Hi All, This is only my second post as I'm new to Golf ownership, so please bear with me if I've missed anything obvious on some other part of the forum. I never dreamt Golf ownership would be this complicated? I posted earlier about the problems I've got with a sick engine so whilst I've got the tools out (and wallet I've no doubt), I was wondering if there are any other mods I should be thinking about. 1. Car's got a 2.0 lump and I'm likely to be swapping the head just now. I've got a spare head (KR I think?) but was wondering if there's any combination I should be specifically looking for (head/lump). I also don't really want to go for high lift cams unless the gains are big? What are your thoughts on skimming, porting and polishing? If this is worthwhile, any recommendations for a good job/price in the midlands area? And while I'm messing with the engine, are uprated engine mounts worthwhile? If so, any recommendations? 2. It's stipped and caged and used on the track only so what should I be doing with the suspension? Right now it has Koni adjustables and lowered springs. I was thinking front (upper and lower) and rear strut braces. Which one should be a priority if I buy them one at a time and are any of them a waste of time? I've heard poly bushes are a good change, any experience or recommendations? Similarly anti-roll bars - any easy/clever swaps I don't know about? Is it worth changing? 3. Breathing - I saw a Golf at Donno last July (might have been one of you!) with a headlight missing and some piperwork into the engine. Anyone know what that's about? If so, is it worth me considering doing? I'm guessing it's a sort of forced cold air induction but not sure how to do it or if there's a kit. Thanks for all the help, I'm absolutely dying to get it going again and heading out for a blast! Edited by: Track-Golf
1. tub's gvk amd dexteruk can guve you the details of good places to get your head ported, most people stick with KR or ABF cams, some use a modified exhaust cam in place of the inlet, 2. anti roll bars are a must, eibach or neuspeed, poly bushers are also a good upgrade, powerflex and bugpack do kits for the golf, if your running an ABF on the k-jet then you will struggle to get an off the shelf front strut brace that will fit due to the extra height of the block, if its a 9A or bored out KR then try to get an Eibach brace for the front, not available new anymore so look on ebay. 3. removing the headlight just allows a clearer passage for the air to get into the airbox, i did this to mine rather than remove the light at every trackday: with the pipe now shortened and secured to the slam panel with a bracket. fit a K&N type panel if you want to change the air fliter. and if your feeling rich then fit an ATB diff to the gearbox
Getting the head ported & flowed will help a lot. Its worth the money on these cars. have a look at GVK's web site for what he has done to his engine. He has got over 180bhp and lots of torque too. There are others here with good power output too for little cash. A decent setup is a must for getting the best from these engines. You can loose an incredible ammount of power & torque from a badly setup 16v. Stealth racing have a good reputation here for setting up 16v's. There is someone selling solid front mounts for 65 each. They are replica's of the eip tuning mount. You can also get a vibratec rear mount (expensive) or find a very early rear mount and put a bug pack polybush insert into it. Cabin vibration will get very bad but if its track only, who cares. Chassis wise, antiroll bars will help your car incredibly. Theys are not too expensive dependin upon what you buy but you wont regret them. Strut braces you can buy cheaply. Have a look at the OMP range. You cab get the whole set of three for just over 100. Poly bushes are worth the hassle as rubber ones will wear quicker under heavy use such as track. Bugpack do a budget box set for cheap. Big boys toys & German & sweedish can supply.
Great advice, cheers guys. I'm bothered about buying a strut brace now though since I don't know what block I've got. I doubt it's bored so would guess a 9A or ABF. Since my engine bay is so rusty and covered in oil, is there any other reliable way to tell the blocks apart? Cheers
If the standard cam belt cover is fitted, there should be a sticker with a bar code, on this sticker it gives the engine code. There is also a flat machined part in the centre of the block at the top, the code is stamped there too, you'll be able to see it with the inlet manifold off if you're taking the head off. Have a look at my site for info on the 16v engines It needs updating though Edited by: G_V_K
You can skim as much as 0.5mm off the head (im having a spare 1 done at the mo) but doesnt leave much room for skimming in the future
Visit Gary's web page...lots of good info on there. There's a multitude of tuning variations using a 2 litre base but all depends on budgets. Vince is excellent at Stealth who RR mine and made a few tweaks TSR built my car and made a good job of it, but it uses split duration cams a polished head inlet manifold and vernier a 4 branch manifold a 2.5 Remus exhaust and the dyno plots are on GVK's web page for the results together with other combi's Ian
