Picked up an 87 1.8 16v Scirocco. Has shrick cams, headers. KW coil overs. Gray cloth recaros. Borbet 15" wheels.
9A 2.0 are getting scarce and pricey. I have an ABA sitting in the garage from a previous unfulfilled project. But 1.8t parts cars are easy enough to get.
Sell the ABA?
Build a hybrid and add turbo?
Go straight to 1.8t and tune?
Thoughts?
If the 16v is running well I would keep it. I have owned 2 1987 Golf gti and absolutely loved the engines.
pilotbraden said:If the 16v is running well I would keep it. I have owned 2 1987 Golf gti and absolutely loved the engines.
I agree
Unless the running motor is worth more than the 1.8 conversion and you want to do it anyway. No reason to wear out something of value if you want to be rid of it and it has value to someone else.
I feel like a 16V just “feels right” in a Scirocco.
That said, if you’ve tired of it’s output, I would likely go the 1.8T swap route before building a hybrid ABA turbo setup. The 1.8T makes way more power out of the box, reliably, and they’re cheap and plentiful. Brings modern management and injection into the picture, and a full catalog of turn key tunes and mods await it.
I’d still rather see a 16V when I pop the hood tho
1.8t does bring other issues you need to be aware of on the scirocco like stiffening the rest of the car due to the extra power.
I also like the way 16vs look in the sciroccos engine bay too.
How about aba 16v?
Keep the 16v head and use the aba bottom end.
If you’re looking for boost the poor mans abf clone can take a beating.
I would like to throw a 9A bottom end in it as the easy button but it seems they're not so cheap anymore. Last one I saw wanted $600 for a long block.
My intention is track days and occasional autocross. The .2 extra displacement is noticeable.
If I'm gonna turbo I'd just do a 1.8. Lots of stuff to do to make the aba hybrid work.
I think for now I'll keep the 1.8 16v and freshen it for reliability.
This thread has the answers your looking for.
ABA bottom end, lysolm and ITBS.
I too have a soft spot for those 16Vs. And Recaros. Nice Sciroccos are getting rare. I would keep it as original as possible and revive a Golf or Jetta if I wanted to build a heavily modded/swapped car.
captdownshift said:ABA bottom end, lysolm and ITBS.
Problem is you won’t hear the sounds of the itb’s over the whine of the lysholm.
In reply to 1SlowVW :
If you have the ITBs in front of the charger you definitely hear all the things. I had the setup on my MKIII Jetta back in 2002-2005. If went above 4000rpm in a car park all the alarms for 2 floors above me and 2 floors below me would go off, it sounded like a fire engine.
I have a similar dilemma with El Rabbitto. The current setup is nice and OE+ but at a raging 100wheel hp it's fun but not nearly as fast as it looks/sounds. The scirocco's are so iconic and becoming more and more rare so maybe keeping it closish to stock is a worthy Endeavour. 1.8ts can be done really well for 1500 or so... I've missed a couple of cheapy kits for all the mounts for a few hundred bucks on vortex recently so keep an eye out there if that's the thought.
I like the idea of heating up the 16v with the fresh bottom end. A scientific rabbit euro 16v intake setup really wakes them up on the cheap as well. The trick to run two exhaust cams is a nice cheap hp upgrade if a full cam set is out of the question. I love the ITB's but personally have no patience to megasquirt...
Might also be worth reading up on using a later 06x block from a mk4.
It’s a short block like a 9a and they are plentiful in junk yards. If your looking to stay naturally aspirated then it will hold up to those power levels.
I have not personally put that combo together but some local turbo guys have made 400~hp on that bottom end with pistons rods and a 16v head.
Another option... (But sold out at the moment)
ABA TURBO MANIFOLD USING 1.8 TURBO
I have not done this, but I have a 1997 Jetta with a 2.0 ABA that needs this.
So in an effort to make reliable (and cause trans may have a done reverse gear =$$), I'm sticking with the 1.8 16v for now. What I want to know is aside from different injector sockets and injectors, and a variety of sensors, how easy would it be to go Megasquirt. I assume removing the fuel dizzy from the air stream would be a plus.
In reply to vwcorvette :
Can’t comment on megasquirt on the vw ( next winters project).
But a trans swap is easy in these cars, and 020 transmissions are still cheap and plentiful.
Genuinely pleased to hear that you decided to keep it 16v.
I had been thinking about eventually going to a 16 valve hybrid for my Mk1, but still only know a little about these cars and the pre-1999 VAG engines. One of the main reasons I like the old Sciroccos is that they are light and low. A few threads on VWVortex mentioned the 16v engines being heavier than the 8v, with the weight up top. Probably not significant enough to matter, but a thought.
For me, losing the old 1.7L 8v with 188 k miles is an easy choice. A slightly modded, lower mile ABA will be a huge step up. If I had a good, original 16v engine, I'm pretty sure I'd be keeping it.
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