, air box, oil cap. Note absence of rad upper bottle bracket on the NSF turret, present on later small engined cars, even though not used.
As said, a polo gt engine but with a newman 276 cam on cbr 600 carbs will see you near 100bhp while still having a very good torque spread which works well along with the close ratio gt 5 speed box....i did this in my old mk1 polo that was 680kg from the factory on 195/45R13 tyres which made it a very nippy car that was a hoot to drive
for the kind of money you would lose on resale, i just would'nt touch it. clean it, pamper it, and it will make you happy as it is.
